Staff Reports
The Justice Department is being urged to bring charges against Michael Cohen, the former attorney for Donald Trump, for allegedly lying to Congress by House Oversight Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan. In his 2019 congressional testimony, Cohen already admitted to lying under oath and making the false claim that he did not apply for a job at the Trump White House, despite evidence to the contrary. During his congressional testimony, Cohen is accused by the two of lying six times, including when he said he had no interest in working for the Trump administration in spite of evidence to the contrary.
https://twitter.com/FFT1776/status/1788314946234654904
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Comer and Jordan expressed their doubts over Cohen's reliability as a witness in cases involving the former president. They used Cohen's misleading assertions made in a 2019 deposition before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in order to highlight his history of dishonesty. The MPs questioned whether it was just to use Cohen's testimony—which they characterized as being politically motivated—in the ongoing judicial proceedings against Trump.
Furthermore, Cohen entered a guilty plea in federal court after Comer and Jordan said he had misled Congress about his involvement in fraudulent actions. They cited agreements Cohen had made with foreign government-owned businesses in 2017 and pointed up contradictions in his representations regarding foreign government contracts. The congressmen's claims come as other Republican members, like Ohio Rep. Mike Turner and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, have made similar requests to the DOJ to look into Cohen's dishonest behavior in more detail.
Although Cohen spent a lot less time in jail, his guilty plea to earlier charges of perjury and campaign finance violations earned him a three-year sentence. Conservatives contend that maintaining the integrity of congressional testimony and guaranteeing justice is done depend on holding people like Cohen accountable for their lies. They contend that accountability must be upheld to maintain the legitimacy of legal proceedings and that no one, regardless of political affiliation, should be above the law.
