Two Republican lawmakers are questioning the purpose of the testimony of Michael Cohen before the House Oversight Committee, saying that the parameters put forth by his legal adviser will leave them “unsatisfied.”
In a letter to Guy Petrillo, an attorney for Cohen, Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, say they are worried that Lanny Davis has severely limited the scope of Cohen’s testimony before the committee next month.
For example, Davis, who serves as Cohen’s media adviser, told them that the testimony will “exclude any matter ‘under investigation.’” According to Davis, they write, the “sole purpose” of the appearance is to give “anecdotes about his time with the President.”
Late last year, Cohen pleaded guilty in two federal investigation, one brought against him by the Southern District of New York and another brought against him by special counsel Robert Mueller.
In December, he was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a handful of crimes, including bank fraud, illegal campaign contributions, and lying to Congress. In the process, Cohen all but implicated the president.
“Of course, this is not an easy list of topics to sidestep at a Congressional hearing with such intense public interest. Our Members intend to ask Cohen whatever question they deem appropriate,” Jordan and Meadows wrote.
Lying to Congress is the most significant topic Cohen could talk about following a bombshell report by BuzzFeed last week which alleged Cohen told Mueller’s team that Trump instructed him to lie to Congress in 2017 about planned business dealings in Russia.
The special counsel has since issued a rare statement rebuffing the report, and Davis told the lawmakers that topic and others related to the Russia investigation are likely off-limits.
“We will not be hearing testimony about why Cohen intentionally provided false and misleading testimony to the United States Congress in previous appearances. We will not be able to learn more about Cohen’s role in federal campaign finance law violations,” wrote Jordan and Meadows. “In fact, according to Davis, Cohen’s testimony will be circumscribed to what he and you are comfortable with him addressing.”
Jordan and Meadows reveal that Davis has been working with committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., to appear for “one or two months” — and that Cohen originally did not want to testify. Davis also said that Cohen does not have any plans to testify before any other congressional committees in a closed or open session, and that Davis’ own longstanding persona relationship with Cummings was “determinative” to the House Oversight hearing taking place.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that the panel has reached out to Cohen about testifying, and will subpoena him if necessary. Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee have also said they want him to appear.
Meadows and Jordan also want to know who is paying Davis to represent Cohen. Davis has a close relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton, once serving as consigliere for them.
It is unknown if Cohen is not paying Davis, though Davis told congressional investigators that he “would say yes” when asked if Cohen was paying his fee.
If Davis is providing free services to Cohen, it adds to the “perception that Cohen’s appearance is a media stunt, initiated, produced and financed by career Democrat political operatives as a way of scoring political points against” Trump, said Jordan and Meadows.
“Cohen will not testify to any matter ‘under investigation,’ and Davis predicated that this constraint will leave Members of the Committee ‘frustrated’ and unsatisfied,’” the two lawmakers wrote.
Cummings announced earlier this month that Cohen would “have a chance to tell his side of the story” at a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 7. Cohen is set to begin his jail sentence March 6.
“I offered to brief the minority staff to show a spirit of bipartisanship, encouraged by the Chairman’s office. I offered on Mr. Cohen’s behalf for Mr. Cohen to speak with Ranking Member Rep. Jim Jordan out of courtesy and the same spirit of bipartisanship, and we have not heard back,” Davis said in response to the letter, adding later, “Beyond that, I will not dignify the unwarranted attack by Mr. Jordan as to my motives.”
Earlier this month, Trump said in an interview with Fox News that he is aware of damaging information about Cohen’s family — but provided no evidence.
In response, Cummings condemned the remarks, saying it was “unacceptable” for the president “to try to bully or intimidate our witnesses, to try to get them not to testify, to try to scare or threaten their family members, or to try to interfere with Congress’ search for the truth.”
ABC News first reported that Cohen is concerned about the safety of his family, but still remains committed to testifying before Congress.
