Extract from The Guardian
Senator Susan Collins says former Trump lawyer was given a ‘grilling’ but Cohen surprised her: ‘He’s a very different guy’
Michael Cohen, longtime lawyer and aide to Donald Trump, testified
before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday in the first of
three congressional appearances this week that could contain explosive
testimony about how Trump allegedly broke the law while in office, according to US media reports.
Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump but has since turned against his former boss, appeared before the Senate panel in a closed session.
Susan Collins, the Republican senator for Maine, told CNN Cohen was given a “grilling” in his first hearing. Asked if there had been anything that surprised her, she responded, “uh, yes. He’s a very different guy.”
Like Tuesday’s hearing, the session before the House intelligence committee on Thursday will be held behind closed doors. But the public will hear from Cohen on Wednesday, when he testifies before the House oversight and reform committee.
Over the course of the hearings, NBC News said Cohen plans to “provide evidence of alleged criminal conduct by Trump since he became president”, while the New York Times reported Cohen “will use documents and his personal experiences to support his statements”.
Trump’s former aide will be testifying under penalty of perjury, but
will probably be met with skepticism from Republicans who will seek to
draw attention to a track record of dishonesty.
The White House sought to discredit Cohen on Tuesday before the hearings began.
The White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, issued a statement saying he was “going to prison for lying to Congress and making other false statements”.
Sanders said it was “laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word, and pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies”.
Lanny Davis, Cohen’s lawyer, told the Times
that Cohen’s response to questions about his credibility will be: “I
take full responsibility, I lied in the past; now you have to decide if
I’m telling the truth.”Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump but has since turned against his former boss, appeared before the Senate panel in a closed session.
Susan Collins, the Republican senator for Maine, told CNN Cohen was given a “grilling” in his first hearing. Asked if there had been anything that surprised her, she responded, “uh, yes. He’s a very different guy.”
Like Tuesday’s hearing, the session before the House intelligence committee on Thursday will be held behind closed doors. But the public will hear from Cohen on Wednesday, when he testifies before the House oversight and reform committee.
Over the course of the hearings, NBC News said Cohen plans to “provide evidence of alleged criminal conduct by Trump since he became president”, while the New York Times reported Cohen “will use documents and his personal experiences to support his statements”.
The White House sought to discredit Cohen on Tuesday before the hearings began.
The White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, issued a statement saying he was “going to prison for lying to Congress and making other false statements”.
Sanders said it was “laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word, and pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies”.
Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in prison in December for crimes including lying to Congress about Trump’s business dealings with Russia, and facilitating illegal payments. Cohen is set to surrender on 6 May to begin his sentence, as ordered by a federal judge.
In his guilty plea, Cohen said: “I made these misstatements to be consistent with Individual 1’s political messaging and out of loyalty to Individual 1.”
Individual 1 was a reference to Trump.
According to the New York Times, Cohen is expected to discuss what he says he knows of contacts between Trump and Russia, and lay out details on hush payments – which Cohen says were directed by Trump – made to two women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Trump denies the allegations and says that Cohen lied to get a lighter sentence.
US lawmakers are likely to hear Cohen testify that Trump asked him several times about a proposed skyscraper project in Moscow long after he secured the Republican presidential nomination, according to reports.
Cohen’s assertion that Trump was inquiring about the project as late as June 2016, if true, would show Trump remained personally interested in a business venture in Russia well into his candidacy.
On 29 November, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress by telling lawmakers in 2017 that all efforts relating to the Moscow project had ceased by January 2016. In fact, Cohen said, those efforts continued until June 2016.
Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion took place between his campaign and Moscow.
Cohen is also expected to discuss what he knows about a meeting between Trump campaign associates and a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower before the 2016 election, a matter that is of particular interest to special counsel Robert Mueller and congressional investigators.
But he is only expected to discuss matters related to Russia in the closed-door interviews with the congressional intelligence committees, so as not to interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and links to Trump’s campaign.
Cohen’s week of interviews come as House Democrats launch multiple investigations into Trump’s ties to Russia and conflict-of-interest issues within the administration. House Republicans in the last Congress investigated whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia, but ended that inquiry over Democratic objections, saying that there was no evidence that they did so. The Senate’s Russia investigation continues.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this article
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