Perhaps the foremost issue with Michael D. Cohen’s Congressional testimony today was spotlighted by Cohen himself when President Trump’s disgraced and disbarred former personal attorney exclaimed, “I have lied, but I am not a liar.”
In his opening remarks before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Cohen, a convicted criminal, stated:
For those who question my motives for being here today, I understand. I have lied, but I am not a liar. I have done bad things, but I am not a bad man. I have fixed things, but I am no longer your “fixer,” Mr. Trump.
Cohen used his opening testimony to admit that he lied to Congress in previous testimony. However, Cohen squarely blamed his admitted lies on Trump, claiming “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 credibility issues are paramount since many of his anti-Trump charges rely on his word. The ex-attorney claimed that Trump engaged in criminal conduct, used racist language, and was misleading about his net worth.
The Democrats’ use of Cohen as a star witness is made all the more spectacular given that in November, Cohen pled guilty to, among other things, lying to Congress in two separate prosecutions.
One of those prosecutions involved the so-called Russia collusion conspiracy being investigated by the office of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The other was a case before federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
Cohen also pled guilty to violating campaign finance laws and financial crimes, including multiple counts of tax evasion and bank fraud.
Cohen is speaking about two months before he is scheduled to begin his three-year prison sentence.
The 40-page sentencing memo from New York prosecutors in Cohen’s campaign finance case paints Cohen as a deceiver who repeatedly lied and displayed a tendency to blame others.
The memo charges that Cohen’s “consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting, that his remorse is minimal, and that his instinct to blame others is strong. While he has legally accepted responsibility, the Court should consider at sentencing these transparent efforts at minimizing Cohen’s false statements and criminal conduct.”
“For all of Cohen’s outward rectitude, he has lived a double life,” prosecutors argued in their sentencing memo. “While Cohen has submitted letters describing his good nature, the evidence collected and witnesses interviewed in this investigation paint a decidedly different picture — a picture of someone who was threatening and abusive when he wanted to get his way.”
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
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