 NEWS

 NIGHTLY NEWS
 MEET THE PRESS
 DATELINE
 MSNBC
 TODAY

 POLITICS
 U.S. NEWS
 BUSINESS
 WORLD
 TECH & MEDIA
 THINK
 SPORTS

Michael Cohen plans to testify that Trump is 'a racist' and a 'con man'
 SHARE THIS —




TRUMP EFFECT

Michael Cohen plans to testify that Trump is 'a racist'

and a 'con man'
However, a description of a conversation between Trump and adviser Roger Stone days
before WikiLeaks released a trove of DNC emails is the big allegation.
Micahel Cohen's appearance Wednesday will mark his first public congressional
testimony.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Feb. 27, 2019, 3:51 PM GMT+6 / Updated Feb. 27, 2019, 5:15 PM GMT+6
By Rebecca Shabad, Heidi Przybyla and Jonathan Allen

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump knew in advance that WikiLeaks was going
to release hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election that would damage
Hillary Clinton's campaign, his former personal lawyer plans to say at an open
congressional hearing Wednesday.

Michael Cohen will also call Trump a "con man" and "a cheat" and allege that the
president not only lied about his ongoing efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow
during the election but urged Cohen to lie about them without directly saying so,
according to a draft of his opening statement obtained by NBC News.

But it is Cohen's description of a conversation between Trump and longtime adviser

Roger Stone days before WikiLeaks released a trove of DNC emails on the eve of the
2016 Democratic National Convention that represents the biggest new allegation.
"I was in Mr. Trump’s office when his secretary announced that Roger Stone was on the
phone," Cohen plans to say. "Mr. Trump put Mr. Stone on the speakerphone. Mr. Stone
told Mr. Trump that he had just gotten off the phone with [WikiLeaks founder] Julian
Assange and that Mr. Assange told Mr. Stone that, within a couple of days, there would
be a massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Mr. Trump
responded by stating to the effect of 'wouldn’t that be great.'"

Last year, special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Trump operation's
ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice, indicted a dozen Russians in
connection with the DNC hacks. Stone has been indicted by Mueller on charges of
obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering.

"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."

Trump, who is in Vietnam for a nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,
attacked Cohen after his planned testimony was first reported.

"Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately)," Trump
wrote. "He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for
lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his
prison time. Using Crooked's lawyer!"

Cohen is being advised by Lanny Davis, a former lawyer for President Bill Clinton;
Trump refers to his defeated 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, as "Crooked Hillary."

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in December for a series of charges he
pleaded guilty to last year, including eight felony counts of tax evasion, bank fraud and
campaign finance violations, as well as the one count of making a false statement to
Congress. On the eve of his congressional testimony, a New York state court filing
revealed that he had been disbarred.
Michael Cohen 'looking forward' to telling his story on eve of public
testimony
FEB. 27, 201900:31

Cohen is also expected to testify that Trump not only lied about his business dealings in
Russia during the election — a subject of interest for investigators — but urged Cohen to
do so without making a direct ask.

"To be clear: Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations
throughout the campaign and lied about it," Cohen, who pleaded guilty last year to
making a false statement to Congress about when the project was terminated, plans to
say. "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."

In Cohen's telling, he followed Trump's lead — and got sign-off from Trump's lawyers.

"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," Cohen's statement says. "And he made it clear to me
because his personal attorneys reviewed my statement before I gave it to Congress."
Related
POLITICS

IRS agent admits leaking Michael Cohen's records to Stormy Daniels' lawyer

Cohen, 52, will be offering congressional testimony in public for the first time just weeks
before he’s slated to report to federal prison in early May.

In a series of anecdotes, Cohen will recount exchanges with Trump that portray the
president in a poor light, including those which led him to conclude that the president is
"a racist."

But he will stop short of saying that he has proof Trump conspired with Russia in order
to win the 2016 election.

"Questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that Mr. Trump or
his campaign colluded with Russia," the statement says. "I do not."

Rather, Cohen is expected to say, he has "suspicions."

The House Oversight Committee hearing, which will begin at 10 a.m. ET and could last
four to five hours, comes a day after Cohen appeared in a closed-door hearing before the
Senate Intelligence Committee. On Thursday, Cohen will meet in closed session with the
House Intelligence Committee.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Kim for dinner three hours before Cohen testifies.

Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., has looked to set specific parameters for
the hearing, in which Cohen has agreed to cover Trump’s debts and payments relating to
efforts to influence the 2016 election, as well as Trump's compliance with tax laws,
potential conflicts of interest, business practices and compliance with campaign finance
laws, and potentially fraudulent practices by the Trump Foundation.

The hearing, however, was not expected to touch directly on matters related to the
Russia investigation, which instead will be covered in the closed sessions before the
Intelligence panels. But the draft statement suggests Cohen is willing to wander into the
neighborhood of the Russia probe.

“I think this is a golden opportunity for the American public. The American public
would like to see Michael Cohen. He is the only person that I know of that has accused
this president of a crime,” Cummings told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday night.

“It may very well may be a turning point in our country’s history, I don’t know, I don’t
know," added Cummings. "But what we want to do is conduct a fair hearing, we want a
civil hearing and we want to be effective and efficient in letting the American people
know what is going on.”
Related
FIRST READ

Ten questions we hope Robert Mueller will answer

The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, former chairman of the
House Freedom Caucus, indicated in a statement before the hearing that Republicans
may not necessarily adhere to the scope outlined by Cummings and Cohen.

“The chairman indicated that he will be limiting the topics of the hearing to only a few
areas of inquiry — all serving his interest in finding grounds for impeachment,” Jordan
said last week. “I will not stand by quietly while an admitted liar comes before the
committee. Our members intend to question Mr. Cohen about the crimes he pleaded
guilty to, other criminal activity he participated in but refused to disclose, his
international financial dealings, and a long list of other probative activities."

And despite the limits set by Cummings for the hearing in order to avoid interfering in
ongoing criminal probes, at least a few Democratic members are planning to disobey
those conditions, according to two aides preparing for the hearing.

“The oversight staff are trying to play traffic conductors," said one Democratic aide who
has reviewed planned questions from some members, but “people are going to want to
go there” on Russian ties. Cummings' office has not responded to inquiries about how he
will handle any divergence from the approved lines of questioning. However, another
aide said Cohen’s lawyers are likely to control how much information he gives on Russia.
Michael Cohen begins three-day marathon of testimony on Capitol Hill
FEB. 27, 201902:21

Democrats on the committee are also planning to zero in on the nature of Trump's
business relationships with foreign Russian oligarchs, other foreign business influences
and potential money laundering.

Some Democratic members will try to obtain information from Cohen about how the
Trump organization interacts with foreign entities, mainly shell companies they believe
the company may have opened in places like Panama — as well as Toronto, where there
is a strong Russian mob presence — which they suspect were used to launder money.

Some congressional Republicans have been trying to discredit Cohen’s testimony in

advance, calling him an untrustworthy witness given that he’s lied to Congress already.
Some Democrats have echoed the point, with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland
saying it’s fair to have questions about Cohen’s credibility and that he “better not lie
again.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who doesn't serve on the Oversight Committee, also posted a
cryptic tweet Tuesday ahead of Cohen's testimony. "Hey @MichaelCohen212 - Do your
wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time
for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to
 learn a lot..." tweeted Gaetz, who later denied the tweet represented an attempt to
intimidate a congressional witness.

Related
POLITICS

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz apologizes for tweet targeting Michael Cohen

Gaetz ultimately apologized and deleted his tweet after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-
Calif., issued an admonishment to lawmakers not to make statements that could
interfere with House committees' ability to obtain testimony from witnesses. In her
statement, Pelosi noted that the Constitution's "speech or debate" clause, which protects
lawmakers from being prosecuted for what they say in the course of their duties, may
not apply to comments that interfere with House investigations.

The hearing, originally scheduled for Feb. 7, was delayed after Cohen’s attorney claimed
that the president and his personal attorney, Rudi Giuliani, had made threats against
Cohen's family.

A federal judge agreed last week to postpone the date for Cohen to report to prison after
Cohen’s attorneys said he had recently undergone a “serious surgical procedure” and
needed to undergo intensive therapy as part of his recovery.

Rebecca Shabad
Rebecca Shabad is a congressional reporter for NBC News, based in Washington.

Heidi Przybyla
Jonathan Allen
Jonathan Allen is a Washington-based national political reporter for NBC News who
focuses on the presidency.

Adam Reiss, Alex Moe, Marianna Sotomayor and Allan Smith contributed.

 ABOUT
 CONTACT
 CAREERS
 PRIVACY POLICY
 TERMS OF SERVICE
 SITEMAP
 ADVERTISE
 ADCHOICES

© 2019 NBC UNIVERSAL



