TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL D. COHEN
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Chairman Cummings, Ranking Member Jordan, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here today.

I have asked this Committee to ensure that my family be protected from Presidential threats, and that the Committee be sensitive to the questions pertaining to ongoing investigations. Thank you for your help and for your understanding.

I am here under oath to correct the record, to answer the Committee’s questions truthfully, and to offer the American people what I know about President Trump.

I recognize that some of you may doubt and attack me on my credibility. It is for this reason that I have incorporated into this opening statement documents that are irrefutable, and demonstrate that the information you will hear is accurate and truthful.

Never in a million years did I imagine, when I accepted a job in 2007 to work for Donald Trump, that he would one day run for President, launch a campaign on a platform of hate and intolerance, and actually win. I regret the day I said “yes” to Mr. Trump. I regret all the help and support I gave him along the way.

I am ashamed of my own failings, and I publicly accepted responsibility for them by pleading guilty in the Southern District of New York.

I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty – of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him.

I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience.

I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is.
He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.

He was a presidential candidate who knew that Roger Stone was talking with Julian Assange about a WikiLeaks drop of Democratic National Committee emails.

[OCS: There is nothing illegal about obtaining opposition research from any foreign or domestic source. Just ask Hillary Clinton or the DNC who employed Fusion GPS and former British Spy Christopher Steele to speak with Russian sources.]

I will explain each in a few moments.

I am providing the Committee today with several documents.  These include:

•     A copy of a check Mr. Trump wrote from his personal bank account – after he became president -to reimburse me for the hush money payments I made to cover up his affair with an adult film star and prevent damage to his campaign;

[OCS: There is nothing illegal about the affair or the non-disclosure agreement that was executed on Trump’s behalf. These types of documents are executed every day by thousands of people, including members of Congress.]

•     Copies of financial statements for 2011 – 2013 that he gave to such institutions as Deutsche Bank;

[OCS: How can Michael Cohen provide documents that would normally be held under client-attorney privilege as a work product?]

•     A copy of an article with Mr. Trump’s handwriting on it that reported on the auction of a portrait of himself – he arranged for the bidder ahead of time and then reimbursed the bidder from the account of his non-profit charitable foundation, with the picture now hanging in one of his country clubs; and

[OCS: The use of bidder proxies is not illegal. And, whether or not the foundation gave him the picture is not a matter for Congress, it is a matter for the IRS and is not a criminal act.]

•     Copies of letters I wrote at Mr. Trump’s direction that threatened his high school, colleges, and the College Board not to release his grades or SAT scores.

[OCS: I can’t stop laughing when I think about how many documents former President Barack Obama withheld from the public – including the infamous birth certificate which competent document examiners still question. This is not a criminal act.]

I hope my appearance here today, my guilty plea, and my work with law enforcement agencies are steps along a path of redemption that will restore faith in me and help this country understand our president better.

***
Before going further, I want to apologize to each of you and to Congress as a whole.

The last time I appeared before Congress, I came to protect Mr. Trump.  Today, I’m here to tell the truth about Mr. Trump.

I lied to Congress about when Mr. Trump stopped negotiating the Moscow Tower project in Russia. I stated that we stopped negotiating in January 2016. That was false – our negotiations continued for months later during the campaign.

Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how he operates.

In conversations we had during the campaign, at the same time I was actively negotiating in Russia for him, he would look me in the eye and tell me there’s no business in Russia and .

[OCS: I am willing to bet that Trump did not see himself winning the election and may have simply wanted to continue his business affairs. Such pre-presidency actions should have little or no bearing on the Presidency prior to his inauguration. Then it became a matter of disclosure required by law.]

You need to know that Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers reviewed and edited my statement to Congress about the timing of the Moscow Tower negotiations before I gave it.
To be clear: M

then go out and lie to the American people by saying the same thing. In his way, he was telling me to lie.

[OCS: No deal was pending. There was no money on the table. It was all talk. Trump may have shaded the truth, but he is not required to reveal his company’s proprietary information in any public forum.]

There were at least a half-dozen times between the Iowa Caucus in January 2016 and the end of June when he would ask me “How’s it going in Russia?” – referring to the Moscow Tower project

Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it. He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project.

And so I lied about it, too – because Mr. Trump had made clear to me, through his personal statements to me that we both knew were false and through his lies to the country, that he wanted me to lie.  And he made it clear to me because his personal attorneys reviewed my statement before I gave it to Congress.

****
Over the past two years, I have been smeared as “a rat” by the President of the United States. The truth is much different, and let me take a brief moment to introduce myself.

[OCS: What else would you call a “snitch” who ratted out his client and compromised the sacred attorney-client privilege to cut a deal on prison time for criminal acts committed prior to the Trump campaign?]

My name is Michael Dean Cohen.

I am a blessed husband of 24 years and a father to an incredible daughter and son. When I married my wife, I promised her that I would love her, cherish her, and protect her. As my father said countless times throughout my childhood, “you my wife, and you my children, are the air that I breathe.” To my Laura, my Sami, and my Jake, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you.

[OCS: What about those rumors of extramarital affairs and girlfriends swirling about the Twitterverse?]

I have always tried to live a life of loyalty, friendship, generosity, and compassion – qualities my parents ingrained in my siblings and me since childhood. My father survived the Holocaust thanks to the compassion and selfless acts of others. He was helped by many who put themselves in harm’s way to do what they knew was right.

[OCS: It is a cheap shot to play the Holocaust card, especially when you are a reprehensible crook, tax cheat, and your crimes pre-date the Trump presidency.]

That is why my first instinct has always been to help those in need. Mom and Dad…I am sorry that I let you down.

[OCS: Boo Hoo! See if they and your family visits you in prison where you belong. Trying to cut a deal by ratting out Trump makes you little more than a “snitch.”]

Read the full statement in context here courtesy of the New York Times.