Lawmakers grilled Michael Cohen in private last week on whether President Donald Trump ever discussed a pardon with him.
The House and Senate Intelligence Committees pressed the former Trump “fixer” on the question as part of an inquiry relating to alleged obstruction of justice by the president, the Washington Post reported. Cohen offered “explosive” public testimony about his former boss last week that Democrats immediately seized upon to open up new avenues of investigation against the president.
Cohen grilled on pardon question
Cohen’s public testimony was music to the Democrats’ ears last week as he described his longtime former boss and business associate as a “con-man,” “liar,” and a “cheat.” The dramatic hearing had Democrats licking their chops as they moved to launch new inquiries into the president’s business, family, and personal finances.
But in private, Cohen was being pressed on a question that may give a hint of the Democrats’ impeachment agenda. “Sources” close to the discussions told the Washington Post that lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees put Cohen’s feet to the fire on whether he ever talked about a pardon with Trump for his crimes.
Cohen is heading to prison in May for a spate of crimes, including lying to Congress, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations for paying off two women to keep quiet about affairs they had with Donald Trump. The lawmakers were apparently interested in finding out whether Trump or somebody in his administration dangled a pardon before Cohen to pressure him to side with Trump against the Justice Department.
Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis claimed that Cohen offered up “game-changing” evidence to lawmakers on both committees of “lying and obstruction.” However, Trump allies have accused Davis, a Clinton ally, of coaching Cohen to attack president Trump across several hours of dramatic and highly political testimony last week, much of which read like something off of an MSNBC script.
Cohen has publicly denied ever seeking or discussing a pardon with Trump.
Impeachment efforts coming?
The report may be an indication that Democrats are increasingly interested in investigating Trump for obstruction of justice, now that the collusion argument is slowly falling apart. Trump has been accused of obstructing justice for firing former FBI director James Comey, as well as for other hostile actions and statements towards the FBI and DOJ.
Democrats have wasted no time seizing upon Cohen’s public testimony against his former boss, including comments that Trump behaves much like a mobster and that he had Cohen intimidate countless people to serve his interest over the years, a characterization in keeping with the Democrats’ theories that Trump has threatened witnesses and obstructed justice to protect himself. Lawmakers have promised to bring in more witnesses mentioned by Cohen in his testimony to up the ante in their crusade against the president, which they pledge will continue regardless of what Robert Mueller ultimately finds.
Trump has accused Cohen of being a liar and a “rat” who is desperate to lighten his punishment by offering false, incriminating testimony against him. Some have noted that Cohen’s testimony failed to yield evidence of collusion, a critical fact as Democrats begin to backslide on the threshold needed to impeach the president, with some appearing to show more interest in Trump’s personal business or allegations that he obstructed justice.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, led by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), issued a storm of subpoenas Monday as they opened an inquiry into alleged obstruction by the president and conflicts of interest. It’s the latest Democrat investigation launched by the likes of Intel Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Oversight and Reform chief Elijah Cummings (D-MD), who seem intent on investigating Trump’s personal life and business background until he’s in the grave if necessary.
Cohen will appear again before the intelligence communities on Wednesday.
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