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EXCLUSIVE: Two Republican legislature committee chairmen are again referring ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to the Justice Department for lying to Congress, Fox News Digital has learned.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer had antecedently referred Cohen to the Justice Department aft Cohen allegedly lied to Congress successful a February 2019 hearing.
Cohen pleaded blameworthy successful 2018 to run concern violations, making mendacious statements to Congress and taxation evasion. He was sentenced to 3 years successful prison.
In a missive sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday, obtained by Fox News, Comer and Jordan wrote that overmuch of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s ongoing lawsuit against erstwhile President Trump is based connected grounds from Cohen, whom they called a "repeated liar."
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Former President Trump and his erstwhile lawyer Michael Cohen. (Credit: Getty Images/Michael Cohen TikTok)
In the missive Wednesday, Jordan and Comer punctual Garland that Republicans, successful February 2019, referred Cohen to the Justice Department "for perjury and knowingly making mendacious statements during his testimony" earlier the House Oversight Committee connected Feb. 27, 2019.
Jordan and Comer said, astatine the time, members cited "six circumstantial lies told by Cohen and urged the Justice Department to instrumentality due action."
"Last year, we learned that Cohen separately lied again earlier the House Permanent Select Committee connected Intelligence successful a 2019 deposition," they wrote. Cohen appeared to admit to being dishonest successful Trump's non-jury civilian proceedings stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit.
"Cohen’s grounds is present the ground for a politically motivated prosecution of a erstwhile president and existent declared campaigner for that office," Jordan and Comer wrote. "In airy of the reliance connected the grounds from this repeated liar, we reiterate our concerns and inquire what the Justice Department has done to clasp Cohen accountable for his mendacious statements to Congress."
Cohen, during his February 2019 testimony, "made willfully and intentionally mendacious statements of worldly information that were contradicted by the grounds established by the Justice Department successful United States v. Cohen," they wrote. Jordan and Comer besides said Cohen made statements that were contradicted by witnesses with firsthand cognition of the subject.
Those lies, according to Jordan and Comer, included Cohen denying committing assorted fraudulent acts, to which helium had pleaded blameworthy successful national court.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Cohen besides repeatedly testified that helium did not question employment successful then-President Trump’s White House, "despite grounds from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York demonstrating that ‘Cohen privately told friends…that helium expected to beryllium fixed a salient relation and rubric successful the caller administration.’"
Jordan and Comer besides said Cohen stated that helium "did not nonstop the instauration of a Twitter relationship known arsenic @WomenForCohen, which is contradicted by statements from the proprietor of the IT steadfast that created the relationship for Cohen."
They besides said Cohen lied erstwhile helium said helium did not person immoderate reportable overseas authorities contracts, contempt entering into 2 contracts successful 2017 with entities owned successful portion by overseas governments.
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Jordan and Comer said Cohen’s grounds besides contradicted assorted aspects of his written statement, which helium submitted successful beforehand of the hearing. Cohen asserted that helium committed crimes retired of "blind loyalty" to Trump, but Jordan and Comer said that was contradicted by national prosecutors successful national court.
Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Most recently, Jordan and Comer said, was successful October 2023, erstwhile Cohen "admitted to lying to Congress" during his grounds successful the Letitia James lawsuit against Trump.
When asked if helium was being "honest" successful beforehand of the House Intelligence Committee successful February 2019, Cohen testified: "No."
"So you lied nether oath successful February of 2019? Is that your testimony?" Trump lawyer Alina Habba asked him.
"Yes," Cohen replied.
The revelation prompted existent House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and committee member, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., successful October to notation Cohen again to the DOJ for perjury and knowingly making mendacious statements to Congress.
Just past week, Turner and Stefanik doubled down connected their calls for different DOJ probe into Bragg’s "star witness."
"Currently, Manhattan’s popularly elected District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, is utilizing Cohen arsenic his prima witnesser successful an ongoing transgression prosecution of President Donald Trump," Jordan and Comer wrote, noting that Bragg’s lawsuit "relies heavy connected Cohen’s grounds and credibility."
But the lawmakers said, successful short, "to prosecute President Trump, Bragg has revived this ‘zombie’ lawsuit relying connected a known—and convicted—liar and his grounds astatine a legislature proceeding successful which helium lied astatine slightest six times."
Jordan and Comer stressed that Bragg, "a popularly elected, partisan authoritative is utilizing this convicted liar to transportation retired his politically motivated prosecution of a erstwhile president."
"Therefore, we again petition that the Justice Department analyse whether immoderate of Mr. Cohen’s grounds warrants different charge" for violating the law, they wrote.
Former US President Donald Trump, left, and Susan Necheles, lawyer for erstwhile US President Donald Trump, right, successful a courtroom astatine Manhattan transgression tribunal successful New York. (Getty Images)
"Congress cannot execute its oversight relation if witnesses who look earlier its committees bash not supply truthful testimony," Jordan and Comer wrote.
The unprecedented transgression proceedings for Trump is ongoing. Cohen is expected to beryllium called to testify.
Cohen arranged the $130,000 hush wealth outgo to big movie histrion Stormy Daniels earlier the 2016 election.
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Trump, later, made respective payments of $35,000 to Cohen, who was his idiosyncratic lawyer astatine the time. Bragg is trying to beryllium those payments, which totaled $420,000, were a reimbursement for the hush wealth payment.
But Trump defence attorneys accidental that the $35,000 payments were "not a payback," but instead, ineligible payments.
In an exclusive interrogation with Fox News Digital, Trump said it was not falysifying a grounds for a bookkeeper to enactment a outgo arsenic "legal expense" portion paying a ineligible fee.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks to talk to the property astatine the extremity of the time during his proceedings for allegedly covering up hush wealth payments astatine Manhattan Criminal Court connected May 7, 2024 successful New York CitY.
"They telephone it a ineligible disbursal — and that’s what it was. It was a ineligible expense," Trump told Fox News Digital. "It was ineligible fees paid to a lawyer — that’s called a ineligible expense."
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying concern records successful the archetypal degree.
The charges are related to alleged payments made up of the 2016 statesmanlike predetermination to soundlessness Daniels astir an alleged 2006 extramarital matter with Trump.
Bragg indispensable person the assemblage that not lone did Trump falsify the concern records related to alleged hush wealth payments, but that helium did truthful successful furtherance of different crime: conspiracy to beforehand oregon forestall election, which is simply a felony.
On their own, falsifying concern records and conspiracy to beforehand oregon forestall predetermination are misdemeanor charges.
Brooke Singman is simply a governmental analogous and newsman for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
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