Cohen plans scathing testimony about Trump, Russia and Stormy Daniels

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is on Capitol Hill Tuesday where he is expected to deliver specific and scathing testimony about his former boss’s business interests in Russia and a scheme to buy the silence of adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

His closed-door testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee marks the first of three highly anticipated appearances this week. He is scheduled to testify publicly on Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and again in private on Thursday with the House Intelligence Committee.

According to a person familiar with his planned testimony, Cohen intends to paint Trump as a liar, a cheater and a racist during his interviews with lawmakers. He is expected to share anecdotes about Trump’s behavior — Daniels alleged she had an affair with Trump years ago, a claim the president denies — as well as his financial dealings, the person said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe Cohen’s expected testimony.

Lawmakers are likely to ask Cohen to explain his knowledge of a possible Trump Tower project in Moscow — the details of which he previously misrepresented to Congress, precipitating his guilty plea in federal court late last year. He was sentenced to three years in prison for those lies, along with financial crimes, and is scheduled to begin serving his time in May.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/cohen-plans-scathing-testimony-about-trump-russia-and-stormy-daniels/ar-BBU5Uaa?li=BBnb7Kz

[Happyhippychick]

1. What I'm expecting (and I hope I'm right)

is that Cohen has proof of all of this and it won't just be he said/he said. I'm expecting him to have audio tapes, emails, etc. Maybe video too.

I hope that's the case.

[struggle4progress]

2. Cohen will tell Congress of alleged Trump criminal conduct, source says

Feb. 26, 2019, 7:21 AM EST
By Allan Smith and Adam Reiss

During his much-anticipated public testimony before Congress on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's former longtime attorney Michael Cohen will provide evidence of his old boss's alleged criminal conduct since becoming president, a knowledgeable source about what to expect told NBC News.

And, according to the source, there is much more that congressional investigators and viewers can expect Cohen to provide.

Cohen will detail his allegations of the president's lies, racism and cheating as a private businessman while Cohen spent a decade working for him, the source said ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/michael-cohen-will-give-congress-evidence-trump-criminal-conduct-source-n976046

[struggle4progress]

3. Cohen testimony may undermine spin on Mueller

By Greg Sargent
Opinion writer
February 26 at 10:29 AM

.. according to reports in The Post, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times:

Cohen will “for the first time publicly accuse the president of criminal conduct while in office related to a hush-money payment to a porn star.”

Cohen will “offer ‘very specific details’ — some of which have not yet been made public — about arranging the hush-money payments at Trump’s direction.”

Cohen will “discuss how long Mr. Trump continued to ask about plans for a Trump Tower project in Moscow after the Iowa caucuses had taken place in February 2016.”

Cohen is “expected to recount racist remarks Mr. Trump allegedly made to him, including instances in which Mr. Trump allegedly questioned the intelligence of African-Americans” ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/26/new-michael-cohen-testimony-may-undermine-trumps-spin-mueller/?utm_term=.88516e473108

[struggle4progress]

4. Cohen plans to accuse president of 'criminal conduct'

Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
Published 10:13 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2019
Updated 10:40 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2019

... Trump has said he was not involved in Cohen's crimes. He argued some of them weren't crimes at all, and derided Cohen as a "liar" and a "rat." Both Cohen and the Justice Department have said in court that Trump directed the payoffs to two women in the final months of the 2016 campaign. And prosecutors have confirmed that they are scrutinizing the circumstances that led Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee plans to delve widely into Trump's business and finances, exploring his debts and payments for the 2016 election, his compliance with campaign-finance and tax laws, his business practices, the Trump Foundation and the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Cohen had been an executive vice president and special counsel to The Trump Organization.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday ...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/26/michael-cohen-president-donald-trump-organization-business-house-hearing/2979648002/

[struggle4progress]

5. Expected to claim lying, racism and cheating

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and MICHAEL R. SISAK
2 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is expected to give a behind-the-scenes account of what he will claim is Trump’s lying, racism and cheating, and possibly even criminal conduct, when he testifies publicly before a House committee on Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Cohen is expected to provide what he will claim is evidence, in the form of documents, of Trump’s conduct, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential testimony.

Trump’s former personal “fixer” arrived on Capitol Hill Tuesday to begin three days of congressional appearances, starting with a closed-door interview with the Senate intelligence committee. The public won’t have a chance to hear from him until Wednesday, when he testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. He will go behind closed doors again when he talks to the House intelligence committee on Thursday ...

https://www.apnews.com/0fa9971e62114304a5e04358158bce8f

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. Curtain rises on 3 days of Cohen drama

Michael Cohen is kicking off three straight days of Capitol Hill testimony on Tuesday, including a high-profile public appearance before a House committee that promises plenty of explosive moments as Democrats dig into investigations of his former boss, President Trump.

The Democratic-led House Oversight and Reform Committee has laid out broad parameters for Cohen’s public testimony Wednesday, which is expected to focus squarely on Trump’s family business. It will also encompass payments made to women who alleged affairs with Trump ahead of the 2016 election, which the attorney, in a deal with federal prosecutors announced last summer, admitted to arranging.

Separately, he will testify behind closed doors to the Senate and House Intelligence committees on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, in connection with the panels’ parallel investigations into Russia’s election interference.

Cohen’s Capitol Hill tour is shaping up to be a significant distraction from Trump’s overseas trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he will seek to advance denuclearization discussions with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/431525-curtain-rises-on-3-days-of-cohen-drama

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. Will Michael Cohen Deliver the Goods on Trump?

Do you believe Michael Cohen?

Several outlets reported on Tuesday that Trump’s former lawyer and fixer is prepared to offer damning testimony concerning his former boss, including that he engaged in criminal conduct while in office. The revelations will come Wednesday, when Cohen is scheduled to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee. Cohen will also testify in private sessions before the Senate and House Intelligence Committees on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

The president’s alleged criminal conduct is reportedly in relation to the $130,000 hush money payment Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. Cohen has already said that he made the payment on Trump’s behalf, and that it was intended to prevent news of Trump’s alleged affair with Daniels from breaking as Trump contended for the presidency. The Southern District of New York has also determined that Trump ordered the payment, which would constitute a felony campaign finance violation. It’s unclear what kind of criminal conduct relating to the payment Trump engaged in after taking office, although Cohen is expected to go into what someone familiar with the testimony described to the New York Times as “granular detail” regarding how he and Trump orchestrated the payment.

Cohen will also reportedly go into detail about several aspects of Trump’s finances, allegedly with documentation for support. According to the Washington Post, Cohen will explain how Trump inflated his net worth for personal reasons, like appearing on the annual Forbes list, while deflating it when it came time to pay property taxes. Cohen will also detail Trump’s “lies, racism and cheating,” the Wall Street Journal reports, of which he will provide anecdotal evidence. Several people associated with Trump have said he often expressed racist sentiments. In November, Cohen told Vanity Fair that Trump said prior to the election that “black people are too stupid to vote for me.” Trump has denied all allegations of racism and infidelity.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/michael-cohen-trump-testimony-800219/