Correct that's correct you lied on financial documents so you lied to financial institutions in order to secure loans so we've established that you lie on your taxes you'd a lot of banks and you have been convicted of lying to Congress it seems to me that there's not much that you won't lie about when you stand to gain from it in fact the prosecutors for the Southern District of New York noted that each of your crimes quote they are common sense of characteristics which each involving deception and being motivated by your personal greed and ambition as your appearance here today motivated by your desire to remain in the spotlight for your personal benefit no ma'am you have sought out ways to rehabilitate your image from tax evader bank swindler and all-around liar to an honorable truthful man by appearing before cable news I'm concerned you could be using your story in this congressional platform
for your personal benefit such as a desire to make money from book deals so can you commit under oath that you have not and will not pursue a book or movie deal based on your experiences working for the president no one you cannot commit to making money off of a book or movie deal based on your work no what I just well there's two parts to your question the first part of your question you asked me whether or not I had spoken to people regarding a possible book deal and I have and I've spoken to people who've sought me out regarding a movie deal no I didn't ask you I said can you commit under oath that you will not that you have not and will not pursue a book deal and I would not do that No okay can you commit under oath that you will not pursue opportunities to provide commentary for a major news network based on your experiences working for the president no one can you commit under oath that you will not to political office in the state of New York no one so you don't commit to changing your ways basically because you want to continue to use your background as a liar a cheater a convicted liar to make money that's what you want to do and that's going to get me a book deal in a movie deal and television and a spot on television I don't think so well it appears that it will I'd yield my time remainder of my time Mr. chairman to me I think the gentle-lady for yielding Mr.
Cohen in your sentencing statement to the court in just in December of last year you said I want to apologize to the people of the United States you deserve to know the truth approximately months later BuzzFeed News ran his story that was the story in the country for a couple days BuzzFeed story ran January 17th 2019 On January 18th your counsel went on TV and wouldn't confirm or deny the story the next day the special counsels office did something that's never happened never happened they said the description of specific statements to the special counsels office and the
characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony are not accurate why didn't your lawyer the day that he's on TV when this story is the biggest thing in the news in the country why didn't he deny the BuzzFeed story because I didn't think it was his responsibility to do that we are not the fact checkers for BuzzFeed he's on TV to talk about the very story you committed to the courts when you were trying to get your sentence reduced that you that the American people deserve to know the truth you had the golden opportunity to give them the truth on a false story the BuzzFeed story and your lawyer didn't say a thing he acts actually he said this I can't confirm I can't deny you had an opportunity to do exactly what you told the judge you were going to do one month after you said it and you didn't do it why not again it wasn't our responsibility to be the fact checker for the news agencies there the president says so far approximately 9,000 I got 80 seconds I'll let you finish chairman Mary's special count to him and he's finished something they've never done they said that her story was false now you can respond my response the president has told something over nine thousand lies to date do I ask Mr. Davis for Mr. Monaco do I go on television in order to correct his mistakes when no subject no I would like time as they listen up the gentleman's time has expired you may finish answering the question and then we're going to go to Mr. Connolly all I wanted to say is I just find it interesting sir that between yourself and your colleagues that not one question so far since I'm here has been asked about president Trump that's actually why I thought I was coming today not to not to confess the mistakes that I've made I've already done that and I'll do it again every time you ask me about taxes or mistakes yes I made my mistakes I'll say it now again and I'm gonna pay the ultimate price but I'm not here today and the American people don't care about my taxes they want to know what it is that I know about Mr. Trump and not one question so far has been asked about Mr. Trump Mr. Connolly Thank You Mr. chairman well Mr. Cohen based on your testimony and your 10-year experience I think you can recognize the behavior you're being subjected to in the other side of the aisle discredit slander use any trick in the book to prevent your testimony from sticking the idea that a witness would come to us who's flawed and you certainly are flawed means they can never tell the truth and there is no validity whatsoever to a single word they say would discredit every single krug criminal trial of organized crime in the history of the United States because all of them depend on someone who's turned it would make Rico null and void we using anymore this Congress historically has relied on all kinds of shady figures who turned one of the most famous who led to the decapitation of the organized crime families
in America Joe Valachi congressional hearing he was a witness and he committed a lot worse crimes than you're convicted of Mr.Cohen so don't be fooled by what my friends on the other side of the aisle are trying to do today it is do everything but focus on the principle known as individual number one in the Southern District of New York as I recall is that correct Mr. Cohen that is correct now Mr. Cohen I want to ask you about something that's not in your testimony and that so far has not been made public in our committee staff search of documents provided by the White House that were otherwise redacted or already in the public and I guess the White House thought that was funny they made one mistake the White House there was an email from a special assistant to the President to a deputy White House Counsel and the email is dated May 16 2017 and it says and I quote POTUS meaning the president requested a meeting on Thursday with Michael Cohen and Jay Sekulow any idea what this might be about end quote do you recall being asked to come to the White House on or around that time with Mr. Sekulow may up 2017 off the top of my head sir I don't I recall being in the White House with Jay Sekulow it was in regard to the the documents the document production as well as my appearance before the House Select Intel but I'm not sure if that's specifically well that friend but what I will do is I will check all my records and I'm more than happy to provide you with any documentation or a response to this question well that that's you sort of touch on the presumably the perp of the discussion at least among others this occurred this meeting occurred just before your testimony before the Select Committee on Intelligence here in the house is that correct I believe so yes was that a topic of conversation with the President himself if this is the specific instance that I was there with Mr. Sekulow yes so you had a conversation with the president the United States about your impending testimony before the House Intelligence Committee is that correct that's correct what was the nature of that conversation he wanted me to cooperate he also want to just ensure by making the statement and I said it in my testimony there is no Russia there is no collusion there is no there is no deal he goes it's all a witch hunt and it's he knows this stuff has to end did you take those comments to be suggestive of what might flavor your testimony sir he's been saying that to me for many many months and at the end of the day I knew exactly what he wanted me to say and why was Mr. Sekulow in the meeting because he was going to be representing Mr. Trump going forward as one of his personal attorneys in this matter sort of a hand-off meeting correct in any way final question did the president in any way from your point of view coach you in terms of how to respond to questions or the content of your testimony before a House committee again it's it's a difficult answer because he doesn't tell you what he wants what he does is again Michael there's no Russia there's no collusion there's no involvement there's no interference I know what he means because I've been around him for so long so if you're asking me whether or not that's the message that's staying on point that's the party line that he created that so many others are now touting yes that's the message he wanted to reinforce gentlemen simon's expecting mr. Massey can you just clarify did you say that at times you would do what you thought Mr. Trump wanted you to do not specifically what he told you to do at times yes so you just went on your intuition I don't know if I would call it intuition as much as I would just say my knowledge of what he wanted because it happened before and I knew what he had wanted does does a lawyer have a duty to provide his client with good legal advice yes were you a good lawyer too Mr. Trump I believe so when you arranged a payment to miss Clifford you say in your testimony I'm a quote from your testimony that you did so quote without bothering to consider whether that was improper much less whether it was the right thing to do you said that unquote that's your testimony today you said you didn't even consider whether it was legal how could you give your client legal advice when you're not even considering whether it's legal I did what I knew Mr. Trump wanted this conversation with Mr. Trump I distorted I didn't ask whether you could fix her I asked whether you were a good lawyer sometimes you have to melt both together I needed to at that time ensure and protect Mr. Trump so if I put my hands which I'm clearly clearly suffering the penalty of I clearly wrong so you feel like by without bothering to consider whether it was proper much less
whether it was the right thing to do by ignoring any conscience if you have one that you were protecting Mr. Trump I'm sorry surrounding you feel that was how to protect as his lawyer you feel that you did a good job you said you were a good lawyer right does that be in a good lawyer to not even consider whether it's legal or not but I didn't work for the campaign I was working and I was trying to protect me static campaign i sat with Mr. Trump and this goes back all the way to 2011 this wasn't the first scenario with Mustaine let's go back there so wouldn't my point my point is this is this was an ongoing situation it didn't just start in alright let's uh please you have to let me finish well there's it started enough it didn't start enough let me let me I started that many years early when were you disbarred yesterday from what I read in the paper yesterday when should you have been disbarred based on the legal counsel you were giving your client I I don't have an answer for your question how long were you counsel for Mr. trout since 2007 when is the first time you gave him bad legal advice or failed to inform him of his legal obligations as you as you testified today you did in the case of the payment to miss Clifford when was the first time you did that would that qualify for disbarment I don't know sir I'm not the Bar Association I think you should consult with them maybe occasionally on some of these things is there's no point now I lost my law license is anybody as anybody else promised to pay Mr. Davis for representing you no nobody has no are you offering question quickly July you said and this is also in your testimony in the days before the Democratic convention you became privy to a conversation that some of Hillary Clinton's emails would be leaked is that correct correct okay was that in you said late July do you know the exact day I believe it was either the 18th of the 19th and I would last thought it would be on the 19th but it was definitely July I believe so yes do you know that was public knowledge in June this was Mr. Assange and I'd like to submit this unanimous consent to submit this for the record without objection Mr. Assange reported to the media on June 12th that those emails would be leaked so I'm not saying you have fake news I'm saying you have old news and there's really much to that I would like to yield the remainder of my time to Mr. Higgins thank you sir Mr. Cohen you I'm quoting you close I can't early said I spent last week looking through boxes to find documents that would support your accusations where are those boxes good sir where are those boxes are in your garage or their the storage you know these not boxes they should have been turned over to investigative authorities during the many criminal investigations you've been subject to sir these are the boxes that were returned to me they include add a pertinent to crimes that you've committed should they not have been turned over to remand it to investigative authority did Mr. Lanny Davis know of these boxes gentlemen arm is in charge you may answer the question I don't understand his question sir well good morning Mr. Cohen morning Thank You chairman Cummings for convening this hearing and Thank You Mr. Cohen for voluntarily testifying this morning Mr. Cohen you were the executive vice president and special counsel for the Trump Organization correct I was the executive vice president special counsel to Donald J Trump and special counsel means you were the attorney for him is that right just means I was there in order to handle matters that he felt were significant and important to him individually and those included legal matters yes sir sir as a former attorney you're familiar with legal documents known as non-disclosure agreements or NDA's is that right yes sir I'm sure you know that NDA's properly written in scope can be reasonable in certain business contexts but they can also be abused to create a chilling effect to silence people as we've seen in the me2 movement and in other places isn't that right Mr. Cohen yes and Mr. Cohen the Trump Organization used NDA's extensively isn't that right that's correct mr. Cohen I'm reading from a recent Washington Post article regarding the language in one of these types of NDA's where the terms were described as very broad for instance the terms comfit potential information was defined to be anything that quote Mr. Trump insists remain private or confidential including but not limited to any information with respect to the personal life political affairs and/or business affairs of Mr. Trump or any family member close quote do those terms sound familiar to you I've seen that document in fact there's a class-action lawsuit filed this month by former Trump campaign worker Jessica Denson that this NDA language is illegal because it is too broad to vague and would be used to retaliate against employees who complain of illegalities or wrongdoing would you agree that in the use of the n DS of these types of NDA's with this type of language and later when Donald Trump sought to enforce them that he intended to prevent
people from coming forward with claims of wrongdoing yes would you agree that the effect of the use of these NDA's and their enforcement was to have a chilling effect on people or silenced them from coming forward I apologize I wanted to find chilling I'm not sure oh just that he would in using these NDA's or trying to enforce them would basically try to keep people silent that was the goal and nothing at the Trump Organization was ever done unless it was run through President Donald Trump correct that's a hundred percent certain okay Mr. Cohen do you believe that there are people out there today either from the president's business or personal life who are not coming forward to tell their stories of wrongdoing because of the president's use of NDA's against them I'm sorry sir I don't know the answer to that question okay sir I have a couple other questions for you when was the last communication with President Trump or someone acting on his behalf I don't have the specific date but it was a while ago okay do you do you have a general time frame I would suspect it was within two months post the raid of my my home okay so tell her Lee fall of last year generally generally and what did he or his agent communicate to you unfortunately this topic is actually something that's being investigated right now by the Southern District of New York and I've been asked by them not to discuss it not to talk about these issues fair enough is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding Donald Trump that we haven't yet discussed today yes and again those are part of the investigation that's currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York sir congressman Cooper asked you about whether you or you were aware of any physical violence committed by President Trump I just have a couple quick questions do you have any knowledge of President Trump abusing any control substances I'm not aware of that no do you have any knowledge of President Trump being delinquent on any alimony or child care payments I've been aware of any of them do you have any knowledge of President Trump arranging any health care procedures for any women not in his family I'm not aware of that no thank you I yield back thank you Thank You chairman Mr. Cohen can you tell me the significance of May 6 a couple months from now that's the day they need to surrender yes the federal prison could you for the record state what you've been convicted of I've been convicted on five counts of tax evasion there's one count of misrepresentation of documents to a bank there's two counts one dealing with campaign finance for Karen McDougal one count of campaign finance violation for stormy Daniels as well as lying to Congress thank you can you state what your official title with the campaign was I did not have a campaign title and your position in the Trump administration I did not have one okay in today's testimony you said that you were not looking to work in the White House the Southern District of New York in their statement there are sentencing memo says this Cowen's criminal violations and the federal election laws were also stirred like others crimes by his own ambition and greed Cohen privately told friends colleagues in including C's text messages that expected to be given a prominent role in the new administration when that did not materialize Cohen found a way to monetize his relationship in excess with the president so were they lying or were you lying today I'm not saying it's a lie I'm just saying it's not accurate this I did not want to go to the White House I retained a I brought an attorney in and I sat with Mr. Trump with him for well over an hour explaining the importance of having a personal attorney that every president has had one in order to handle matters like the matters I was dealing with which included say like some some reserve my time for me Daniel's dealing with Stefan Athenians can send other personal matters a scent that need him oh excuse me this is my time thank you ask unanimous consent to submit this in C memo from the Southern District of New York for the record without objection so ordered it's alright I'll get that - unison okay this memo states that you committed four distinct federal crimes over a period of several years you were motivated to do so by personal greed and repeatedly used your power to influence for deceptive ends it goes on to say that you were that they each involved they were distinct in their harms a bare common set of characteristics if they involve deception and we're each motivated by personal greed and ambition there's a lot we don't know in regards to this investigation but here's what we do know we know that you were expecting a job at the White House and didn't get it you made millions lying about your close access to the president you have a history of lying for personal gain including that's banks your about your accountant to law enforcement and your family the Congress the American people the Southern District of New York you've said that you did all this at a blind loyalty to Mr. Trump but your sentencing memo said states this this was not an act out of blind loyalty as Cohen suggests Cohen was driven by a desire to further ingratiate himself with potential future president for whom split a chill set success Cohen himself claimed credit for now we're in a search for truth and I don't know chairman how we're supposed to ascertain the truth in this quagmire of a hearing when the best witness we can bring before this has already been convicted of lying before us and what's sad is the American people have seen this play out before we have people in prominent positions fail and then a couple years later they get a book deal now you're set to go to to jail for a couple years you come out with a multi-million book deal that's that's not bad living and so my question is is will you today will you today to commit to donate any further proceeds to book deals to film reviews to charity no thank you Michael the gentleman yield may I may I - may I finish with the gentleman you yield to Mr. Meadows Mr. Cohen he's me and so I didn't my response listen Mr. Chairman may I finish my response I like to respond but let's answer this question please Mr. Mr. Cohen everything's been made of your lies in the past I'm concerned about your lies today under your testimony just a few minutes ago to me you indicated that you had contracts with foreign entities and and yet we have a truth and testimony disclosure form which requires you to list those foreign contracts for the last two years and you put n/a on there and it's a criminal offence to not have that accurately so when were you lying either and the testimony to me earlier today or when you filled out the form gentleman's time has expired
Mr.Cohen you may answer his question and then whatever you wanted to say on it his questions unfortunately I don't have an answer for his question but Mr. chairman as it relates the gentleman said he does not have an answer Mr. chairman when we were in the majority with all due respect Mr. chairman hold on doesn't have an answer and you did well and over your time he's under oath to tell the truth one of them is not accurate Mr. chairman you will you won't have time Dan Stamen just a question Mr. chairman just a question Mr. Raskin Mr. Raskin Mr. Cohen thank you for your composure today our colleagues are not upset because you lied to Congress for the president they're upset because you stopped lying to Congress for the president now you've described the Trump campaign as a once-in-a-lifetime money-making opportunity the greatest infomercial of all time I think you said and this may be the most trenchant observation of your whole testimony do you think the Trump campaign were presidency ever stopped being about making money for the president his family in his organization yes when did it stop being an ad when he won the election and what did it become about at that point then it had to be about figuring out what to do here in Washington can you carefully explain to America how the hush money payments to Karen McDougal and stormy Daniels worked can you carefully explain what catch and kill is sure I received a phone call regarding both Karen McDougal as well as stormy Daniels obviously at different times stating that there were issues that were going to be damaging to Mr. Trump with the stormy Daniels that started in 2011 when she wanted to have something removed from a website and that it was the first time I met Keith David I spoke with Keith Davidson her then acting attorney and
we were successful in having it taken down from the website was until years later did right by around the time of the campaign did they come back and they asked what what are you going to do now because she's back on the trail trying to sell the story at which point in time David Packer on behalf of the National Enquirer reached out to her and her attorney in order to go take a look at lie-detector tests that would prove that she was telling the truth they then contacted me and told me that she was telling the truth at which point again all the time she took a lie detector allegedly to the lie-detector test and was seen by an employee of the National Enquirer at which point in time I went straight to Mr. Trump's office I explained why this time it's different than another time okay now when you say different another time were there other women paid sexual hush money by Donald Trump or his organization was this a standard operating practice so you're not aware of any other cases where it had taken place I'm not aware of any other case that Mr. Trump paid so which brings us to the Karen McDougal he was supposed to pay he was supposed to pay a hundred and twenty five thousand dollars for the life story of Karen McDougal for whatever the reason may be he elected not to pay it David Becker was very angry because there was also other monies that it had expended on his behalf unfortunately David never got paid back for that either so David pecker had done this in other cases of other mistresses or women other circumstances yes okay not all of them had to do with women are you aware of anything that the president has done at home or abroad that may have subjected him to or may subject him to extortion or blackmail I am not know okay are you aware of any videotapes that may be the subject of extortion or blackmail I've heard about these tapes for a long time I've had many people contact me over the years I have no reason to believe that that tape exists in December 2015 Donald Trump was asked about his relationship with Felix Sater a convicted felon and real estate developer and he replied Felix ater boy have to even think about it I'm not that familiar with him why did Trump endeavor to hide his relationship with Felix ater and what was his relationship well he certainly had a relationship Felix was a partner in a company called Bay Rock that was involved in the deal of the Trump Soho hotel as well as I believe the Trump Fort Lauderdale project why did he want to distance himself that's what Mr. Trump does he distances himself when things go bad for someone and at that point in time it was going bad for Mr. Seder you said you lied to Congress about Trump's negotiations to build his Moscow Tower because he made it clear to you that he wanted you to lie one of the reasons you knew this is because quote
Mr. Trump's personal lawyers reviewed and edited my statement to Congress about the timing of the Moscow Tower negotiations before I gave it so this is a pretty breathtaking claim and I just want to get to the facts here which specific lawyers reviewed and edited your statement to Congress on the Moscow Tower negotiations and did they make any changes to your statement there were changes made additions Jay Sekulow for one were there changes about the timing the question of elements has expired you may answer that there were there were several changes that were made including how we were going to handle that message mister was that we've been yes so the the message of course being the length of time that the Trump Tower Moscow project stayed and remained alive that was one of the changes yes yeah first of all I'd like to clear up something I just all of something that bothers me he started off your testimony and you said anything in response to some question that President Trump never expected it when I just want to clarify that I dealt with some president Trump several times as he was trying to get Wisconsin he was always confident he was working very hard in this idea that somehow he was just running to raise his profile for some future adventure at least in my experience in his preposterous and I always a I'll find it offensive when anti Trump people imply that he just did this on a lark and didn't expect to win but be it as it may my first question concerns your relationship with the court do you expect I mean right now I think your your sense to three years correct that's correct do you expect any time using this testimony other testimony after you get done doing whatever you're going to do this week do you ever expect to go back and ask for any sort of reduction in sentence yes there are ongoing investigations currently being conducted that have nothing to do with this committee or Congress that I am assisting in and it is for the benefit of the rule 35 motion yes so you expect and perhaps what you testify here today will affect going back and reducing this my weaving is a relatively light three-year sentence you expect to go back and ask for a further reduction based off of my appearance here today well based upon whatever you do between now and in your request for the rule 35 motion is in the complete hands of the Southern District of New York and the way the rule 35 motion works is what you're supposed to do is provide them with information that leads to ongoing investigations I am currently working with them right now on several other issues of investigation that concerns them that they're looking at if those investigations become fruitful then there is a possibility for a rule 35 motion and I don't know what the benefit in terms of time would be but this congressional hearing today is not going to be the basis of a rule 35 motion I wish it was but it's not I'd like to yield some time to congressman Jordan to the gentleman from North Carolina Mr. Cohen I'm gonna come back to the question I asked before with regards to your false statement that you submitted to Congress on here it was very clear that it asked for contracts with foreign entities over the last two years have you had any foreign contract with foreign entities whether it's Nevarez or the Korean air line or Kazakhstan but a bank your testimony earlier said that you had contracts with them about lobbying I did no lobbying on top I'm not asking about lobbying Mr.
Cohen they are not government agency traded companies do you have foreign contracts I currently have no foreign did you have foreign contracts over the last two years foreign contracts contracts with foreign entities did you have yes yes why didn't you put them on the form it says it's a criminal offence to not put them on this form for the last two years why did you not do that because those foreign companies that you're referring to are not government companies it says non-governmental Mr. Cohen you signed an autonomy as being non-government and right it says foreign agency if it says foreign contracts do you want us to read it to you I I read it and it was reviewed by my counsel and I am a non-government employee it was not lobbying and or not this has nothing to do with lobbying it says it's a criminal offence to not list all your foreign contracts that's what it says oh then I'm gonna take a look at it before I leave oh you've Burton well and hopefully I will amend it prior to leaving because that's not the way I read your document you know it's just one more example Mr. Cohen of your skirting the truth okay I want to ask one other questions another question Mr.
Cohen is my time not yours were you advised or was your counsel advised to withhold your written testimony to the latest possible date as John Dean said last night on CNN was it my what were you advised or was your counsel advised to withhold your written testimony to this committee at the latest possible date to get it to this committee at the latest possible date as John Dean said that he advised you yes or no no never advised we were John Dean I've never spoken with Johnny has he spoken to your attorney I I don't know I've never spoke as your attorneys right behind last night Oh Oh till 11 12 o'clock you've been coming for some time I we were working til 11 12 o'clock last night to finish every so you were writing it last night Mr. Cohen who think he into that ball we were making edits all the way through the night I'm sorry Thank You Mr. chairman Mr. Cohen in November 2013 President Donald Trump testified under oath in a lawsuit related to the failed real estate project Trump International Hotel and Tower in Fort Lauderdale during the deposition President Trump was asked about his knowledge of Felix Sater a russian-born real estate developer and convicted member of the Russian mafia who according to press reports pled guilty for his role in a 40 million stock manipulation scheme and it's worth noting as well publicized the direct relationship between the Russian mafia and the Kremlin over the years President Trump was asked how many times he interacted with convicted russian mobster Felix Sater in 2013 President Trump testified that quote not many if you were sitting in the room right now I really wouldn't know what he looked like unquote Mr.
Cohen as you previously testified isn't it true that President Trump knew convicted Russian mobster Felix Sater in 2013 when he made that statement yes isn't it true that because of Mr. seeders relationship to the Trump Organization that he had an office in the Trump Tower and on the 26th floor Mr. Trump the 26th floor is important why because it's mr. Trump's floor so he had an office on the same floor as president Trump in fact his office when he left became my office it isn't it also true that convicted russian mobster Sater even had business cards indicating that he was a senior advisor to Donald Trump as reported by The Washington Post yes did convicted russian mobster Sater pay rent for his office no he did not so based on those facts isn't it true that President Trump misled at best or worse lied under oath yes in December 2015 President Trump was asked again about his relationship to convicted Russian mobster Mr. Seder by a reporter for The Associated Press he stated quote Felix Sater boy I have to even think about it unquote he added quote I'm not that familiar with him unquote Mr. Cohen where would we find business records that explain the president's relationship to the convicted Russian mobster Felix Sater would those be in the Trump organizations files they'd be in the Trump organizations files there would be cc's to a rock which was the name of Mr. Saters company I suspect on Mr. Saters email address possibly hard files in possession of Mr. Sater and when you say in possession of the Trump Organization where it depends upon who the attorney was that was working on it now it would probably be in a box off-site they have storage facility that they put old files in addition to convicted russian mobster Sater do you know of any other ties to convicted or alleged mobsters president Trump may have I am not aware is it true that many people with ties to Russia ultimately bought condos and Trump properties usually for cash and if so how many are we talking 10 20 50 I'm not honestly sir I'm not aware of any you know the statement that was you're referring to I believe is made by Eric or Don and I don't agree with it so are you aware of any cash purchases by Russian oligarchs and family members of Trump properties I'm not aware of that I can tell you when you say cash if you mean walking in with the satchel of rubles of the answer is I've never seen that happen I've never heard of it I will tell you when we sold Mr. Trump's property in Palm Beach the home for ninety five million dollars it came in by wire and that came from Mr. Riebe Aliyev's bank account one other question you also talked about President Trump doing negotiations throughout the campaign regarding the Trump Tower and Moscow was he directly involved in those negotiations and if so how do you know well the answer was yes and as it relates to negotiations it was merely follow-ups as to what's currently happening what's happening with Russia meaning he wanted me to give him a status report the problem with this is that the project never advanced because they were unable Mr. Sater was unable to provide me with proof that somebody owns will control the piece of property that we can actually build on gentleman's time is this particular motion Mr. Cohen why did Mr. Trump choose to hire you and why did he trust you with the various tasks that you performed for him I don't know sir you would have to ask him that question well we've heard here that you have bad character you've admitted to that over the years you have no idea why he chose to hire you in 2006 I was asked by Don junior to come meet with his father I did he then followed up by asking if I would take a look at an issue that was occurring at Trump World Tower with the board I went ahead and I looked into it and I found that the statements that were the board were making about Mr. Trump were inaccurate and the reason Don came to me is because I had an apartment there for investment my parents had an apartment there my in-laws live there friends of mine we all bought is a big block from from a brokerage company we got a good price on each unit and we ultimately turned over the board and I became actually the treasurer of the board because the out of control spending was going to put the building into bankruptcy it was proud to say that within a year we had plus a million dollars versus minus-13 at the end of the day Mr. Trump appreciated that and he tasked me with something else it was to handle the problem that Don jr. had created in terms of a business when a license deal and we resolved that and then on top of that missed the third time Mr. Trump had asked me to take a look at the third Trump Entertainment Resorts and Riaan Ization because he had a series of questions that he wanted answered and I read these two stock books gave him the answers that he needed and with that he in the next time I was sitting in his office and he asked me if I was happy at the sleepy old firm that I was with I said yes would you rather work for me and I ask you offer me a job and he said yeah and we negotiated and he actually never went back to my office all right but you suggested that the president sometimes communicates his wishes indirectly for example you said quote Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress that's not how he operates end quote can you explain how he does this sure it would be no different if I said that's the nicest looking tie I've ever seen isn't it what are you gonna do you're gonna fight with him the answer is no so you say yeah it's the nicest looking ties ever seen that's how he speaks he doesn't give you questions he doesn't give you orders he speaks in a code and I understand the code because I've been around him for a decade and it's your impression that others who work for him understand the code as well most people yes Mr. Crona I don't know whether we should believe you today but I'm going to ask you this one last question what is the truth that you know president Trump fears most that's a tough question sir I I don't I don't have it I don't have an answer for that one what does he fear most what's the truth that he fears most from your perspective and again I don't know whether we should believe you here today but you know it's it's a tough question so I I don't know you it's that question it let me ask you this what principles have you chosen to follow in your life and do you wish to follow different principles now I've always tried to be a good person I've tried to be a great friend there were many I think over 40 statements written in my support to the sentencing judge my friends who I treat incredibly well that I know for the 40 years and I treat people after 40 minutes the same exact way did I do my perfect no do I make mistakes yes have I made mistakes absolutely I'm gonna pay the consequences for it but all I would like to do is be able to get my life back to protect my wife and my children support and grow old that's pretty much where I'd like to be and you feel you're following a different set of principles now than you followed throughout your life I do and I'm trying I'm trying very hard I thank you for your questions some of the other ones are really make it difficult to try to you know show some redemption but I am I am trying I am trying thank you thank you Miss Hill Thank You Mr. Chairman I want to mention really quick a clarification on the truth and testimony form the mention was around whether it talks about foreign entities at all and the question is in fact whether witnesses have any contracts or payments originating with a foreign government it does not cover all foreign entities just foreign government entities so mr. Cohen what I'd like you to ask you to do is review this issue over lunch with your attorneys and if you need to amend your form we ask that you do that before the conclusion of today's hearing also I represent a purple district I did not come here for partisan bickering in fact I actively wanted to avoid it so when I asked these questions today it is not as someone who has a vendetta against the president it's as someone who comes from generations of service members who swore an oath to obey the orders of the President of the United States and who along with myself and every single other person up here support uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States my forefathers served their country they served their commander-in-chief and they served the idea that America is free and just and that the law of the land rules us all especially those in the highest levels of our government so I ask these questions to help determine whether our very own president committed felony crimes while serving in the Oval Office including efforts to conceal payments that were intended to mislead the public and influence the outcome of an election I hope to god that is not the case so Mr. Cohen on January 22nd 2018 just days after the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Mr. Cohen paid one hundred and thirty thousand dollars to Stephanie Clifford to silence her during the 2016 presidential campaign a non-profit watchdog called common cause to file a complaint with the called kamikaze fired a complaint with the Department of Justice and FEC alleging the payment to miss Clifford may have represented an illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign I asked that their complaint be entered into the record On February 13 2018 Mr. Cohen you sent a statement to the reporters that said quote I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of a hundred and thirty thousand dollars to miss Stephanie Clifford and neither the Trump organization nor the Trump campaign was party to the transaction with Miss Clifford and neither reimburse me for the payment either directly or indirectly was the statement false the statement is not false I purposely left out Mr. Trump individually from that statement okay why did you say it that way because that's what was discussed to do between myself Mr. Trump and Alan "weiselberger" so it was carefully worded yes ma'am Mr. Cohen a reporter for the magazine Vanity Fair has reported that she interviewed you the very next day on February 14 20:18 about the payment and reimbursement and she wrote quote last February 14th I interviewed Cohen in his office about the statement he gave the FEC in which he said Trump didn't know about the stormy payment or reimburse him for it do you recall this meeting with the reporter I do the reporter also wrote Trump called while I was there I couldn't hear much but he wanted to go over what the public messaging would be is that accurate news did the president call you while you were having a meeting with the reporter yes did the president call you to coordinate on public messaging about the payments to miss Clifford's in or around February 2018 yes what did the president ask or suggest that you say about the payments or reimbursements he was not knowledgeable of these reimbursements and he wasn't knowledgeable of my actions he asked you to say that yes ma'am great in addition to the personal check for $35,000 in July 2017 is there additional corroborating evidence that Mr. Trump while a sitting president of the United States directly reimbursed you hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws there are 11 checks that I received for the year the reason why 11 because as I stated before one had two checks and you have copies of all of those I can get copies I have to go to the bank so we will be able to get copies of all 11 checks that Mr. Trump provided to you as part of this criminal scheme it's either from his personal account as what was demonstrated in the exhibit or it would come from the Donald J Trump account the trust account Thank You Mr. Cohen I yield back the remainder of my time Gibbs Thank You Mr. chairman you know I'm just been sitting here I'm new to the committee I'm not an attorney sometimes your answers you're a competent or are a liar I think may I could be a better attorney I don't know I've looking through this you come in here and you rail on the president United States commander-in-chief weighs over and across the Pacific Ocean trying to negotiate a deal to make this world safer Mr. Chairman that's just having this committee at this time when the Comanches well out of the country is just it's just I think it's a new president but you could call him a racist a cheat you know you know you talk his character and I've been with the president a little bit and and I don't I didn't see that in the president I see a president was very sincere he's trying to make this country better for every American and and and for you to come in here and do that it's a great pen and thence on your part it's really unbelievable real repentance would be go serve your time and and and don't don't come back here and make allegations towards a man you can't substantiate now I'm looking here from the remarks on the prosecutor in the Southern District New York false statements to bank three which Cohen pleaded guilty was far far less isolated event because one of the long series of self-serving lies Cohen told and numerous financial institutions earlier in your testimony I think I heard you say the only there's a home equity loan but apparently the prosecutors in New York think that there's other financial things that you did you also they said managed to commit a series of crimes all withholding himself I was a licensed attorney an upstanding member of the bar also the Southern District prosecutor said they wrote that your consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting that your remorse is minimal and that your instinct is to blame others is strong so I'm kind of left here why you worked for the president for ten years before you as president if you have any sense of integrity that you're trying to tell us you have now it was that bad why didn't you leave you wouldn't you weren't stuck there's financial reasons you had ways to leave your attorney and so that's just kind of you know president's working tirelessly and you couldn't make these allegations and you could've left anytime you want it looks like to me you're trying to save face and and with the other questions that came out here was looks like to me you're gonna have a very lucrative deal at some point in your life but you don't look like you're any closer to retirement if you're gonna have some type of a look of a deal and so one of my questions is and it's come up a little bit talks with you and your attorney and there's been talks about members of Congress and staff and and and he said there was some discussions was any of those discussions that you your attorneys had with members of Congress or staff or prosecutors two considerations to favor or other considerations to your family in the future know the conversations were about the topics and because there were things that originally we could not speak about at the request of whether was the special counsels office with Southern District or any of the other agencies including the House Select Intel or the Senate Select Intel sir just for your personal edification here I was asked to come here your Chairman sent a letter to Mr. Davis and I accepted so I'm here voluntarily and I understand that and if you believe that I understand I think it's the political theater if you believe it's not political theater for me and I take no pleasure in saying anything negative about Mr. Trump you've met him for a short period of time I've been with him for over a decade I've traveled with him internationally I've spent dinners with him it doesn't make me feel good about what's going on here and as far as saving face I'm not sure how being in front of the world being called well she's well the day with his lucrative book the United who he's that come about I think you'll be pretty good in about five years are you the rest of my time to the Chairman I thank the gentleman for yielding earlier you said you started the campaign that's correct in 2011 you started the campaign for president nine states for Donald Trump I certainly did sir now that's news should Trump run calm Wow 2011 was my idea I saw a document in the newspaper that said who'd you vote for in 2012 six percent my people said Michael Michael Allen six percent of my people turned around and said they'd vote for Donald Trump his presence all I brought it into his office and I said to him Mr. Trump take a look at this and why wouldn't that be great and with that is where it all started yeah okay like I'm sure I'm sure he had never thought of anything like that until you no I get 8 seconds I get 8 seconds what did you talk to Mr. chef about I spoke to Mr. Schiff about topics that were going to be raised at the upcoming hearing whoa not just what time you show up actually what you're gonna talk about the gentleman time the expired Wow Mr. Sarbanes Thank You Mr. chairman Thank You Mr. Cohen I know the other side is suggesting that you are a large about liar and that you're lying here today I can't think of anything you have to gain at this point from lying I mean they talk about book deals and other things that you want to do but I see a lot more that you could lose by telling the truth today given the threats and other things that have been made against you and your family so that's how I'm interpreting it and of course you brought documents with you as well to bolster the credibility of your testimony I did want to go back to an earlier line of questioning regarding the preparation of your testimony before you came before the Intelligence Committee you've talked about a meeting at the White House where the testimony was being reviewed and I think you said that there was at least one White House attorney Jay Sekulow who was there and you acknowledged that there was some edits that were made to your testimony so on that topic who at the White House reviewed your testimony I don't know the answer to that the document was was originally created by myself along with my attorney at the time from McDermott will in Emory and there was a joint defense agreement so the document circulated around I believe it was also reviewed by Abby Lowell who represents Ivanka and Jared Kushner why did you provide the testimony to the White House it was pursuant to the joint defense agreement that we were all operating under what were the edits that came back substantively when the testimony I'm sorry I don't know sir I'd have to take a look at the document uh-huh did you have a do you have a reaction to why there might not have been in a sense of protest to what was going to be false testimony that was going to be provided no service the goal was to stay on message it's just limit the relationship whatsoever with Russia it was short there's no Russian context there's no Russian collusion there's no Russian deals that's that's the message that's the same message that existed well before my need to come and testify so it's an example of where this idea this this mentality of you toe the line whatever the story line or the narrative of the day or the month where the year is going to be you tow that line whether it results in false testimony or not I towed the party line and I'm now suffering and I'm gonna continue to suffer for a while along with my family as a result of it so yes let me switch gears quickly before my time expires and you may not have direct knowledge of some of these things but you're offering us some very helpful perspective on how the Trump world operates and frankly another reason I find your testimony fairly compelling incredible is because a lot of the things you're describing a lot of the behavior describing it's very consistent with what we all see every single day so it's not it's not a leap for us arrive in the same place of perspective that you presented I'm interested in in some of the activities around the inaugural committee the inauguration of the president there was a article that appeared in Pro Publica the watchdog group about some negotiation on pricing of things at the Trump Hotel where it looks like the the rental that was being quoted was substantially even double what you would expect to pay according to what the market should bear and it's an offense in a sense that the Trump Hotel was up charging to the inaugural even I couldn't afford to stay there knitting yeah and so I'm just curious do you have a sense of whether that kind of a practice is something that is consistent or inconsistent is it possible that that kind of up charging could be done inside a Trump operation it did happen what I can say to you is I wasn't part of the inaugural committee I raised a lot of money for the inauguration but I was not part of it and there was a lot of things in that actually that issue is something that's also obviously we've read about in the paper being investigated at the current moment Thank You Mr. Higgins Thank You Mr. chairman mr. Cohen on my heart to tell you sir that I'm sorry for what your family's going through our field for your family the word tells us clearly that a man's mouth is his destruction and his lips or the snare of his soul and I see you a man trapped in that however I must tell you that I've arrested several thousand men and you remind me of many of them the ones that immediately become humble and remorseful at the time they're actually booked and while they're incarcerated they're quite penitent and then returned to their former selves when they're back on the street so respectful to your family and what they're going through all honesty to tell you that that's my sense of you good sir I'm gonna give you another opportunity to respond what you brushed off earlier regarding your own statement during this testimony from c-span notation at 2 hours and 50 seconds in you stated regarding your credibility that should be an accused of having no credibility that is exactly for that reason I spent the last week searching boxes to find the information that I did so you don't have to take my word for it I want you to look at the documents and make your own decisions now the documents you're referring to Mr. Cohen are the documents that you submitted in your with your testimony today is that correct I believe they did those documents to be worthy of evidence for this oversight hearing today I leave that to you to decide asked you again sir and please don't be incredulous it's a serious question where are those boxes that contain documents worthy of evidence to be presented to Congress and why have they not been turned over to investigating authorities looking into some of the many criminal activities that you're allegedly cooperating in where are these boxes who knows of the where is this treasure of evidence the boxes that I'm referring to were boxes that were in my law office when the FBI entered and seized documents Mr. chairman I was investigating authorities have noted what the gentleman had just stated and that actions be taken for those boxes to be seized and reviews based upon proper warrants signed by a sitting judge you noted earlier today Mr. Cohen quite incredibly did one of my colleagues asked you we're going in the television deal you express wonderment that your predicament could possibly get you on television it certainly got you on television today has it not sir so I was on television representing Mr. Trump going back into 2011 well I didn't know who you were until today really until until the FBI raided your home most of Americans didn't know who you were how many attorneys you think Mr.Trump has had through the course of his career quite a few out imagine you're you're just one that's in a trap right now and I understand you're trying to get out of it you're in a bind but I ask you good sir have you discussed film and book deals with with your your stated current attorney Mr. Davis Lanny Davis with Mr. Davis you know but I have been approached by many people who are looking to do book deals movie deals and so on says he and go riot is an American but it it it leads me back to my instinct that compares you to many of the men that I've arrested during the course of my career Mr. chairman that are that are primary hearing to introduce the Oversight Committee 116 Congress to the American people has manifested in the way that it obviously is this is an attempt to injure our president lay some sort of soft cornerstone for future impeachment proceedings this is the full intent of the majority I yield my remaining 30 seconds to the ranking member
Mr. Cohen earlier you said the United States Southern District of New York is not accurate in that statement I'm sorry to say that earlier you said that the United States Southern District of New York Attorney's Office that statement is not accurate you said it's not a lie you said it's not accurate you stand by that yes I did not want a role in the new administration but the courts right certainly okay can I finish please I got exactly the role that I wanted there is no shame in being personal attorney to the president I got exactly what I wanted I asked Mr. Trump for that job and he gave it to me all I'm asking him if I could but I appreciate Mr. chairman you're saying that statement from the Southern District of New York attorneys is wrong I'm saying I didn't write it and it's not accurate all right thank you thank you one of the most significant events in the last presidential campaign of course was the dump of email stolen from the Democratic National Committee dumped by WikiLeaks Mr. Cohen during your opening statement which was it at the height of the election you testified you are actually meeting with Donald Trump in July 2016 when Roger stone happened to call and tell Mr. Trump that he had just spoken to Julian Assange is that correct that is correct all right and you said that mr. Assange told Mr. Trump about an upcoming quoting your opening statement quote massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton's campaign well so I want to ask you about Roger stones phone call to the president first of all was that on speakerphone is that what you indicated yes so Mr. Trump has a black speakerphone that sits on his desk he uses it quite often because with all the number of phone calls he gets now in January of this year 2019 the New York Times asked President Trump if he ever spoke to Roger stone about these stolen emails and president Trump answered and I quote no I didn't I never did was that statement by President Trump true no it's not accurate and can you please describe for us to the best of your recollection you were present exactly what Mr. Stone said to Mr. Trump it was a short conversation and he said Mr. Trump I just want to let you know that I just got off the phone with Julian Assange and in a couple of days there's going to be a massive dump of emails that's going to severely hurt the Clinton campaign and whereas Mr. Trump and Mr. stone aware of where those emails came from that I'm not aware of did Mr. Trump ever suggest then or later to call the FBI to report this for each he never expressed that to me did the president at that time or ever since in your knowledge indicate an awareness that this conduct was wrong no the reason I ask is because on July 22nd on the eve of the Democratic convention WikiLeaks published as you know the 20,000 leaked internal DNC emails could your meeting with Mr. Trump have been before that date yes so Mr. Trump was aware of the upcoming dump before it actually happened yes right and I was there any wrecker I don't know whether he knew or not and I don't believe he did what the son of substance of the dump was going to be only that there was going to be a dump of emails and he was aware of that before the dump occurred yes sir all right you know there are any records that would corroborate the day of this meeting calendars perhaps I'm not in possession but I believe again this is part of the special counsel and they in my lovely best suited to corroborate that information it was anyone else present in the room during the call I don't recall for this one no sir is there anyone else the committee should talk to about the president's knowledge of the the WikiLeaks email dump again when he called Rona Graff yelled out to Mr. Trump Rogers on line one which was regular practice and that's his assistant that says yes all right and during a news conference on July 27th 2016 then candidate Trump publicly publically appealed to Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails and make them public he stated and I quote Russia if you're listening I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing now going back to Mr. Stones phone call to the president do you recall if Mr. Trump had knowledge of the WikiLeaks dump at the time of his direct appeal to Russia I am NOT but the call with Mr. Stone you believe was before yes this 22nd yes I'm sorry if you I thought you're talking about a different set of documents that got dumped so I was in Mr. Trump's office was either July 18th or 19th and yes he went ahead I don't know if the 35,000 or 30,000 emails was what he was referring to but he certainly had knowledge right thank you just one last question Mr. Raskin had been asking you some questions and one of the things in your answer was that Mr. pecker expended other monies to protect Mr. Trump can you elaborate on what some of those other activities were sure there was the story about Mr. Trump having a love child with an employee with an employee and actually the husband of that employee works for the company as well and there was a elevator operator who claims that he overheard the conversation taking place between one of Mr. Trump's other executives and somebody in the ended up paying like $15,000 in order to buy that story to find out whether it was true or not and that's just one example of things that David had done over the it was the reason why in the recording when David was looking to become the CEO of Time magazine we were concerned about we'll call it the treasure trove of documents that have been created over the years that if he left somebody opened up the key to a drawer and find all this information so we were going to look to buy all of those life rights and so on the understanding expired Mr. Lawry that's fine I joined congressman Mr. Higgins and feeling for your family they have no part in this you know I've heard all the testimony and I'm trying to decide what clays trying to society is are you really sorry for what you did he just got caught and the thing that amazed me is that in your opening statement which let me quote last fall I pled guilty in federal court to felonies for the benefit of at the direction of and in coordination with individual one was that present yes sir okay your your crimes were of your own to benefit yourself some of them much yes no go through all the ones with the real estate with the banks on your HELOC long you failed to disclose more than twenty million dollars in debt you failed to the close disclose seventy thousand and monthly payments on your fourteen fourteen million line of credit you failed to disclose that you had drawn on that so this was all for yourself this wasn't for the benefit of President Trump this is the benefit Michael Cohen so that's well that's my question did you just get caught and you work for this man for ten years Mr. Cohen you came in here with with these with these he's a con man he's achieved this is a very man that didn't you wiretap him illegally did you not want am President Trump without his knowledge I did record Mr. Trump in a conversation yes is that lawyer-client privilege is that something that an honest guy would do honest lawyer I actually never thought that this was going to be happening and that that recording even existed I had forgotten but you did it yes I did have you ever I had a reason for doing it what was your rage because I knew he wasn't going to pay that money and David pecker had already chewed me out on multiple occasions regarding other monies that he expended but this is a man that you trusted you take a bullet for you secretly recorded let me ask you this was going have you done have you legally or illegally recorded other clients I have recordings of people yes lately or illegally I believe that they're legal did you tell in New York State you don't have to do that so you didn't tell no I did not okay sometimes I also use the recordings for contemporaneous note-taking instead of writing it down I find it easier if the shoe were reversed would you like a your your trusted lawyer recording you I probably would not no no sir it's untrustworthy it's something people just would not do now your bank loans that I just ran down did you have a default on any of these loans no sir so the bank didn't take any loss no no no Bank has I am NOT in default I've never filed a bankruptcy the HELOC you're referring to I replaced that from a different HELOC have you paid it off there is I know no banks any money about your medallion taxi cab do they you have to sell them still well the ones in Chicago yes I do have to sell however New York and the answer is no I don't and they are the industry is going through a major major correction because of ride-sharing it's changed a lot of things the value of it has yes sir right as the so no bank with the bank's make you alone again based on your record actually they did they did post the yes the the bank actually redid and they refinanced the entire package currently hostess yes okay have they never had to do a loan loss reserve for the projected losses I don't know what they did but it's still the same amount that I didn't get the benefit of it no sir most likely they did I was on an audit committee may say may have done that sir but that's for their own banking it not yes my if they suspect you of lying which you admitted to if they suspect you of maybe not being able to make a loan payment they have a have to have a loan losses or that's 125 percent of what you because 20 million they have to post in their account 20 million plus so they get no interest on and you know who pays that who pays for that the American public who deals with that bonus but Sir I'm not in default and I'm current on each and every one of those medallion loans and I've never owned any money to First Republic Bank in fact at the time that I had the HELOC I had more cash sitting in that same Bank then last question in the helical and my Morgan I'm buying have you have been to Prague I've never been to Prague never I've I've never been to the Czech Republic you might bounce my time it's fear and Thank You mr.
Cohen on page 5 of your statement you say and I quote you need to know that mr. Trump personal lawyers reviewed and edited my statement to Congress about the timing of the Moscow Tower negotiations who were those attorneys Jay Sekulow from the White House yes Jay Sekulow I believe Abbey Lowell as well and you have a copy of your original statement that you can provide to the committee I can try to get that for you all right if you would do though do that the letter of intent for the Moscow Tower was in the fall of 2015 correct correct was there an expiration date on that letter of intent there was no expression so it could technically still be in effect today no it's been terminated it has been chairman just me okay did mr.
Trump tell you to offer Vladimir Putin a free penthouse no ma'am so that was that was Felix a der it was a marketing stunt that he spoke about so Felix aider had suggested to you that mr. Trump offer a penthouse to mr. Putin yes because it would certainly drive up the price per square foot no different than in any condo where they start listing celebrities that live in the property in 2016 did you travel to Europe yes did you meet with persons associated with the Moscow tower project no it was for personal personal my daughter was studying at Queen Mary in London so you did not meet with any Russians no there is an elevator tape that has been referenced as a catch and kill product it was evidently a mr. Trump and a woman presumably mrs. Trump is that correct are we talking about in Moscow or the the Trump Tower elevated tape there's a there's an elevator tape that went up for auction yesterday in 2016 as I've heard I've heard about this and who is on that tape it's mr.
Trump with Melania and what happened in that tape the story goes that he struck Melania while in that elevator because there's a camera inside which I'm not so sure actually I'm certain it's not true I've heard about that tape for years I've known four or five different people including folks from ami who have so but there was a tape that went up for auction correct I don't believe that auction was real and I don't believe anybody I don't believe mr. Trump ever struck mrs. Trump ever I don't believe it and are you aware of anyone purchasing that tape then I don't believe it was ever you never saw this tape no ma'am and I know several people who went to go try to purchase it for catch and kill purpose it doesn't exist there mr.
Trump would never in my opinion it's that's that's not some no is there a love child there is not Diwali to the best of my know you would pay off someone to know wasn't more it was ami it was David pecker so he paid off someone about a love child that doesn't exist correct it was about $15,000 okay how many times did mr. Trump ask you to threaten an individual or entity on his behalf quite a few times 50 times more a hundred times more 200 times more 500 times probably over the over the ten years over the ten years he asked you and when you say threatened with litigation or an argument with intimidation a nasty reporter that has is writing an article what do you know about let's go to your tape she said there's probably a hundred tapes voice recordings voice recordings and will you make them available to the committee if you would really like them did mr.
Traffic have to gamble that sir we would re mr. Trump did mr. Trump tape any conversations not that I'm aware of no were you involved in the twenty five million dollar settlement to Trump University I had had a role in that yes who paid the settlement I believe it was mr. Trump I don't know the answer to they don't know the answer but you were involved in the yes in a different aspect there's some reference to a businessman in Kansas being involved in that are you familiar with them I'm not familiar with that No all right finally near my 13 seconds left what do you want your children to know that I'm sorry for everything and I'm sorry for the pain that I've caused them and I wish I can go back in time thank you I yield back don't leave time is part to the to the members of the committee before we go to mr. Miller for yours so that you can plan properly plan there's a vote apparently coming up in about 10 to 20 minutes and what we will do is we will recess and we will come back listen up 30 minutes after the last vote begins got that not it ends 30 minutes after it begins and we'll do that promptly all right hey miss Miller I am very disappointed to have you in front of this committee today quite frankly this isn't the reason the people of West Virginia sent me to Congress I find this hearing not in the best interest of the American people this is another political game with the sole purpose of discrediting the president if it was not already obvious there are members here with a singular goal in Congress to impeach President Trump to achieve this goal they will waste not only precious taxpayer dollars but also time in this committee and Congress as a whole in fact they will go so far as to bring a convicted felon in front of our committee we are supposed to take what you say mr. Cohen at this time about President Trump as the truth but you're about to go to prison for lying how can we believe anything you say the answer is we can't this begs the question why are those in the majority holding this hearing I am appalled we could be focused on actual issues that are facing America like border security neonatal abstinence syndrome or improving our nation's crumbling infrastructure instead the Democrats are trying to grasp at straws let's talk about this witness from his sentencing hearing in the Southern District of New York judge Pauley Staden Mr. Cohen pled guilty to a veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct willful tax evasion making false statements to a financial institution illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to Congress each of the crimes involved deception and each appears to have been motivated by personal greed and ambition this is who we have in front of us today in our committee someone who is about to be sent to prison for three years for evading his tax is deceiving a financial institution lying to Congress among other counts one of the most appalling facts about this hearing is that Mr. Cohen has used his experiences with President Trump both before and after he was elected for his own greed and profit I'd like some yes or no answers isn't it true you tried to sell a book about your time with President Trump entitled Trump revolution from the tower to the White House understanding Donald J Trump yes that that happened early on when I was still even part I believe of the RNC and this book deal which you had with hatchet books was worth around five hundred thousand dollars isn't that correct no more ma'am how much more the other thing was about 750 Wow Mr. Cohen I I did turn it down given that you continue to profit from publicly discussing your time with Mr. Trump I worry that this committee hearing the majority has given you will only serve as a platform for you to continue to lie and sensationalize and exaggerate wherever it suits you do you plan to pursue another book deal about your experiences yes I would presume this book would be a little different than your latest Pat pitch but your new angle might please some new fans anything to sell books Mr. Chairman we've canceled hearings on child separation and on other issues that are close to my heart for this media circus what a waste of time and money for a man who has gladly exploited the name of the President to promote his own name and fill his own pockets it pains me that we are sitting here adding another chapter to his book thank you and I yield the read my time to Mr. Jordan I thank the gentlelady for yielding earlier Mr. Cohen gentlelady from California talked about this this tape I'm so I can't hear you earlier the gentlelady from California talked about this tape this elevator tape that you said does not exist that's correct I do not believe it exists but it was also your testimony that the Trump team was willing to pay to make sure a story about a non-existent tape never became public no sir that's not what that's not what I said they were willing to stop a false tape we looked we learned that this tape was potentially on the market and that it existed and so what we did is exactly what we did with all the other catch and kill we looked for it and if in fact that it did exist we would have tried to stop it that's what I would have done Boston it's a fourth date I've never got it heard it in and I can assure you one thing about Mr. Trump many things he would never ever do something like that I don't see it Thank You Mr.
Chair Mr. Colwyn I'd like to ask you more about the details of the one hundred and thirty thousand dollar payment you made to Stephanie Clifford the adult film actress known as stormy Daniels in order to purchase her silence shortly before the 2016 elections first according to documents filed by federal prosecutors in New York you created a shell company called essential consultants LLC is that correct it's correct and you created this company for the purpose of making the payment to miss Clifford is that correct among other things yes you then use a home equity line of credit to fund the account in the name of essential consultants LLC is that correct that's correct you then wired a hundred and thirty thousand dollars to the attorney representing Mr. Clifford at that time and wrote in the memo feel for the wire the word quote retainer is that correct correct can you tell us why you decided to use this complicated process to make this payment well starting an LLC is not a sophisticated pay for it and they opened it for you and the reason that I used the home equity line of credit as opposed to cash that I had in the same exact Bank was that didn't want my wife to know about it because she handles all of the banking and I didn't want her coming to me and asking me what was the hundred and thirty thousand dollars for and then I was going to be able to move money from one account to the other and to pay it off because I didn't want to have to explain to her what that payment was about I sent it to the Iola account the interest on a lawyer's account to keep Davidson California miss Daniel's attorney he would hold it in escrow until such time as I received the executed NDA non-disclosure agreement Mr. Trump know you were going through this process to hide the payment yes why not just use Mr. Trump's personal or company bank account to make the payment why was the distraction so important beside you not wanting your wife to know what his concern was was that there would be a check that has his very distinct signature onto it and even after she cashed the check all you need to do is make a photocopy of it and it's kind of proof positive on exactly what took place so here he the goal was to keep him far away from as possible can anyone corroborate what you have shared with us absolutely and that is Keith Davidson Allen weiselberger president Trump okay now let's talk about the reimbursement according to federal prosecutors and I quote after the election Cohan sort reimbursement for election related expenses including three hundred and thirty thousand dollar payment prosecutors stated that you and I quote presented an executive an executive of the company for the copy of a bank statement reflecting the one hundred and thirty thousand dollar wire transfer is that accurate that is accurate do you still have a copy of that bank statement yes it's actually made part of the exhibit so you go provided to the committee yes ma'am according to federal prosecutors executives at the company then and I quote agreed to reimburse Cowan by adding one hundred 30,000 and 50,000 grossing up that amount to 360,000 for tax purposes and adding a $60,000 bonus such that home would be paid four hundred and twenty thousand in total executives of the company decided to pay the four hundred twenty thousand in monthly installments the thirty five thousand over the course of a year is that accurate that is accurate what was the purpose of grossing up the amounts is essentially doubling what you had paid to missus miss Clifford another because if you pay a hundred and thirty thousand dollars and you live in New York will you have a fifty percent tax bracket in order to get you one thirty back you have to have two sixty otherwise my what if he gave me back one thirty I would only then I'd be out sixty-five thousand what was the purpose of spreading the reimbursements to you over the twelve monthly installments that was in order to hide what the pain was I obviously wanted the money in one shot would have preferred it that way but in order to be able to put it on to the books Alan why Solberg made the decision that it should be paid over the twelve months so that it would look like a retainer and did Mr. Trump know about this reimbursement method oh he knew about everything yes thank you Mr. Cohen so the president now only knew about the payments he knew and helped to hide the payments and the reimbursements to you yeah we discussed that everything had to go through Mr. Trump and it had to be approved by Mr. Trump and now you're going to prison and he's and I'm going to prison yes ma'am I yield back Thank You Mr. chairman uh earlier yes I yield my time earlier you'd said I'm assuming nor New York's a one-party consent say one person can record the other one without it being illegal correct but you also a member of the New York Bar I was yes how would you rate recording clients in the ethical realm of being a lawyer I know it's it's not illegal and I'm not asking if it's illegal I'm asking if it's out I don't I don't know that okay we'd have to leave any judgment of the Bar Association I think every other lawyer and here knows where it is and the ethical standard when you said you had a hundred tapes were any of those tapes of other clients yes and I think this is pretty amazing I really do didn't any of them waive privilege nope so five minutes ago in the middle of our hearing on Oversight you just immediately responded that you would review it hand over tapes to this committee without any of your previous clients waiving privilege I'm not the only one in possession of those documents those documents are in the heads of all whoever else is in charge of those documents is not my concern my concern is I know lawyers that would go to jail before they would violate attorney-client privilege and in a manner of a second you just said absolutely I will turn those over just trying to cooperate sir at the expense of clients who have never waived privilege they are already in the hints are of all of the agencies as was I didn't ask me what law enforcement determines to do with something and what you determined to do is something client privilege and an attorney trust accounts are about the two most sacred things that you can ever do in your entire career as a lawyer and a matter of a second and the table of with Mr. completely it's out there because Rudy Giuliani waived the prove I'm not talking about Rudy Giuliani I'm talking about you and a man this is it I don't know who's on those tapes only you know who is on those tapes there's a hundred of them the other one is also subject to angle my point is within a matter of a second one second you took no absolutely no calculation of your role as those clients counselor the role that plays in privacy and in the role that plays in the sambar you took when you pass the bar when you sign down to the bar until recently we're a member of the bar and you just immediately said if it if it helps me out in the two day in front of TV yes absolutely
Mr.Chairman you can have them and I think and that just goes into what we're gonna talk about next briefly we talk about these tax these indictments on tax fraud and bank fraud as if they are isolated incidents but they're not isolated incidence of bad judgment these were intricate elaborate lies that created an ear that needed to be held with constant miss I mean just constant deceptions of banks businesses associates accountants potentially your family you received over 2.4 million in personal loans from taxi company taxi medallion company one and those are those those were blown payments for a business loan correct no sir they were you weren't receiving those ok go ahead those were payments that were made by the management company that was operating the medallions to you to me so and you those were just those were deposited into your personal account or in Simon's wife's account it was it was deposited into the joint checking account of my wife and I that's located at the base of the building that we reside in and were those disclosed on your tax returns they are not they were not disclosed on my tax return and in fact when you're a your account and talked to you about those those deposits you told them you wouldn't pay for a memo that you didn't ask to be done that's inaccurate so that's a sentencing court in New York has they wrong I don't know what Mr. Getzel wrote my accountant there are series of issues regarding his memo anyway including the fact he's almost directing me in an earlier memo to commit fraud but putting all that aside with Jeff Quetzal the answer to that is I pled guilty all right and I made my mistake and I'm going as I've said a hundred times now right I'm not so sure why this singular attack on my taxes if you want to look at them a week I'm more than happy to show them to you if every 20 minutes I got plenty of everything every single word that's right I'm gonna reclaim my time not 100% accurate Wow I'm down that's exactly why when it comes to the credibility why I asked Mr. Davis Mr. Monaco to please let's figure out how but that's my point with credibility that you under these aren't isolated right these are not isolated incidents of attack these were constant deceptions whether it's rolling over a 20 million dollar line of credit to a 14 million dollar you went through great lengths to steal that from one bank while at the same time you are reducing your net income to another bank these aren't things that happened on January 1 of 18 January 1 of 17 January 1 of 15 these are things that were constantly involved on a my question is was it exhausting keeping track of all the lies you were telling all these people gentleman's time has expired I don't have an answer for him the narrative thank you thank you Mr. chairman Mr. Cohen good luck on your road to redemption thank you yeah I can be a long way the opposite of that is perdition as I remember and that's particularly hard on your children so I wish you well and I wish your family well Mr. Cohen ah as you sort of describe your road to here Mr. Cooper asked you where when the moment was or moments when you decided you needed to change it strikes me there is a transition that you have you have illuminated here your period of time the 10 years working for somebody who you admired as a developer and then when charlottesville happened and quite frankly when a special counsel called you called you and obviously was a key part of it or you wouldn't be here but the in-between part I find really interesting and troubling at least in terms of appearances and confidence that the American people would have in this institution and and democracy quite frankly so during that period of time I want to ask you about two specific if we have enough time first the Trump Tower so you were negotiating for this as you said it was to be the tallest building in Europe in your guilty plea with a special counsel you quote say it quotes Cohen asked individual one is that president Trump yes okay about the possibility of injury president Trump traveling to Russia in connection with the Moscow project and asked a senior campaign official about potential businesses travel business travel to Russia what when did this conversation happen do you recall early on in the campaign and who was a campaign official Corey Lewandowski what what did you discuss in this beating possibility of which dates that Mr. Trump would have availability if in fact that we were going to go over to Russia to take a look at the project I'm sorry go ahead I'm unfortunately it never came to fruition because we were never successful in getting the first prong of what I needed which was ownership or control over a piece of property and until such time there was no reason to come up with a date but when I first received the information request to go to Russia what I decided to do is spoke to Mr. Trump about it he told me to speak to Cory and see what dates might be available if I got the information I needed so it stopped because of appearances or or didn't stop because the parties decided not to pursue it I'm sorry so why did the pursuit of the Trump Tower that Mr.
Mr. Trump has now said of course he pursued it because he thought he might be going back into the development business why was the reason that the deal stopped because he won the presidency okay so in that interim period of time you must admit it looks troubling that now that we know what foreign influence was attempting to do whether there was collusion or not it certainly appears troubling that you were Mr. Trump was part of this negotiation at the same time what we know perhaps separately that the Russians were engaged in our election well I don't know about them being engaged in the election I can only talk for myself here I would say to Mr. Trump in response to his question what's going on with Russia is I'm still waiting for documents and then that night in a rally he would turn around into his battle cry of no Russia no collusion no involvement witch-hunt okay on a separate subject but somewhat related On January 17 of this year the Wall Street Journal published a story stating that you hire John Gauger the owner of a consulting company who works for Liberty University in Virginia to rig at least two online polls related to Donald Trump did you hire him those were back I believe 2015 2014 14 2014 so you did hire yes I spoke with Mr. Gauger about manipulating these online polls and did he use bots to manipulate the poll he used algorithms and if that includes BOTS than the answer is yes yes that's accurate did the president have any involvement yes in directing you to do this yes what were the results of the poll exactly where we wanted them to be in the CNBC poll we came in at number nine and the Drudge Report he was top of the judge report as well okay poll and also the CNBC poll was called the contenders and it was top 250 people that they named and it was supposed to be the top 10 most influential be let me just finish with earlier today you directed a comment to my colleagues and I'm quoting so like correct me if I got this wrong you said the more people who follow Mr. Trump the more people will be where I am your expectation that people in the administration will end up where you are sadly if they follow blindly blindly like I have I think the answer is yes thank you thank you Mr.
chairman when I ran for Congress I talked about how Washington was broken but I certainly did not expect the level of political gamesmanship partisanship and sheer stagnation of policies that would improve the lives of Americans that I'm a witness in a it is terribly disappointing to me that this committee and its chairman chose to spend our time in questioning an individual that has zero probative value and zero credibility instead of spending our limited time focusing on improving the lives of Americans creating jobs or streamlining the functioning of our federal government yet here we are taking testimony from a convicted liar and not someone who has just lied to his clients or family or friends but testimony from an individual who deliberately and premeditatedly lied to this body he lied to Congress through false statements and written lied to Congress through his testimony he then amplified his false statements by releasing and repeating his lies of the public including the other attention witnesses yet now we on this committee and the American people are expected to believe Mr. Cohen's testimony I don't know a juror in America that would believe anything Mr. Cohen says given his past actions and lies Mr. Cohen you stood before multiple congressional committees before today and raise your right hand and swore an oath to be honest is that correct that is correct and you lied to those congressional committees is that correct previously correct yes sir you stated that Trump never directed you to lie to Congress is that correct that's correct therefore you lied to Congress on your own accord and then admitted to lying to Congress correct I've already stated my piece on that I knew what he wanted me to do I was staying on party line but he never directed you to lie to counter he did not use those words no in your evidence that you provided this committee a mere two hours before the hearing started where payments made to you by Mr. Trump correct among other things yes yet other than your testimony here today there's absolutely no proof that those specific payments were for those specific purposes is that correct it's my testimony that the check that I produced as part of this testimony the 35,000 and then the second check that's signed by Alan weiselberger in dongseong jr. were two checks out of the eleven that were meant for the reimbursement of the hush money payment to stormy Daniels so in your testimony on page 13 you claim and I quote Mr. Trump directed me to use my own personal funds from a home equity line of credit to avoid any money being tracked back to him that could negatively impact his campaign do you have any proof of this direction just the payments sir so no email Mr. Trump doesn't have email so no recording I do not have recordings no no text message Mr. Trump doesn't text message so no direction other than your testimony today did that's what the payment was for and the fact that I paid on his behalf at his direction the money - Keith Davidson's Iola account you're right there's no other test there's no other documentation I have so nothing that you produce as part of your exhibits prove that President Trump directed you in any way to make that payment I don't even know how to into that sir well it's it's pretty simple there's nothing in the evidence that shows or the exhibits that you provided today that show that Trump directed you to make those payments other than the non-disclosure agreement that has been seized by government authorities and is widely shown I don't believe there's anybody out there that believes that I just decided to pay $130,000 on his behalf well you were you were his attorney for Overton that doesn't mean that I pay a hundred thirty thousand well it doesn't mean that he wasn't paying you for representation of counsel okay so how did President Trump even knew you had a HELOC I'm so sorry sir how did President Trump even know you had a HELOC because we discussed it because I told him the same thing that I didn't want my wife to find out about it and as one additional Rudy Giuliani himself came out and expressed that Mr. Trump reimbursed me for the for the money that was spent to pay stormy Daniels and did you tell Chris Como that you had no access to Mr. Trump during October in November of 2016 I'm sorry I don't know what you were frontal your interview with Chris Cuomo III I would need to see the document did you also tell Chris coma that you made these payments without telling Mr. Trump because you wanted to protect Mr. Trump and I was protecting Mr. Trump and you told him that you made these payments without telling him when I said that if that's what I said to Chris Cuomo yes that was my that was my line and if this unsupported claim was true then it would be part of an ongoing investigation as evidence of a crime and the Department of Justice would not let you discuss it during your testimony here today is that correct I don't know how much time is expired yes I did want to say one last thing not only did I lie to the American people I lied to the first lady when the president called me and I was sitting in a car with a of mine and he had me speak to her and explain to the first lady so the answer is there you're you're not that you're not accurate and I don't feel good about any of this and this was not my intention it's Lauren's sorry Thank You Mr. chairman I just want to put on the record as being a black American and having endured the public comments of racism from the sitting president as being a black person I can only imagine what's being said in private and to prop up one member of our entire race of black people and say that that nullifies that it's totally insulting and in in in this environment of expecting a president to be inclusive and to look at his administration speaks volume so I have some questions I want to talk to you about this intimidation of witness Mr. Cohen you were initially scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on February the 7th but your legal team delayed your testimony quoting ongoing threats against your family from the president an attorney Giuliani is that correct yes ma'am and then on November 29th after you admitted that the president's negotiations over a real estate project and Russia continued well through the summer before the 2016 election President Trump called you quote a weak person and accused you of lying and then on December 16th after 8:00 2018 after you disclose that it was the president who directed you to arrange hush money payments to stormy Daniels and Karen egg duel to conceal his extramarital affairs he called you the president I think a rat Mr. coin why do you feel or believe that the president is repealing attacking you you are stating that you feel intimidated asking us to protect you following your cooperation with the law enforcement when you have access to 60 plus million people that follow you on social media and you have the ability within which to spark some action by individuals that follow had follow him and from his own words that he can walk down Fifth Avenue shoot someone and get away with it it's never comfortable when the President of the United States do you think he can do to you a lot and it's not just him it's those people that follow him in his rhetoric what is a lot I don't know I don't walk with my wife if we go to a restaurant or we go somewhere I don't walk with my children I make them go before me because I'm I have fear and it's the same fear that I had before when he initially decided to drop that tweet in my cell phone I receive some and I'm sure you you'll understand I received some tweets I received some facebook Messenger all sorts of social media attacks upon me whether it's the private direct message that I've had to turn over to the Secret Service because they are the most vile disgusting statements that anyone can ever receive and when it starts to affect your children that's when it really affects you On January 20 2019 Mr. Giuliani called your father-in-law quote a criminal and said that he may have ties to organized crime Mr. Cohen do you believe that the president Mr. Giuliani publicly targeted your father-in-law as an effort to intimidate you can you elaborate why is your father-in-law being pulled into this I don't know the answer to that my father-in-law was in the clothing business came to this country because they baited the 1972-73 the expulsion of Jews from the Ukraine he came here to this country he worked hard and he's now enjoying his retirement never in my life did I think that Mr. Trump would do something so disgraceful and he's attacking him because he knows I care about my family and to hurt me he's trying to hurt them interestingly enough my father-in-law's biggest investments happened to be in a Trump property so it just doesn't make any sense to me I want to be clear any efforts to prevent a witness from testifying in front of Congress is against the law I want to be real clear about that and as the chairman has said retaliating against witnesses and threatening their families and members is a textbook mob tactic that does not benefit the President of the United States of this country and I want to be on the record this hearing is not about discrediting the president it's about the Oval Office that we take as members of Congress to have checks and balances and to meet the laws and the policies of this country to serve thank you and I yield back that's right Mr. Cohen I do want to offer my heartfelt thoughts for your family what they're going through I know it's tough and for your time here today I know it's tough for you to stand here in front of this committee the Chairman suggested you volunteered to come here you testify that you are asked to come here is it correct you were asked to come here yes or no yes the combined total of the crimes for which your sentence would bring a maximum of 70 years yes or no yes yeah you were going to prison for three years yes or no yes the prosecutors of the Southern District of New York state a secure lines Cohen falsely understated the amount of debt he was carrying and omitted information from his personal financial statements to induce a bank to lend on incomplete information you told my colleague here today that you did not commit bank fraud not parsing different statutes which I understand could be owned for clarity are you or are you not guilty of making false statements to a financial institution yes or no yes I pled guilty you said clearly to Mr. Cloud and Mr. Jordan that the Southern District of New York lawyers were being untruthful and characterizing your desire to work in the administration do you say again that the lawyers of the southern risk of New York are being untruthful and making that characterization yes or no I'm saying that's not accurate okay so you're saying they're being untruthful I'm not using the word untruthful that's yours I'm saying that that's not accurate I did not want a role or title in the administration I'm sure the law I've got the title that I want I'm sure the lawyers the SDN well I appreciate that distinction question you testified today you have never been to Prague and have never been to the Czech Republic do you stand behind that statement yes they do I offer into the record an article in known conservative news magazine Mother Jones by David corn in which he says he reviewed his notes from a phone call with Mr. Cohen that Mr. Cohen said quote I haven't been to Prague in 14 years I was in Prague for one afternoon 14 years ago end quote question you as my friend Mr. Armstrong rightly inquired offered to the committee taped information involving clients with the bat of an eye do you stand behind that yes or no so I'm sorry I said so fist you as my friend mr. Armstrong rightly inquired offered to this committee taped information involving your clients with the bat of an eye do you stand behind that offer if the Chairman asks me and it's I'll take it under advisement now and it's not a problem in terms of attorney-client privilege yes I will turn it over you as my friend Mr. Meadows pointed out misled this committee even today in a written submission that contradicted your testimony you have suggested you're going to review that did you review are you going to review it in our next break to correct the record yes or no yes question you helped out the president's campaign or were involved in the campaign as a representative as a spokesman even in your words today it was your idea for the campaign dating back to 2011 is that accurate yes or no yes 2011 is a year that sticks in my head first the year my daughter was born and it was the year I was diagnosed with cancer I was not then pushing for Donald Trump to be President I was fighting cancer even in 2016 I was publicly backing a certain Republican from Texas some might guess who it was but you you were all-in and you either wanted Donald Trump to be your president because it would be good for the country or you did it for your own personal advancement or both sort of the two options real Americans in my district and across the country wanted the president to be president not in any way because he's perfect but rather because they are sick and tired of this hell hole they supported the president because they are sick and tired of the games that we are seeing here today they are sick and tired of politicians refused to secure the border balance our budget restore health care freedom and then get the hell out of their way so they can lead their life there defied that we amassed about $100,000,000 of death per hour which means we blown through three hundred four hundred four hundred and fifty million dollars during this charade in amassing debt four hundred and fifty million dollars they're sick and tired of a Democrat Party that willfully ignores cartel driven Asylum crisis on our border that endangers American citizens and the migrants who seek to come here just yesterday in Eagle Pass Texas Border Patrol agents arrested an ms-13 gang member McAllen Texas federal authorities are offering a reward for a man to Mexico tied to Mexico's Gulf Cartel for his alleged roles in various murders kidnappings and home invaders in South Texas a mass Honduran migrant brush at the texs border, Texas border forced brief closure of the Laredo port this is this week this is what we're ignoring this is not what we're doing for the American people while we engage in this charade this is not what the American people sent us here to do this is an embarrassment for our country I talked to my beautiful wife back in Dripping Springs Texas just before the hearing I said don't bother I said don't bother watching she said as i roughly expected don't worry I won't I have more important things to do and she like the rest of the American people have a hell of a lot more important things to do than to watch this I said amen darling I can't help but think that is what the majority the American people are thinking while watching this unbelievable circus I yield back this basket Thank You Mr. Chairman I've got a lot to do as well I've got houses in schools to help rebuild in the Virgin Islands expansion of voting rights educational opportunities criminal justice reform thank God the Democratic majority can walk and chew gum at the same time so we're here with you right now Mr. Cohen you learned well in the ten years that you worked with Donald Trump what was your position with the GOP in the up to eight months ago I was vice-chair of the RNC Finance Committee you were vice chair of the Finance of the Republican National Committee right correct okay I do want to say I was a Democrat until Steve Wynn found out I was a Democrat and made me switch parties Democrat to be the vice chair good let's get to I don't only have a little bit of time on behalf of the many members here who have expressed to your family our apologies to your family but I want to apologize for the inappropriate comments and tweets that have been made by other members of this body and as a former prosecutor and as former counsel on house ethics I think that the very least there should be referral to the Ethics Committee of witness intimidation or tampering under USC 1512 of my colleague Matt gates and it may be possibly him being referred for a criminal prosecution so I want to put that on the record on May 2nd 2018 the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani who was his personal attorney like you appeared on Fox News and referred to the president's reimbursement to you for the hundred and 30 payment for Stephanie Clifford as part of a retainer and on May 3rd 2018 one day after Mr. Giuliani's appearance the president tweeted and I quote Mr. Cohen an attorney received a monthly retainer not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign from which he entered into through a number sent a private contract between two parties known as a non-disclosure agreement or NDA the office of government ethics which is the agency which the federal government with responsibility over what the president needs to report publicly about his assets was puzzled by this it seems and they were skeptical that a retainer was actually in place and asked to see the retainer agreement on call of May 8th with the president the president's personal counsel sherry Dillon replied that she would and I quote not permit OGE staff to read the agreement because of his privilege his Dylan would not even let a GE staff come to her office to review the retainer agreement Mr. Cohen in a court filing made in August of last year federal prosecutors stated that quote and truth and in fact there was no such retainer agreement Mr. Cohen did you ever have a retainer agreement in place with the president for the payment to miss Clifford no so was Mr. Giuliani's statement inaccurate yes was Miss Dylan's statement about the retainer agreement inaccurate I'm sorry miss Dylan statement is about the retainer agreement is it inaccurate and her statement is well and her statement to them was quote not to permit OGE staff to read the agreement because it is privileged there was no agreement and is the president's tweet or his statement accurate and his statement was Mr. Cohen an attorney received a monthly retainer not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign from which he entered in through through a reimbursement that's not accurate you've mentioned some individuals to my colleague from New York miss Connolly and also in your testimony about Mr. Weisenberger and other individuals miss Rona who are those individuals are they with the Trump Organization there are other people that we should be meeting with so Alan Weissenberg is the chief financial officer as many names as you can because so we can get to them yes ma'am is miss Rona what is Miss Ronis Rona graph is the Mr. Trump's executive assistant and would she be able to corroborate many of the statements that you've made here yes she was her office is directly next to his and she's involved in a lot that went on hey Mr. Cohen when the president's lawyers were having the discussions with the office of government ethics in 2018 did they reach out to you to talk with you about the payments no ma'am and what did you did you share anything with them otherwise in any other conversation I do not recall no can the committee obtain more information about these facts by attaining testimony documents from the White House the Trump Organization and the president's attorneys I believe so Mr. chair I think that those are the individuals that we should be speaking with and I yield back at this time mitii will now stand in recess again we will come back listen up 3035 minutes 35 minutes after the last vote begins so for Mr. Cohen Mr. Cohen we're talking about probably about an hour about an hour or so all right.