Michael Cohen has been accused of committing perjury and making “numerous wilfully and intentionally false statements of material fact” during Wednesday testimony in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
In a criminal referral letter to Attorney General William Barr, Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) said that President Trump’s former personal attorney was “at times in direct contradiction to assertions contained in pleadings authored by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).”
In other instances, Cohen’s statements were “immediately contradicted by witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the subject matter.”
Via the letter (in part):
1. Several times during his testimony, Mr. Cohen denied committing various fraudulent acts that he has pleaded guilty to in federal court. Specifically, Mr. Cohen said “I never defrauded any bank.” These denials are intentionally false. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to five counts of income tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a banking institution, one count of causing an unlawful corporate contribution, one count of excessive campaign contribution, and one count of making false statements to Congress.
2. Mr. Cohen repeatedly testified that he did not seek employment in the White House following President Trump’s election. This is demonstrably, materially, and intentionally false. This testimony is in direct conflict with court filings made by the United States Attorney’s Office for the SDNY, which state:
During and after the campaign, Cohen privately told friends and colleagues, including in seized text messages, that he expected to be given a prominent role and title in the new administration. When that did not materialize, Cohen found a way to monetize his relationship with and access to the President.
Michael was lobbying EVERYONE to be “Chief of Staff.” It was the biggest joke in the campaign and around the office. Did he just perjure himself again?
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) February 27, 2019
Cohen: “I didn’t want to go to the White House.” LIAR. He complained to me on numerous occasions about the fact that POTUS didn’t offer him a job at the WH. #CohenTestimony
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) February 27, 2019
3. Mr. Cohen testified he did not direct the commission of the Twitter account @WomenForCohen. Specifically, Mr. Cohen testified “I didn’t actually set that up” and “it was done by a young lady that worled for [the IT firm] RedFinch.” Mr. Cohen’s statement in this respect may also be false. The owner of RedFinch, John Gauger, reportedly told The Wall Street Journal that RedFinch established the @WomenForCohen account at Mr. Cohen’s direction.
Read the rest below:
2019 02 28 JDJ MM to Barr Re Cohen DOJ Referral by Zerohedge Janitor on Scribd
Interestingly, there is nothing in the referral regarding an alleged violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), as Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) alleged following a heated exchange on Wednesday.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2EBr444 Tyler Durden