NPR:
Michael Cohen To Testify Publicly Before Congress On Alleged Trump LawbreakingThe highly anticipated hearing is expected to dominate the airwaves and could bring portions of America to a standstill …
New York Times:
Michael D. Cohen plans to tell Congress on Wednesday that President Trump is a “con man” and a “cheat” who knew a longtime adviser was communicating with WikiLeaks — and who implicitly instructed Mr. Cohen to lie about a Trump Tower project in Moscow that was underway during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The extraordinary testimony will take place when Mr. Cohen, the president’s former lawyer and fixer, publicly appears before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. An advance copy of Mr. Cohen’s testimony was obtained Tuesday night by reporters at multiple news organizations, including The New York Times, just as Mr. Trump began meetings in Vietnam before convening with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
*
wapo:
Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, will tell Congress on Wednesday that Trump knew his longtime adviser Roger Stone was communicating with WikiLeaks about publishing stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee, according to the text of his prepared opening statement.
In the prepared remarks, Cohen calls Trump a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat” and also levels accusations that the president personally signed a check to cover “hush money payments” to keep quiet an affair with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen says Trump never directly told him to lie to Congress about his business dealings in Moscow, but claims the president implicitly encouraged him to do so.
A person familiar with the testimony said the document, which was first published by Politico, reflects what Cohen submitted as his prepared remarks, though they could change somewhat when he delivers them Wednesday to the House Oversight Committee.
“He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat,” the remarks say, referring to Trump. “He was a presidential candidate who knew that Roger Stone was talking with Julian Assange about a WikiLeaks drop of Democratic National Committee emails.”
Trump, who is in Vietnam for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, didn’t respond when a reporter asked him about Cohen as he sat next to Un, The Post’s Philip Rucker reported. Earlier on Wednesday morning, Trump sent a tweet accusing Cohen of lying.
“Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud,” Trump tweeted. “He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time. Using Crooked’s lawyer!”
[…]
Cohen plans to testify that in July 2016, shortly before the Democratic convention, he overheard Trump and Stone discussing Assange’s plans. WikiLeaks released stolen DNC emails on July 22, 2016, three days before the Democratic convention.
“Days before the Democratic convention, I was in Mr. Trump’s office when his secretary announced that Roger Stone was on the phone. Mr. Trump put Mr. Stone on the speakerphone. Mr. Stone told Mr. Trump that he had just gotten off the phone with 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,” the testimony notes. “Mr. Trump responded by stating to the effect of ‘wouldn’t that be great.’”
Stone was indicted last month for lying, obstruction and witness tampering in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump has denied ever talking with Stone about WikiLeaks. The person familiar with the testimony said Cohen does not have other evidence, such as contemporaneous memos, to support his recollection of the call he claims to have overheard between Stone and the president.
In the testimony, Cohen paints Trump as a virulent racist in private.
“He once asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a ‘shithole.’ This was when Barack Obama was President of the United States,” Cohen’s testimony notes. “While we were once driving through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago, he commented that only black people could live that way. And, he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid. And yet I continued to work for him.”
[…]
The president’s former lawyer says that Trump continued negotiating for a luxury condo tower project in Russia throughout the 2016 campaign. Cohen has also pleaded guilty to lying about that project in his 2017 testimony to the Senate and House intelligence committees.
“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,” Cohen’s remarks say.
Cohen adds that Trump “did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how he operates.” But he alleges that Trump’s “personal lawyers” reviewed his untruthful testimony ahead of time.
“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,” the remarks say. “And he made it clear to me because his personal attorneys reviewed my statement before I gave it to Congress.”
[…]
More broadly, Cohen’s testimony depicts Trump as self-serving and vain. He describes Trump bragging about avoiding Vietnam War service though a bone spurs diagnosis, supposedly telling his attorney, “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam.” Cohen also plans to testify that he drafted threatening letters on Trump’s behalf to schools and colleges he attended, warning them not to release his grades; he promised to provide one such letter to the committee.
[continues]
I’ll be watching… got a HUUUGE bag of popcorn waiting. Anyone want some…
Cadet Bone Spurs is tweeting this morning from Vietnam.
I have now spent more time in Vietnam than Da Nang Dick Blumenthal, the third rate Senator from Connecticut (how is Connecticut doing?). His war stories of his heroism in Vietnam were a total fraud – he was never even there. We talked about it today with Vietnamese leaders!
57.3K
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and in the meantime, 2 other nuclear powered countries are on the brink of disaster
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/27/pakistan-india-jets-shot-down-airstrikes-kashmir
Pakistan says it has shot down Indian jets after Kashmir cross-border attack
[…]
Imran Khan, the Pakistani prime minister, used a televised address to call for dialogue to prevent more reprisals, making reference to both countries’ nuclear arsenals.
“With the weapons you have and the weapons we have, can we afford miscalculation?” Khan said. “Shouldn’t we think that, if this escalates, what will it lead to?”
[continues]
patd, if there is one person on this earth who should never speak of anyone else’s military service it is SFB. At least Blumenthal served in the Marine reserves, unlike a dotard I can think of. And by the way, WTF does Blumenthal have to do with anything related to the talks with Un?
provided by politico:
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
2
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.
[…]
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.
[…]
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.
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.
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.
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.
As many people that know me best would say, I am the person they would call at 3AM if they needed help. I proudly remember being the emergency contact for many of my children’s friends when they were growing up because their parents knew that I would drop everything and care for them as if they were my own.
Yet, last fall I pled guilty in federal court to felonies for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in coordination with Individual #1.
For the record: Individual #1 is President Donald J. Trump.
It is painful to admit that I was motivated by ambition at times. It is even more painful to admit that many times I ignored my conscience and acted loyal to a man when I should not have. Sitting here today, it seems unbelievable that I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing
to do things for him that I knew were absolutely wrong.
For that reason, I have come here to apologize to my family, to the government, and to the American people.
[continues]
pogo, re cadet bone spurs from above testimony link:
more from statement:
Jordan is such a jerk!
I’d like to associate myself with Jace’s remarks about Jim Jordan
Check out this Bullshit. Ben Carson hawking a “brain supplement”.
The Republicans on the committee are so gooper — what a bunch of crap
I admit that I’ve been listening to Cohen’s testimony more than watching it…. but I just noticed something about Jordan… he’s wearing a yellow tie. How apropos…
Jordan is a perv
“Mr. Cohen, Republicans aren’t angry that you lied to Congress on behalf of President Trump, they are angry that you have stopped lying to Congress on behalf of President Trump [paraphrased]” -Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
…couldn’t have said it better myself.
If you listen on NPR you won’t have to look at Jim Jordan’s bad hair-plugs.
Can someone name the Congressman who was quoting the Bible and implying he is a former law-enforcement officer, for me, please?
Nvm- It’s Clay Higgins (R-LA).
From the wikipedia page on him:
“‘Clay Higgins used unnecessary force on a subject during the execution of a warrant and later gave false statements during an internal investigation. Although he later recanted his story and admitted to striking a suspect in handcuffs and later releasing him…’Higgins resigned before disciplinary action could be imposed”
The goopers make one’s skin crawl
Congresswoman from WV-
“This hearing is a waste of time…”
-spoken while participating in said hearing
The Congresswoman from West Virginia has her petard stuffed up her whatever
Whoever just recommended Matt Gates (R-FL) be investigated for criminal offenses during this hearing expressed my sentiments, exactly.
The GOP is corrupt and criminal, to the core.
bink,
stacey plaskett represents the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Stacey currently serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Committee on Agriculture. She is also a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where she serves as Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on the Interior, Energy, and Environment.
I take great delight in watching republicans operate as the minority party?
the hill:
President Trump‘s former lawyer Michael Cohen on Wednesday warned Republican lawmakers that the president’s defenders will “suffer the same consequences that I’m suffering.”
“I’m responsible for your silliness,” Cohen said during public testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. “I did the same thing that you’re doing now for 10 years. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years.”
“I can only warn people, the more people that follow Mr. Trump as I did blindly are going to suffer the same consequences that I’m suffering,” Cohen later added.
bink, here’s a wapo article on the reprehensible rep that ms. plaskett suggested should be brought before house ethics comm and also charged with threatening a witness:
Who is Matt Gaetz? Other than the man intent on making Michael Cohen’s life miserable.
Just remember every time they call Cohen a creep and liar — they are also calling SFB the same
My big thrill was hearing Cohen confirm my belief that SDNY was investigating trumpco. I think they are working up a RICO prosecution.
Invest in popcorn futures, and make a killing.
A North Carolina Grand Jury gets it right and indicts Dowless.
This is too rich for words. But from that last paragraph we can see why an NC preacher/politician would employ Dowless – it’s exactly who what has become teh repug party wants in an operative.
BTW, Mark Meadows is one slimy prick. Trying the old he can’t be a racist because he has a black employee gag (the friend meme expanded to business and government employees).
xr, I too think RICO is a fair guess, although they may be looking at more garden variety crimes like bank fraud.
aoc doin alright
KC, I heard her questioning of Cohen and agree with you. She acquitted herself well. I only heard the last couple minutes but they were direct, crisp and to the point. Had to drive the repugs nuts.
I only caught a few scattered minutes, unfortunately those happened to be the greedy old perverts foaming at the mouth rants. What the freaky ones fail to understand is that their tears do not play well anymore, the evidence is 2018.
You know who must be screaming and ready to do a heart attack? SFB is sitting in VN and has no way to break the news cycle and get in front of it. The time difference is big enough to smother anything he can cook up, probably including ending WWI and the American Civil War.
Hope our Russian River contingent is staying above water.
Jaime44 – While listening to the few seconds I could stand of the gop fools all I could think of was how is Putin taking it? So far nothing was about him directly. But, I am guessing in the closed conferences Cohen must be spilling a lot of beans. What would be a blast to hear is Manafort talking about the Russians.
Jaime
We are high and dry thank goodness the rain has stopped. We don’t live along the river anymore but in the coastal hills Our problem is all the roads out are blocked by slides
I don’t think cohen had much to do with the campaign/russian crimes. He seems to have been too busy putting out old fires to start fresh ones.
Mr Pogo, yup, trump/trumpco face bank, wire, mail, tax, and campaign fraud. So far, there’s not a hint of odometer fraud.
Thanks for the links, patd.
My recommended method of information consumption for this type of event exhibited its limitations, today, as i couldn’t always identify who was speaking, and though i appreciate the service, NPR didn’t make an effort to identify speakers during the hearing, which was a failing of their broadcast.
All the Republicans that spoke during the Cohen hearing should be ashamed of themselves and by my estimation are involved in a concerted effort to cover-up criminal offenses by Trump and his henchpeople- unfortunately, i think they are incapable of feeling or expressing shame: i’ll be ashamed for them. Disgusting.
In the interest of balance, i wasn’t particularly impressed by many of the Democrats’ methods of questioning and lamented the obvious attempts at bias-confirmation, by some (not all), particularly the one woman, whom i still can’t identify, who called Cohen’s testimony “a story of redemption”. Spare us the dramatics, Congresswoman, and just get the facts for us, please.
Fin.
1. Maybe it’s a story of redemption. I’ll just wait for the book reviews to find out.
2. I inadvertently left out insurance fraud. How could I do so, when the very phrase is redolent of avarice, intrigue, guile, violence, theft, murder, coverup, arrest, trial, and punishment ? This is the first drama, from Cain murdering Abel to insure that Cain’s sacrifice would be the best. Fast forward to the insurance fraud that burns at the center of the movie Body Heat.
Other insurance crimes in movie ‘culture’ : Double Indemnity (1944), Weekend at Bernie’s (1989), Sleuth (1972), House of Wax (1953),The Fortune Cookie (1966), Malice (1993), Double Indemnity remake (1973), The Infernal Trio (1974), Styx (2001), Sleuth remake (2007), The Big White (2005), Black House (2007), Restitution (2011), If Looks Could Kill (1996), Save the Tiger (1973) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 and 3 remakes so far !)
new thread