House Judiciary may have proof showing Matthew Whitaker committed perjury

The House Judiciary Committee may have caught former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker in a lie.

Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that the committee believes it has proof showing President Trump asked Whitaker about having the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman, a Trump ally, take back command of the investigation into Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen.

According to one person familiar with the matter, the House Judiciary Committee is evaluating whether Whitaker perjured himself when he told the panel the White House never asked about any ongoing investigations.

“At no time has the White House asked for nor have I provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsel’s investigation or any other investigation,” Whitaker told the House Judiciary Committee this month.

Whitaker declined to comment for the report, as did Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec who simply pointed back to Whitaker’s testimony.

Last week, the New York Times reported Trump asked Whitaker about the possibility of Berman taking over the probe into Cohen, even though Berman had recused himself from the investigation examining hush money payments Cohen made to women alleging they had affairs with Trump. Whitaker reportedly told Trump that Berman couldn’t take over the investigation and there is no known evidence suggesting Whitaker took action on any request from Trump related to the matter.

Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, condemned the Times report last week and said he didn’t ask Whitaker about the recusal.

“That’s more fake news,” Trump told reporters last week. “There is a lot of fake news out there.”

Cohen is scheduled to begin a three-year prison sentence in May after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress.

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