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The Democratic Chair of the House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that former Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker "does not deny" that President Trump "called him to discuss the case "against his former attorney and repairman Michael Cohen, as well as decisions regarding staff of the federal prosecutor's office in charge of the Cohen case.
After a two-hour meeting with Whitaker, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (DN.Y.) presented Whitaker's comments behind closed doors as a contradiction to his February public testimony, in which Whitaker stated that Trump had never expressed his dissatisfaction with Cohen. plead guilty to various financial offenses and lie in Congress. When asked at this hearing when he had already discussed the Cohen affair with Trump, Whitaker declined to answer the question.
"Unlike the courtroom, Mr. Whitaker did not deny that the President called him to discuss the Michael Cohen case and personnel decisions in the South District," said Nadler, referring At the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. who brought the case against Cohen.
But Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.), Who was also present for the interview, voiced his deep disagreement with Nadler, calling it an "interpretation" – and insisting that Whitaker "stated that he had not spoken to Mr. Cohen's President and had no conversations with the Southern District of New York.
The litigation is the latest controversy surrounding Whitaker's statements, as legislators argue partisan over whether Whitaker misled Congress about his brief tenure as Acting Attorney General and his contacts with the President while overseeing the proceedings. Special Investigator Robert S. Mueller III.
According to Nadler, Whitaker did not refute the statement that he was "directly involved in discussions about the opportunity to fire one or more US lawyers." Nadler also stated that Whitaker had not denied having been "involved in discussions about the extent" of the challenge. New York South District senior prosecutor, US attorney Geoffrey Berman, of the Cohen case – and if prosecutors "went too far in pursuit of the campaign finance case in which Trump is Individual-1 ".
But Collins retorted that these conversations were internal discussions that Whitaker had had with his own staff in the performance of his duties as Acting Attorney General.
"To imply that there is something wrong, there is a way to go beyond anything that has been discussed," Collins said. "The only thing Mr. Whitaker said about it is that he had discussions with his personal staff. . . he has never had a conversation with the Southern District of New York about any matter whatsoever while he was acting Attorney General. "
When Nadler was in a hurry to explain Whitaker's series of denials, he simply said he would not say no. He pledged to "analyze the new revelations and see where they lead."
Whitaker is a lightning rod for partisan quarrels since his appointment as Acting Attorney General, when he succeeded former Attorney General Jeff Sessions shortly after the mid-term elections of the year. last. His meeting with Nadler and Collins comes a little over a month after he testified in public before the House Judiciary Committee, which defeated the Democrats' concerns that he could have used his position overseeing the investigation. Mueller in favor of Trump's position.
The Republicans opposed this hearing at the time as unnecessary, as it had taken place just days before the Senate confirmed the appointment of William P. Barr as attorney general.
"We thought that the hearing should not have taken place, so if you want to bring it home, then it's good," Collins said Wednesday, just before the start of the meeting with Whitaker. "It's the president's meeting, so I'll sit there listening and seeing what he's saying."
Nadler had promised to follow up with Whitaker about alleged omissions in his testimony, in which Whitaker refused to detail the contents of the conversations he would have had with Trump or gave answers that, in his view, of Nadler, put credulity to the test.
[In combative hearing, Whitaker says he did not discuss Mueller probe with Trump but dodges other inquiries]
The Democrats then suspected Whitaker's assertion that he had never discussed his point of view regarding Mueller's investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 elections. Whitaker was interviewing for joining the White House legal team and voicing negative opinions about Mueller's investigation as a television specialist before Trump recommended him to become Sessions' chief of staff.
When Trump appointed acting Attorney General of Whitaker, temporarily replacing Sessions, the Democrats argued that these opinions made Whitaker unfit to oversee Mueller's investigation. He wondered whether Whitaker would use his position to limit the investigation or pass on valuable information about the investigation to Trump and his lawyer. Whitaker firmly denied doing anything like that.
Nadler's claim that Whitaker did not deny that he had spoken of Cohen's cause in Trump and the decisions regarding staff in the Southern District of New York raise new questions about his testimony. However, it is not clear right away whether Wednesday 's meeting is the forerunner of a new public hearing with the former Acting Attorney General or whether it is simply a matter of public interest. an effort to dispel the lingering doubts as to the completeness of Whitaker's testimony as the committee prepares to receive Mueller's final report. .
Whitaker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats in the House are preparing for a possible brawl with Barr to get the full original report when Mueller finishes it and for the Justice Department to get the investigative material behind the Special Council's investigation. The House is expected to vote later this week on a resolution calling on Barr to release the full report, less any classified portion, and to give legislators full access to its unredacted content.
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