Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen spent several days on the stand during the Trump hush-money trial.
He told several lies during his testimony, and now House Republicans want him held accountable.
Talking Points…
- Cohen testimony
- House demands perjury charges
- Analysis
Michael Cohen is an admitted liar, and by all accounts, he told quite a few on the stand during the Trump hush-money case. For instance, at one point, Cohen told the court that he had never desired a position within the Trump administration. However, Cohen had made it quite clear when Trump was running for office that he had planned on "cashing in" on an appointment if Trump were to win the election. He thought for sure he would have been made Trump's Chief of Staff, but that never happened.
Bob Costello, Cohen's former legal adviser, also noted that Cohen made numerous lies regarding the conversations those two had when Costello was working with Cohen. People who knew or had previously worked with Cohen were stunned at the sheer amount of lies he was telling while testifying. Cohen has also testified before Congress, where he admitted that he lied in order to bury Trump. And that is the focus of the demand from House Republicans to hold him accountable.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is leading the charge to have the Department of Justice prosecute Cohen. Democrats love to say that nobody is above the law, so why has Cohen been able to get away with lying before Congress and on the stand? Emmer demanded that the DOJ take "immediate action" to hold Cohen accountable. Emmer penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on the matter, writing:
"In November 2018, Mr. Cohen pled guilty to lying to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
"Since then, he has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice on at least three separate occasions by Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and House Committee on the Judiciary for committing perjury and knowingly making false statements during his testimony at a congressional hearing and deposition."
The DOJ has several criminal referrals for Cohen, who is sitting at the desk right now. The House Intelligence Committee, the House Oversight Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee all sent criminal referrals for Michael Cohen for lying while testifying under oath before their respective committees.
This goes even further from just the lies, however, as Cohen also admitted to embezzling $30,000 from the Trump Organization. Cohen had submitted an invoice for services from a company for $50,000 but only paid the company $20,000, keeping the remainder of the money for himself because he felt cheated when his bonus was only a third of what it had been the prior year. Emmer covered this as well, writing:
"In other words, the prosecution's star witness admitted to a more significant felony than what the prosecution has charged former President Trump with."
His letter concluded:
"The Biden administration's DOJ already appears to be colluding with the Manhattan District Attorney in the case against former President Trump, considering that Matthew Colangelo left his position as a senior Justice Department official to prosecute his former boss' political rival.
"Any further effort to protect the district attorney's star witness, Mr. Cohen, only enhances the appearance that the DOJ is engaging in a two-tiered application of justice."
As much as the DOJ has gone after Trump associates who were helping him fight the 2020 election results, it will not be a good look if the DOJ fails to prosecute Cohen for these additional crimes, especially the embezzlement charges. This is a slam dunk, considering that Cohen confessed to the crime on the stand during the hush-money trial. I guess we are about to find out if, indeed, nobody is above the law.
