Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is scheduled to appear in front of the House Oversight Committee and Chairman Elijah Cummings on February 7th. Cummings, Schiff and Nadler have a plan to use Cohen to build their political resistance effort.
However, today Michael Cohen, through his DNC handler Lanny Davis, attempted to back out of testimony by accusing President Trump of threatening him.
New York – “Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen’s continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel” he will postpone appearing, Lanny Davis said in a statement. “This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first,” Davis added. (link)
According to prior communication, as relayed by Representative Jim Jordan, Cohen’s lawyer, Guy Petrillo, said Mr. Cohen would not be able to discuss anything concerning the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller. [Mueller continues to be the shield] Therefore it would appear the Cummings committee intent is to script an impeachment or obstruction narrative without Cohen able to answer specific questions.
It is very likely Cohen’s cooperation with congress was part of the reason why the start of his prison sentence was deferred. With that in mind, Chairman Cummings and Chairman Schiff respond to Cohen and inform him they will not accept his refusal to comply:
“We have received Mr. Cohen’s notice postponing his voluntary appearance in an open hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Reform. We certainly understand the completely legitimate concerns for the safety and security of Mr. Cohen and his family members in light of the attacks last week by President Trump and again this past weekend by his attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
“As we stated previously with our colleague, Chairman Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee, efforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family members, or prevent them from testifying before Congress are textbook mob tactics that we condemn in the strongest terms. Our nation’s laws prohibit efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress. The President should make no statement or take any action to obstruct Congress’ independent oversight and investigative efforts, including by seeking to discourage any witness from testifying in response to a duly authorized request from Congress.
“We understand that Mr. Cohen’s wife and other family members fear for their safety after these attacks, and we have repeatedly offered our assistance to work with law enforcement to enhance security measures for Mr. Cohen and his family.
“Nevertheless, when our Committees began discussions with Mr. Cohen’s attorney, not appearing before Congress was never an option. We will not let the President’s tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. This will not stop us from getting to the truth. We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances.” [Link to Oversight]
Bottom line – Michael Cohen will be there to testify with Lanny Davis at his side. Davis knows exactly what he’s doing. Lanny Davis comes from the same political school as Lee Atwater. The claims of witness intimidation etc. are part of the strategy…. this is all a carefully planned stunt to build up interest.
Lanny Davis knows exactly what he is doing. Everyone has a role to play….
Unless, of course, it’s someone like Rosenstein, whom the Democrats wouldn’t want to be under oath and under questioning. THEN it’s fully optional.
Lanny was the Clinton’s mouthpiece. If you don’t learn to be a scumbag in that job, you are unteachable.
Michael Cohen’s claim that President Trump is threatening his family, explained — Trump made ominous innuendos about Cohen’s father-in-law. Now Cohen’s congressional testimony may be off.
Why would Trump and Giuliani even bring Cohen’s family up?
Trump: Cohen postponed testimony because ‘he’s been threatened by the truth’
So how does this “truth” have any bearing on Cohen’s testimony?
Recording clients without permission, confessing a non crime, Cohen perjures himself over a non crimes. Who really cares about this guy? Trump himself has had to deal with shady people mostly union connected, testimony is one thing evidence is quite something different. You know damn well Mueller has already been in Cohens family underwear drawer.
@Greg: That’s a pretty thin and vague “threat”. I would think that if a “threat” had been made, the “threat” would be quoted. Here, like the entire “investigation”, you are pretty much left to your imagination.
More likely, Cohen is afraid to expose the fact that he has NOTHING. Then, it’s off to the cushy clinker.
It’s cute how the Democrats in the House play along. It’s almost like it’s not a scripted play. Bravo! Bravo! Author!
Lanny Davis as Cohen’s attorney… you can’t make this stuff up! If only he could get Allred on his team, he’d have all the scum he would need.
@kitt: I’ve seen photos of Trump with some pretty shady characters; probably had those photos been distributed before the election, he might not have won. Photos of him with Sharpton, Jackson, Bill, Hillary can be a permanent stain on your reputation.
Didn’t hurt Eric Holder
Democrats just subpoenaed Cohen to come testify… in February. Why not now? Well, because Democrats are already getting plenty of attention out of Schumer and Pelosi’s engineered shutdown and they wouldn’t want THAT noise drowning out any of Cohen’s lies. If the shutdown is not settled by then, Cohen will get more “threats” and the testimony will be pushed back some more.
“Not appearing before Congress is not an option.”
Ooh, big words! What are they gonna to do to Cohen if he doesn’t show, send him to prison?
Ha ha. These Democrat morons are too much.