Why a simple Michael Cohen lie could invalidate all his testimony

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According to this story, Cohen was ONCE a liar – to protect Trump – but the scales fell in his eyes and he is now on the side of the facts and the truth. In his opening statement to the House Oversight Committee, Cohen acquiesced in the idea that he was a changed man. "I want to apologize to every member of the US Congress as a whole," he said. The last time I appeared before Congress, I came to protect Mr. Trump. Today, I am here to tell the truth about Mr. Trump. "

"The testimony of Mr. Cohen is instrumental in the Committee's assessment of why Mr. Cohen decided to monetize his former association with President Trump," says Jordan and Meadows' criminal referral – two of greatest supporters of the Trump Congress. "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."

While the dismissal of Jordan and Meadows argues that Cohen has not told the truth on many fronts, the most disturbing charge for Cohen is that his claim that he never wanted working at the White House seems to be wrong.

During his interrogation of Cohen, Jordan sought to defend his point of view – asserting that Cohen's decision to plead guilty and to activate Trump was due to the fact that "you wanted to work at the White House. dance. "

Cohen said this:

"Sir, I was extremely proud to be a personal attorney to the President of the United States of America.I did not want to go to the White House.Me offered me a job I can tell you the story of Mr Trump in search of Reince Priebus because I had not held a post that Mr Trump wanted, who was working with Don McGahn at the office of Mr. General Counsel of the White House. "

On several occasions throughout his testimony, Cohen reiterated this initial assertion, namely that he had been given the only job he had ever wanted: to be the personal solicitor of Trump.

(Cohen also suggested that if he went to work for the White House, Trump would lose the lawyer-client privilege with him – potentially exposing the president to legal ramifications.)

Cohen's statement that he never wanted to work at the White House was immediately greeted with mockery by Trump's allies and his family. "Michael was pressuring EVERYONE that he was" chief of staff " tweeted Eric Trump. "It was the biggest joke of the campaign and the office." "Has he just perjured himself again?"
David Bossie, Trump's Assistant Campaign Director in 2016, tweeted this"Michael Cohen has asked me to support his efforts to become chief of staff when I participated in the management of the presidential transition team." He has perjured himself today. hui. "

These memories, in the grand scheme of things, matter little. Of course, Eric Trump or Bossie can say that Cohen wanted to be chief of staff, but for Cohen to be recognized as a liar on this front, he must have documents attesting that he lobbied for a position at the House -Blanche.

What is more problematic for Cohen, is that he seemed to show considerable interest in going to work at the White House as early as November 2016 – after Trump's surprise victory. Cohen told Chris Cuomo, of CNN, that he had not been offered work at the White House at that time, but that he "certainly hopes[d]"It would be, Cuomo then asked Cohen if he would accept such a job if offered to him;" 100%, "replied Cohen.
And then there is the fact that in the Southern District of New York, where Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges last year, prosecutors claimed that Cohen "had said privately to his friends and colleagues, including in seized SMS, that he has a leading role and title in the new administration ".

Invited on Wednesday to explain his statements to the SDNY after testifying that he did not want work at the White House, Cohen said: "I'm not saying that it's a lie, I'm just saying that this is n & rsquo; Is not correct. "

But the five words "including in seized text messages"Do not forget that federal investigators seized lots of documents when they raided Cohen's home, hotel and office in April 2018" If the federal government has some Cohen texts stating clearly that he wanted a job at the White House, that's a big deal for him.

If this scenario materializes, Cohen's allies – if these people really exist – will argue that even though he was not quite telling the truth about wanting to work in the White House, this is not the case. not invalidate all others. truths that he said Wednesday.

This could be true of someone who was not a liar convicted. But Cohen IS a liar convicted. And if his cleaning moment was not really a cleaning moment, then how can one know which parts of his testimony were the whole truth and which parts were protected or falsified to make it better?

Cohen had a credibility problem at Wednesday's hearing. If it can be proved that he lied at this hearing, his credibility is ruined forever.

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