Michael Cohen is providing the House Oversight Committee with nine exhibits, which will help him make his case that President Trump is “a racist,” “a conman,” and “a cheat” during his open testimony Wednesday.
The exhibits do not demonstrate anything related to allegations that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with the Russians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Cohen told lawmakers in his testimony he does not “know of direct evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia.” But the exhibits do attempt to paint a picture of Trump as a shady character who has engaged in deceitful business practices and who was involved in hush money payments made in 2016.
Exhibits #1A, #1B, & #1C — Cohen is providing three years of financial statements from Trump which range from 2011-2013, which he says Trump “gave to Deutsche Bank to inquire about a loan to buy the Buffalo Bills and to Forbes.” Cohen says this is part of his effort to shed some light on Trump’s finances and to demonstrate how he, at times, inflated and deflated his worth.
Exhibit #2 — Cohen is giving the committee two side-by-side newspaper articles, which Cohen claims are “examples of Mr. Trump inflating and deflating his assets.” Democrats are interested in exploring Trump’s assets and tax returns, and Trump has reportedly referred to inquiries into his personal finances as a “red line.”
Exhibits #3A & #3B — Cohen has an article written on by Trump related to an auction on a portrait of Trump and says he has evidence that “the portrait was purchased by the fake bidder for $60,000” and that “Trump directed the Trump Foundation, which is supposed to be a charitable organization, to repay the fake bidder, despite keeping the art for himself.” Democrats have been eager not just to investigate Trump’s business dealings but also his former charitable foundation and other ventures.
Exhibit #4 — Cohen says that he has “a copy of the $130,000 wire transfer” personally paid by him to the attorney of Stephanie Clifford a.k.a. Stormy Daniels. Cohen says that the hush money payment during the 2016 presidential election was intended to stop Stormy Daniels from speaking about her extramarital affair with Trump. Cohen contends that Trump personally directed him to make that payment from Cohen’s own pocket so that it would not “negatively impact his campaign.” Cohen has pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations for making that payment.
Exhibit #5 — Cohen is giving the committee what he says is a “copy of a $35,000 check that President Trump personally signed from his personal bank account on August 1, 2017 – when he was President of the United States” to help reimburse Cohen for the hush money payments he’d made during the campaign. He calls that just “one of 11 check installments that was paid throughout the year.” Democrats are interested in any evidence suggesting that Trump himself was criminally involved in the campaign finance violations related to Stormy Daniels and other women whom Trump is alleged to have paid off.
Exhibit #6 — Cohen says he has evidence that Trump was concerned about his personal academic records being made public, and says he is providing Congress with “copies of a letter I sent at Mr. Trump’s direction threatening these schools with civil and criminal actions if Mr. Trump’s grades or SAT scores were ever disclosed without his permission.”
Exhibit #7 — This exhibit is a reminder from Cohen that Trump had previously criticized former President Barack Obama for not releasing his own grades back when Obama was in office.
Exhibit #8 — Cohen has provided the oversight committee with copies of tweets from Trump which he says constitute threats made by the president against him and his family.
Exhibit #9 — Cohen thanks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for her promises to protect him and his family.
