Republican lawmakers ask Justice Department to investigate Michael Cohen for perjury

The criminal reference – sent by Ohio rep Jim Jordan, Republican to the Oversight Committee, and the representative of North Carolina, Mark Meadows – highlighted several areas of testimony asking the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation , including Cohen's assertions Wednesday. did not look for work at the Trump White House, denying his refusal to commit bank fraud, nor claiming that he had not entered into a contract to declare with foreign entities.

"Mr. Cohen's testimony is instrumental in the Committee's assessment of Mr. Cohen's motives for monetizing his former association with President Trump," Jordan and Meadows wrote Thursday to the Department of Justice. "It is essential that the Justice Ministry investigate these remarkable contradictions between Mr. Cohen, the prosecutors of the SDNY and the public accounts of witnesses with first-hand information."

At the same time, some Democrats have suggested that Cohen's assertion of perjury on this issue is flawed.

House Watch Chairman Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, told reporters that he believed that, according to Cohen, he did not want to work at the White House.

"I'm not aware of anything, he said that he was not (to get a job) and I believe him," Cummings said. "I mean, think about it – he could make a lot more money, a lot more money, outside the White House in the White House, I mean, I do not know why you want to do that."

Rep. Jamie Raskin, also Democrat of Maryland, told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Thursday morning "At this time" that the interrogations of her Republican colleagues were an "irrelevant distraction" and that "everything (Cohen) was perfectly coherent and consistent inside. "

One person described Cohen as having become "deprived of his rights" during the early months of the Trump administration – but that he still continued to present himself as the ideal type of Trump. The president also suggested that Mr. Cohen join the White House council office, but former White House lawyer Don McGahn said that Mr. Cohen had neither the Experience nor the background necessary to work in this country, but Trump abandoned it.

Jordan and Meadows also asserted that Cohen's testimony that "he never defrauded any bank" was "intentionally false", as Manhattan prosecutors "specifically referred to Mr. Cohen's crimes of Making false statements to financial institutions "in a footnote to his plea agreement.

Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements to a financial institution, but no bank fraud, and prosecutors have not alleged any loss of money for any bank.

GOP lawmakers also accused Cohen of lying about his contacts with foreign entities, a point made by Meadows at Wednesday's hearing. Cohen stated that he would review the form and amend it if necessary.