Citing Michael Cohen’s prior lying to Congress, House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) have formally referred Michael Cohen to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution. In particular, they asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute Cohen for making fraudulent claims in his testimony from February 2019.
Republican members of the House Oversight Committee called on the Department of Justice to take appropriate action after pointing out six specific lies that Cohen told them in a letter. Republicans learned last year that Cohen also gave a misleading deposition in 2019 to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). They contend that his evidence is now being used as the cornerstone of a politically motivated case against a former president and contender for the position.
The letter lists Cohen’s numerous fraudulent conduct, for which he had already entered a guilty plea in federal court, as one of the six specific lies. In addition, he made up the story that he hadn’t applied for any jobs in President Donald Trump’s administration, even in the face of contradictory information from the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office. The Committee claimed that Cohen had misrepresented his role in setting up a Twitter account, neglected to disclose contracts with foreign governments, contradicted his own written testimony, and claimed—a claim that federal prosecutors have refuted—that his crimes were motivated by his “blind loyalty” to Trump.
Cohen also acknowledged lying to Congress in a 2019 deposition before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) in a different incident, which occurred in 2023. In response to a query concerning whether he had received instructions to fabricate financial figures, he acknowledged giving false testimony. Following the admission, HPSCI once more reported Cohen to the DOJ for making false statements with intent to deceive and perjure.
Currently, Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. These charges stem from allegations that he paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter so he could “influence” an election.
🚨 #BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan and @RepJamesComer refer MICHAEL COHEN to DOJ for prosecution.
Cohen lied SIX times to Congress and is Alvin Bragg’s star witness in President Trump’s NYC trial. pic.twitter.com/axJMyXBFhX
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) May 8, 2024
Cohen, who formerly represented Trump personally, dealt with a number of legal problems related to his interactions with the former president and private concerns. Cohen entered a guilty plea in 2018 to federal charges involving tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and making false statements to Congress. The payments of hush money to two women who said they had affairs with Trump were the reason for the campaign finance breaches. Cohen also acknowledged that he failed to disclose a sizable income, which led to millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.
During the 2016 campaign, he made false claims to Congress on the timing of a planned Trump Tower project in Moscow. Cohen made up the idea that the talks finished sooner than they actually occurred. Owing to the COVID-19 epidemic, he was freed from home confinement in 2020 after serving three years in federal jail and paying a $50,000 fine.
In his testimony before Congress, Cohen charged Trump with acting unethically and offered proof of possible criminal activity, all of which aided in the continuing investigations. He also got involved in a number of civil lawsuits, both as a plaintiff and a defendant, including ones involving attempts to recover legal costs. Cohen had been a faithful supporter of Trump in the past, but his testimony and subsequent behavior signaled a severe rupture with the business.
“Currently, Manhattan’s popularly elected District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, is using Cohen as his star witness in an ongoing criminal prosecution of President Donald Trump. Bragg’s case heavily relies on Cohen’s testimony and credibility. Even more troubling, Cohen’s advisor, Lanny Davis, boasted to Politico that Bragg’s prosecution of President Trump all stemmed from Cohen’s testimony to Congress in 2019,” the letter wrote.
According to Jordan and Comer, witnesses who “willfully” fabricate claims after taking an oath to speak the truth are guilty of perjury.
