Summary

Michael Cohen Testifies Before House Oversight Committee 2/27/19 Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee about various investigations related to the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. Mr. Cohen >> I believe that the top signature is Donald Trump Jr. And that the bottom signature is, I believe, is Allen Weissleberg's. Mr. Cummings >> Can you tell me the date of that check? Mr. Cohen >> March 17th of 2017. 110001 Mr. Cummings >> Wait a minute. Hold up. The date on the check is after President Trump held his big press conference claiming that he gave up control of his businesses. How could the president have arranged for you to get this check if he was supposedly playing no role in his business? Mr. Cohen >> Because the payments were designed to be paid over the course of 12 months, and it was declared to be 110032 >> a retainer for services that would be provided for the year of 2017. Mr. Cummings >> Was there a retainer agreement? Mr. Cohen >> There was no retainer agreement. Mr. Cummings >> Would Don Junior or Mr. Weissleberg have more information about that? Mr. Cohen >> Mr. Weissleberg for sure about the entire discussions and negotiations prior to the election, and Don Junior would have cursory information. 110103 Mr. Cummings >> Now, here's another one. This one appears to be signed by Donald Trump himself. Is that his signature? Mr. Cohen >> That is Donald Trump's signature. Mr. Cummings >> So let me make sure I understand. Donald Trump wrote you a check out of his personal account while he was serving as President of the United States of America to reimburse you for hush money payments 110131 to Ms. Clifford. Is that what you are telling the American people today? Mr. Cohen >> Yes, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Cummings >> One final question. The President claimed he knew nothing about these payments. His ethics filing said he owed nothing to you. Based on your conversations with him, is there any doubt in your mind that President Trump knew exactly what he was paying for? 110201 Mr. Cohen >> There is no doubt in my mind and I truly believe there's no doubt in the people of the United States of America. Mr. Cummings >> These new documents appear to corroborate what you just told us. With that, I'll yield to the gentleman and ranking member. Mr. Jordan >> I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we're in the courthouse andly take you for every penny you still don't have and I will come after your daily beast and everybody else that you possibly know. 110232 So I'm warning you, tread very efing lightly because what I'm going to do to you is going to be efing disgusting, you understand me? Mr. Cohen, who said that? Mr. Cohen >> I did. Mr. Jordan >> And did you say that, Mr. Cohen, in your testimony on page two, you said you did things for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect him. Was that statement that I just read that you admitted to saying, did you do that to protect Donald Trump? 110301 Mr. Cohen >> I did it to protect Mr. Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. Mr. Jordan >> In your sentencing statement back in December in front of the judge, you said this, Mr. Cohen, my weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to Donald Trump, a blind loyalty that led me to choose a path of darkness. Is that accurate, Mr. Cohen? Mr. Cohen >> I wrote that. Mr. Jordan >> You wrote that and said that in front of the judge, is that right? Mr. Cohen >> That's correct. 110329 Mr. Jordan >> Let me read a few other things here and let me ask you why you did some of these things. When you filed a false tax return in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, was all that out of blind loyalty to the president? Mr. Cohen >> No, it was not. Mr. Jordan >> When you failed to report 4 million in income to the internal revenue service, did you do that to protect Donald Trump? Mr. Cohen >> No, I did not. Mr. Jordan >> And when you failed to pay 1.4 million in taxes -- 110402 >> I got constituents who don't make that in a lifetime. When you failed to pay 1.4 million in taxes to the U.S. Treasury was that out of blind loyalty to the president of the United States? Mr. Cohen >> It was not. But the number was 1.38 and change and I have paid that money back to the IRS. Mr. Jordan >> I think the American people appreciate that 1.38. Mr. Cohen >> I would also like to say it was over a course of five years, approximately 260,000 a year. 110433 Mr. Jordan >> That's what I said, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, that's five years. Mr. Cohen >> Yes. Mr. Jordan >> Got it. When you made false statements to financial institutions concerning a home equity line of Credit, Taxi medallions on your Park Avenue apartment in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and you plead guilty to making those false statements to those banks, was that all done to protect the president? Mr. Cohen >> No, it was not. 110459 Mr. Jordan >> How about this one. When you created the fake Twitter account women for Cohen and paid a firm to post tweets like this one, "In a world of lies, deception and fraud, we appreciate this honest guy @Michael Cohen, #tgif #handsome #sexy. Was that done to protect the president? Mr. Cohen >> Mr. Jordan I didn't actually set that up. It was done by a young lady that worked for red finch. During the course of the campaign which you would know, is somewhat crazy and wild, 110535 we were having fun. That's what it was, sir. We were having fun. Mr. Jordan >> Was it done to protect the president? Mr. Cohen >> That was not done to protect the president? Mr. Jordan >> Was it a fake Twitter account? >> No. It was a real Twitter account. It exists. >> You paid a firm to create this-- Mr. Cohen >> I didn't pay the firm. It was done by a young lady that worked for the firm. Again, sir, we were having fun during a stressful time. Mr. Jordan >> The point is Mr. Cohen did you lie to protect the president or did you lie to help yourself? 110601 Mr. Cohen >> I'm not sure how that helped me, sir. Mr. Jordan >> I'm not sure how it did either. Mr. Cohen >> Right. And I would like to also note that more than half the people on that site are men. Mr. Jordan >> Here's the point. The chairman just gave you a 30-minute opening statement and you have a history of lying over and over and over again. Frankly, you don't have to take my word for it. Take what the court said, take what the southern district of New York said. Cohen. did crimes that were marked by a pattern of deception and that permeated his professional life. 110635 These crimes were distinct in their harms but very common set of circumstances. They each involved deception and were each, each motivated by personal greed and ambition. A pattern of deception for personal greed and ambition. And you just got 30 minutes of an opening statement where you trashed the president of the United States of America. Mr. Cohen, how long did you work for Donald Trump? 110701 Mr. Cohen >> Approximately a decade. Mr. Jordan >> Ten years? Mr. Cohen >> That is correct. Mr. Jordan >> You said all these bad things about the president there in that last 30 minutes, and yet you worked for him for ten years? All those bad things -- I mean, if it's that bad, I can see you working for him for ten days, maybe ten weeks, maybe even ten months. But you worked for him for ten years. Mr. Cohen, how long did you work in the white house? 110730 Mr. Cohen >> I never worked in the white house. Mr. Jordan >> That's the point, isn't it, Mr. Cohen? Mr. Cohen >> No, sir. Mr. Jordan >> Yes, it is. Mr. Cohen >> No, it's not, sir. Mr. Jordan >> You wanted to work in the white house and you didn't get brought to the dance. Mr. Cohen >> Sir, I was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the president of the United States of America. I did not want to go to the white house. I was offered jobs. I can tell you a story of Mr. Trump reaming out Reince Priebus because I had not taken a job where Mr. Trump wanted me to, which is working with Don McGahn 110801 at the white house general counsel's office. One second. What I said at the time -- and I brought a lawyer in who produced a memo as to why I should not go in, because there would be no attorney/client privilege. And in order to handle some of the matters that I talked about in my opening, that it would be best suited for me not to go in and that every president had a personal attorney. Mr. Jordan >> Here's what I see. I see a guy who worked for ten years and is here trashing the guy he worked for for ten years, didn't get a job in the white house, and now you're behaving just like everyone else who got fired or didn't get the job they wanted like Andy Mccabe, like James Comey, same kind of selfish motivation after you don't get the thing you want. 110848 That's what I see here today and I think that's what the American people see. Mr. Cohen >> Mr. Jordan, all I wanted was what I got, to be personal attorney to the president, to enjoy the senior year of my son in high school and waiting for my daughter who is graduating from college to come back to New York. I got exactly what I want. Mr. Jordan >> Exactly what you want? Mr. Cohen >> That's right. Mr. Jordan >> You're going to prison. Mr. Cohen >> I received exactly what I wanted. 110914 Mr. Cummings, Chairman >> The gentleman's time has expired. Ms. Wasserman Schultz. Ms. Schultz >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Cohen, thank you for being here today. As you likely know, I served as the chair of the democratic national committee at the time of the Russian hacks and when Russia weaponized the messages it had stolen. But I want to be clear, My questions are not about the harm done to my individual by wikileaks and the Russians. 110941 It's about the possible and likely harm to the United States of America and our democracy. I have a series of questions that I hope will connect more of these dots. Mr. Cohen, is it your testimony that Mr. Trump had advanced knowledge of the Russia wikileaks release of the DNC's e-mails? Mr. Cohen >> I cannot answer that in a yes or no. He had advanced notice that there was going to be a dump of e-mails, but at no time did I hear the specificity of what those e-mails were going to be. 111015 Ms. Schultz >> But you do testify today that he had advanced knowledge of their imminent release. Mr. Cohen >> That is what I had stated in my testimony. Mr. Schultz >> And that he cheered that outcome? Mr. Cohen >> Yes, ma'am. Ms. Shultz >> Did Mr. Trump likely share this information with his daughter ivanka, son don junior or Jared Kushner? Mr. Cohen >> I'm not aware of that. Ms. Schultz >> Was ivanka, Jared or don junior still involved in the Russian tower deal at that time? 111044 Mr. Cohen >> The company was involved in the deal, which meant that the family was involved in the deal. Ms. Schultz >> If Mr. Trump and his daughter ivanka and son Donald junior are involved in the Russian trump tower deal, is it possible the whole family is conflicted or compromised with a foreign adversary in the months before the election? Mr. Cohen >> Yes. Ms. Schultz >> Based on your experience with the president and knowledge of his relationship with Mr. Stone, do you have reason to believe that the president explicitly or implicitly authorized Mr. Stone to make contact with wikileaks and to indicate the campaign's interest in the strategic release of these illegally hacked materials? 111122 Mr. Cohen >> I'm not aware of that. Ms. Schultz >> Was Mr. Stone a free agent reporting back to the president what he had done? Or was he an agent of the campaign acting on behalf of the president and with his apparent authority? Mr. Cohen >> No. He was a free agent. Ms. Schultz >> A free agent that was reporting back to the president what he had done? Mr. Cohen >> Correct. He frequently reached out to Mr. Trump, and Mr. Trump was very happy to take his calls. It was free service. Ms. Schultz >> Roger stone says he never spoke with Mr. Trump about wikileaks. How can we corroborate what you are saying? Mr. Cohen >> I don't know. But I suspect that the special counsel's office and other government agencies have the information that you're seeking. 111209 Ms. Schultz >> Moving on to a little later in 2016, a major wikileaks dump happens hours after the access Hollywood tape is released. Do you believe or are you aware of Mr. Trump coordinating or signaling for this e-mail dump? Mr. Cohen >> I'm unaware of that. I actually was not even in the country at the time of the Billy bush tape. I was in London visiting my daughter. Ms. Schultz >> Knowing how Mr. Trump operates with his winning at all costs mentality, do you believe that he would cooperate 111242 or collude with a foreign power to win the presidency? Is he capable of that? Mr. Cohen >> It calls on so much speculation, ma'am. It would be unfair for me -- Ms. Schultz >> You have a tremendous amount of experience. Mr. Cohen >> Mr. Trump is all about winning. He will do what is necessary -- Ms. Schultz >> And in your opinion and experience, would he have the potential to cooperate or collude with a foreign power to win the presidency at all costs? 11-13-13 Mr. Cohen >> Yes. Ms. Schultz >> Based on what you know, would Mr. Trump or did he lie about colluding and coordinating with the Russians at any point during the campaign? Mr. Cohen >> As I stated in my testimony, I wouldn't use the word colluding. Was there something odd about the back and forth praise with president Putin? Yes. But I'm not really sure that I can answer that question in terms of collusion. 111351 I was not part of the campaign. I don't know the other conversations that Mr. Trump had with other individuals. There's just so many dots that all seem to lead to the same direction. Ms. Schultz >> Finally, before my time expires, Mr. Cohen, the campaign and the entire trump organization appeared to be filthy with Russian contact. There are Russian business contacts, there are campaign Russian contacts, there are lies about all of those contacts, 111427 and then we have Roger stone informing the president just before the democratic national convention that wikileaks was going to drop documents in the public arena that we knew at that point were hacked and stolen by Russia from the democratic national committee. Mr. Cummings, Chairman >> The gentle lady's time has expired. Ms. Schultz >> My question is, given all these connections, is it likely that Donald Trump was fully aware and had every intent of working with Russia to help make sure that he could win the presidency at all costs? 111506 Mr. Cohen >> Let me say this is a matter that's currently being handled by the house select and the senate select intelligence committees. So I would rather not answer that specific question other than just the tell you that Mr. Trump's desire to win would have him work with anyone. And one other thing that I had said in my statement is that when it came to the trump tower Moscow project, 111540 it was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and we never expected to win the election. So this was just business as usual. Ms. Schultz >> Thank you, Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Green >> Thank you Mr. Chairman, ranking member Jordan. The chairman in this committee promised members of the american people a fair and open process, yet the Democrats have vastly limited the scope of this hearing. They've issued a gag order to try to tell members of this committee what we can and cannot talk about. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim they want the truth, that they want transparency and fair oversight. 111616 Yet the Democrats' witness to testify before congress today is none other than a sworn scorned man who's going to prison for lying to congress. Let that sink in. He's going to prison for lying to congress and he's going to prison for lying to congress and he's the star witness, to congress. If you read the sentencing report on Mr. Cohen, words like deceptive and greedy are scattered throughout that report. It paints a picture of a narcissist, a bully who cannot tell the truth about the president or about his own personal life. 111648 But today he's the majority party's star witness. If the Democrats were after the truth, they'd have an honest person here testifying. And if they were really after the truth, they'd not restrict the questioning to just a few topics. But let's take a look at those restricted topics. Mr. Chairman, the first topic in your limited scope that I can ask Mr. Cohen is about the president's debts. But Mr. Chairman didn't Mr. Cohen plead guilty to lying to banks about his personal finances? We're asking a guy going to jail for lying about his debts to comment about the president's debts. 111729 He's the expert. Mr. Chairman,your next couple of topics say I can ask Mr. Cohen about the president's compliance with financial disclosures and campaign finance laws but didn't Mr. Cohen on two occasions break campaign finance law with his own donation? Again, the majority party star witness on the president's compliance is a guy who broke compliance laws himself. Mr. Chairman, you graciously allow us to ask questions of Mr. Cohen on the president's dealings with the irs and tax law. 111802 Your star witness here broke the law with regards to the irs at least five times. He pled guilty on cheating on his taxes, lying to the irs. He's the best witness you got? Next up with the permission of the chairman I get to ask Mr. Cohen about his perspective on the president's business dealings. Let me get this straight. The witness lied to multiple financial institutions to get loans to pay off other loans just to keep himself afloat and he's going to be the expert on business practices. 111836 Obviously, Mr. Chairman, the witness may produce documents that he suggests incriminates the president, yet he lies to banks. All of those lies were done on fraudulent documents, documents that he forged. Nothing he says or produces has any credibility. Apparently he even lied about delivering his own child, which his wife had to correct the record. Ladies and gentlemen, how on Earth is this witness credible? 111905 With all the lies and deception, the self-serving fraud, it begs the question, what is the majority party doing here? No one can see this guy as credible. He will say whatever he wants to accomplish his own personal goals. He's a fake witness. And his presence here is a travesty. I hope the American people see through this. I know the people back in Tennessee will. And with that statement, sir, I have a few questions of the witness. 111937 With your loss of your law license, I think you mentioned in your opening statement that you had been disbarred. What is your source of income in the future? Mr. Cohen >> I don't expect I'm going to have a source of income when I'm in the federal penitentiary. Mr. Green >> Is there a book deal coming? >> I have no book deal in the process. I have been contacted by many including for television, a movie. If you want to tell me who you would like to play you, I'm more than happy to write the name down. I would also like to turn around and just to correct your statement on me -- 112014 Mr. Green >> Let me ask one other question, though. I only have a limited amount of time. Mr. Cohen No individual -- Mr. Green >> One quick question. Who paid your expenses to be here today? Mr. Cohen >> Who's paid my expenses? Mr. Green >> To be here today. Mr. Cohen >> I paid my expenses. Mr. Green >> Mr. Chairman, I'd like to yield the remainder of my time to the ranking member. Mr. Jordan >> Mr. Cohen, how many times did you talk to the special counsel's office? Mr. Cohen >> Seven. Mr. Jordan >> Did they talk to you at all in preparation for today's hearing between the seven times you talked to them prior to your sentencing, have you had any conversations with the special counsel's office between sentencing and today? 112050 Mr. Cohen >> I'm sorry I don't understand your question. Mr. Jordan >> You talked to them seven times in the sentencing memorandums in front of the court back in December. What I'm asking is how many times you've talked to the special counsel's office since then up to today's appearance here in congress? Mr. Cummings, Chairman >> The gentleman's time has expired. You may answer the question now. Mr. Cohen >> I'm sorry I don't have the answer to that. Mr. Cummings, Chairman >> Ms. Maloney. Mr. Jordan >> I'll come back to that. 11:21:13 Ms. Maloney >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Cohen, in your ten years of working for Donald Trump, did he control everything that went on in the trump organization? And did you have to get his permission in advance and report back after every meeting of any importance? Mr. Cohen >> Yes. There was nothing that happened at the trump organization, whether it was a response as the daily beast story that you referred to, ranking member, that did not go through Mr. Trump with his approval and sign-off as in the case of the payments. 112200 Ms. Maloney >> How many times did the president, Michael, ask you or direct you to try to reach settlements with women in 2015 and 2016? Mr. Cohen >> I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't have the answer to that. I'd have to go back and try and recollect. It's certainly the two that we know about. Ms. Maloney >> Why do you think the president did not provide the accurate information in his 2017 financial disclosure form? What was he trying to hide? He corrected other forms, but he didn't correct this one. 112242 Mr. Cohen >> The payments on the reimbursement of the funds that I extended on his behalf. Ms. Maloney >> Can you elaborate more? Mr. Cohen >> Well, going back into the story, as I stated when Alan weissleberg and I left the office and went to his office in order to make the determination on how the money was going to be wired to the Iola, the interest on a lawyer's account for Keith Davidson in California, I had asked Alan to use his money. 112314 Didn't want to use mine. He said he couldn't. We then decided how else we can do it. He asked me whether or not I know anybody who wants to have a party at one of his clubs that could pay me instead or somebody who may have wanted to become a member of one of the golf clubs. And I also don't have anybody who was interested in that. It got to the point where it was down to the wire. It was either somebody wire the funds and purchase the life rights to the story from Ms. Clifford, or it was going to end up being sold to television, and that would have embarrassed the president and it would have interfered with the election. 112402 Ms. Maloney >> But the president has never amended his 2017 form to this day. While you're facing the consequences of going to jail, he is not. Mr. Cohen >> I believe they amended a financial disclosure form and there's a footnote somewhere buried. I don't recall specifically what it says, but there is a footnote buried somewhere. Ms. Maloney >> Can you describe, Michael, to the American people catch-and-kill? Mr. Cohen >> Catch-and-kill is a method that exists when you're working with a news outlet. 112439 In this specific case it was AMI, national enquirer, David pecker, Dylan Howard and others, where they would contact me or Mr. Trump or someone and state that there's a story that percolating out there that you may be interested in. Then what you do is you contact that individual and purchase the rights to that story from them. Ms. Maloney >> And you practiced this for the president? Mr. Cohen >> I was involved in several of these catch-and-kill episodes. But these catch-and-kill scenarios existed between David pecker and Mr. Trump long before I started working for him in 2007. 112525 Ms. Maloney >> Michael, can you suggest who else this committee should talk to for additional information on this or anything else? Mr. Cohen >> Yes. I believe David pecker, Dylan Howard, Barry Levine of Ami as well. Alan weissleberg, Alan Garton of the trump organization as well. Ms. Maloney >> Thank you very much for your testimony. And Mr. Chairman, this is a story of redemption. Mr. Cohen >> Thank you, ma'am. 112554 Mr. Cummings, Chairman >> Mr. Comer. Mr. Comer >> Mr. Cohen, in your testimony you stated that you began work for the trump organization as a lawyer dealing with real estate transactions, is that correct? Mr. Cohen >> That is correct. Mr. Comer >> Prior to coming to congress, I served as a director of two different banks so I've seen hundreds of loan applications and to try to determine your credibility here today, I just wanted to ask you a couple of real estate transaction questions just to see how in fact you operate. During to the southern district of New York prosecutors, you lied to banks to secure loans by falsing stating the amount of debt you were carrying. Mr. Cohen my question to you, was it Donald Trump's fault that you knowingly committed a crime of deception to defraud a bank? 112637 Mr. Cohen >> No, it's not. Mr. Comer >> Was that fraudulent loan you obtained for the trump organization or for you personally? Mr. Cohen >> It would be for me, though I'm not familiar with which loan you're referring to. I would like to say one thing. Sorry, I would like to respond. Mr. Comer >> The loan -- Mr. Cohen >> When we're talking about the home equity line of credit which is what I believe you're referring to -- Mr. Comer >> We're also referring -- I'm going to ask a question pertaining to your summer home you purchased too. 112706 Mr. Cohen >> I never purchased a summer home. No individual on no bank in the 22 years that I've had loans have ever lost a dollar with me. I owe no money to my bank. Mr. Comer >> The banks usually find out when someone's trying to deceive them. Mr. Cohen >> In 22 years I have no money owed to any individual or bank. Mr. Comer >> Mr. Cohen, did you so-called blind loyalty to the president cause you to defraud the bank for your own personal gain? Mr. Cohen >> Sir I take exception to that because I never defrauded any bank. 112740 Mr. Comer >> Let's dig a little deeper on that, on the bank fraud. According to the southern district of New York you failed to disclose $20 million in liabilities as well as tens of thousands of dollars of monthly expenses. That's according to the southern district of New York. Mr. Cohen, you being a lawyer, surely you knew you were breaking the law. Why would you have done that? Mr. Cohen >> Sir I'm not a cpa. I plead guilty. I'm going to prison as a result of it. Mr. Comer >> Because you're a con? Mr. Cohen >> No, sir. Because I plead guilty and I am going to be doing the time. I have caused tremendous, tremendous pain to my family. And I take no happiness -- 112822 Mr. Comer >> Let's go back to one last question about the bank. When the bank found out about the liabilities that you failed to disclose, you lied again to the bank, this is according to the southern district of new York, and said it had been expunged when in fact you just shifted the debt to another bank. Apparently, according to the information that we received,your intent to defraud the bank was for the desire to purchase the summer home for $8.5 million. Mr. Cohen >> No, sir. That would have been off an equity line. 112856 Considering I had less than a 50% loan to value on the assets and it was a pre existing line of credit that existed years before the date that you're referring to where this is all surrounding New York City taxi medallions. Mr. Comer >>But you understand that when you failed to disclose liabilities, especially $20 million in liabilities that is in fact fraud. Mr. Cohen >> Except even with $20 million in liability Mr. Comer >> How much was it? 112928 Mr. Cohen >> The medallions were at that time worth over $45 million Mr. Comer >> Mr. Cohen, you called Donald Trump a cheat in your open testimony. What would you call yourself? Mr. Cohen >> A fool. Mr. Comer >> You calling -- okay. Well, no comment on that. Mr. Cohen >> I appreciate that. Mr. Comer >> Mr. Chairman, we said we were in search of the truth. I don't believe that Michael Cohen is capable of telling the truth. And I would hope that as this committee moves forward, that when we have the opportunity to subpoena witnesses, 113002 we subpoena witnesses that are not recently disbarred, are not convicted felon, and witnesses that haven't committed bank fraud and tax fraud. That is how we're going to determine the truth. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the ranking member. Mr. Jordan >> I would just make one point. We just had a five-minute debate where Mr. Cohen dispute what is the southern district of new York found, what the judge found, that he was actually guilty of committing bank fraud. 113030 >> If this statement back here doesn't say it all, Cohen's consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting, his remorse is minimal/ His instinct is to blame others is strong. There is only one thing wrong with that statement. His remorse is non-existent. He just debated a member of congress saying I really didn't do anything wrong with the false bank things that I'm guilty and going to prison for -- Mr. Cohen >> Mr. Jordan, that's not what I said. And you know that's not what I said. Mr. Jordan >> Will the gentleman yield? Mr. Cohen >> I said that I pled guilty and I take responsibility for my actions. 113101 Mr. Cummings >> The gentleman's time has expired. Mr. Cohen >> Shame on you, Mr. Jordan. That's not what I said. Shame on you. >> Mr. Chairman -- Mr. Cohen >> That's not what I said. What I said is I took responsibility and I take responsibility. What I was doing is explaining to the gentleman that his facts are inaccurate. I take responsibility for my mistakes. Alright? I am remorseful and I am going to prison. 113129 Mr. Cohen I will be away from my wife and family for years. So before you turn around and you cast more dispersion, please understand there are people watching you today that know me a whole lot better. I made mistakes. I own them and I didn't fight with the southern district of New York. I didn't put the system through an entire scenario. But what I did do is I pled guilty and I am going to be, again, going to prison. Mr. Cummings >> Ms. Ms. Norton? 113201 Ms. Norton >> Mr. Cohen, at the center of the reason you are going to prison is conviction for campaign finance violations. And they center around some salacious revelations. The "Washington post" reported or aired a "Access Hollywood" video. It set a record for the number of people who watched, crashed the newspaper's server. But this happened in early October on the cusp of the election. 113252 >> What was Mr. Trump's reaction to the video becoming public at that time? And was he concerned about the impact of that video on the election? Mr. Cohen >> The answer is yes. As I stated before, I was in London at the time visiting my daughter who was studying there for a Washington semester abroad. And I received a phone call during the dinner from Hope Hicks stating that she had just spoken to Mr. Trump and we need you to start making phone calls to the various different 113330 news outlets that you have relationships with, and we need to spin this. What we want to do is just to claim that this was men locker room talk. Ms. Norton >> Was the concern about the election in particular? Mr. Cohen >> The answer is yes. Then couple that with Karen Mcdougal, which then came out around the same time, and then on top of that the stormy Daniels matter. Ms. Norton >> Yeah. And these things happened in the month before the election 113403 >> and almost one after the other. The stormy Daniels revelation where prosecutors and officials learned of that matter and prosecutors stated that the officials at the magazine contacted you about the story. 113433 The magazine of course is "The national enquirer." That is correct that they did? Mr. Cohen >> Yes, ma'am. Ms. Norton >> -- Come to you. Were you concerned about this new story becoming public right after the "Access Hollywood" study in terms of impact on the election? 113500 Mr. Cohen >> I was concerned about it, but more importantly, Mr. Trump was concerned about it. Ms. Norton >> That was my next question. What was the president's concern about these matters becoming public in October as we were about to go into an election? Mr. Cohen >> I don't think anybody would dispute this belief that after the wildfire that encompassed the Billy bush tape that a second follow-up to it would have been 113531 pleasant and he was concerned with the effect that it had had on the campaign, on how women were seeing him and ultimately whether or not he would have a shot in the general election. Ms. Norton >> Until you negotiated the $130,000 payment -- Mr. Cohen >> The $130,000 number was not a number that was actually negotiated. It was told to me by Keith Davidson that this is a number that Ms. Clifford wanted. 113604 Ms. Norton >> You finally completed that deal, as it were, on October the -- Mr. Cohen >> 28th. Ms. Norton >> Days before the election. What happened in the interim? Mr. Cohen >> Contemplated whether or not to do it. Wasn't sure if she was really going to go public. There was, again, some communications back and forth between myself and Keith Davidson. 113631 >> And ultimately it came to either do it or don't, at which time, again, I had gone into Mr. Trump's office as I did after each and every conversation, and he had told me he had spoken to a couple friends, it's 130,000 and it's not a lot of money and we should do it. So go ahead and do it. And I was at the time with Allen Weissleberg where he directed us to go back to Weissleberg's office and figure this all out. Ms. Norton >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 113703 Mr. Cummings >> Mr. Meadows Mr. Meadows >> Mr. Cohen, do you know Lynn Patton? I'm right here. Do you know Lynn Patton? Mr. Cohen >> Yes, I do. Mr. Meadows >> I asked Lynn to come today in her personal capacity to actually shed some light. How long have you known Ms. Patton? Mr. Cohen >> I'm responsible for Ms. Patton joining the Trump organization in the job that she currently holds. Mr. Meadows >> I'm glad you acknowledge that because 113730 you made some very demeaning comments about the president that Ms. Patton doesn't agree with. In fact, it has to do with your claim of racism. She says that as a daughter of a man born in Birmingham, Alabama, that there is no way that she would work for an individual who was racist. How do you reconcile the two of those? Mr. Cohen >> As neither should I as the son of a holocaust survivor. 113802 Mr. Meadows >> But, Mr. Cohen, I guess what I'm saying is, is I've talked to the president over 300 times. I've not heard one time a racist comment out of his mouth in private. So how do you reconcile it? Do you have proof of those conversations? Do you have tape recordings of those conversations? Mr. Cohen >> I would ask you to - Mr. Meadows >> Do you have tape recordings of those conversations? Mr. Cohen >> No, sir. Mr. Meadows >> Well you've taped everybody else. Why wouldn't you - Mr. Cohen >> That's also not true, sir. That's not true. Mr. Meadows >> You haven't taped anybody. Mr. Cohen >> I have taped individuals. Mr. Meadows >> How many times have you taped individuals? 113832 Mr. Cohen >> Maybe 100 times over ten years. Mr. Meadows >> Is that a low estimate? Because I've heard it's over 200 times. Mr. Cohen >> No. It's approximately 100. From what I recall. But I would ask that you ask me a question, sir - Mr. Meadows >> Do you have proof, yes or no? Mr. Cohen >> I do. I do. Mr. Meadows >> Where's the proof? Mr. Cohen >> Ask Ms. Patton how many people who are black are executives at the Trump organization. The answer is zero. Mr. Meadows >> We can go through this. I would ask unanimous consent 113901 >> that her entire statement be put in the record. Mr. Cummings >> Without objection. Mr. Meadows >> Let me go on a little bit further. Did you collect $1.2 million or so from Navardas? Mr. Cohen >> I did. Mr. Meadows >> For access to the trump administration? Mr. Cohen >> No, sir. Mr. Meadows >> Why did you collect it? Mr. Cohen >> Because they came to me based upon my knowledge of the enigma Donald Trump, what he thinks -- Mr. Meadows >> Did they pay you 1.2 -- Mr. Cohen >> Please, sir, let me finish - 113929 Mr. Meadows >> No. Did they pay you 1.2 million dollars to give you advice? Mr. Cohen >> Yes, they did. They - A multibillion dollar conglomerate came to me looking for information, not something that's unusual here in D.C., looking for information. And they believed that I had a value. And that the value was the insight that I was capable of offering them and they were willing to pay. Mr. Meadows >> How many times did you meet with them? For $1.2 million how many times did you meet with them? 114000 Mr. Cohen >> I provided them with both in-person and telephone access whenever they needed it. Mr, Meadows >> How many times? That's a question. Mr. Cohen >> I don't recall sir. Mr. Meadows >> So did you ever talk to them? Mr. Cohen >> I spoke to them on several occasions. Mr. Meadows >> How many? Mr. Cohen >> Ugh, six times. Mr. Meadows >> Six times. Wow. $200,000 a call. Mr. Cohen >> Sir, I also would like to -- Mr. Meadows >> Hold on! This is my five minutes, Mr. Cohen. Not yours. Did you get money from the back of Kazakhstan? Mr. Cohen >> It's not a bank of Kazakhstan. It's called BTA. 114032 Mr. Meadows >> BTA bank. Kazakhstan BTA bank. Did you get money from them? Mr. Cohen >> I did. Mr. Meadows >> For what purpose. Mr. Cohen >> The purpose was because the former CEO of that bank had absconded with between 4-6 billion dollars. And some of that money was here in the United States. And they sought my assistance in terms of finding, locating that money and helping them to recollect it. Mr. Meadows >> Are you saying that all the reports that you were paid in some estimates 114101 >> over $4 million to have access and understanding of the Trump administration -- you're saying all of that was just paid to you just because you're a nice guy? Mr. Cohen >> I am a nice guy, but more importantly -- Mr. Meadows >> I would beg to differ. The record reflects that you're not a nice guy. Mr. Cohen >> Sir, each and every contract contained the clause in my contracts that said I will not lobby and I do not do government relations work. In fact, in fact 114128 navardas sent me their contract which stated specifically that they wanted me to lobby, that they wanted me to provide access to government including the President. That information, that paragraph was crossed out by me, initialled and written in my own handwriting. It says, I will not lobby or do government relations work. Mr. Meadows >> So navardas representative say that it was like they were hiring a non registered lobbyist. So you disagree with that? Mr. Cohen >> I don't know what they said, sir, 114201 >> But the contract speaks for itself - Mr. Meadows >> Have you ever contacted anybody in the administration? Mr. Cohen >> Yes. Mr. Meadows >> To advocate on behalf of any aspect of any of your contracts? I ask unanimous consent, Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent - Mr. Cummings >> The gentleman's time has expired. You may answer the question. Mr. Cohen >> I don't know what you're referring to, sir. Mr. Meadows >> Mr. Chairman -- Mr. Cummings >> Mr. Clay. 114230 Mr. Clay >> Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. Cohen, I'm pleased you agreed to testify today voluntarily. In my view, we are all here for just one reason, and that's the American people are tired of being lied to. They have been lied to by President Trump. They have been lied to by the president's children. They have been lied to by the President's legal representatives. And it pains me to say 114300 that they have been even lied to by his congressional enablers who are still devoted to perpetuating and protecting this giant con game on the American people. Now, Mr. Cohen, I'd like to talk to you about the President's assets since by law these must be reported accurately on his federal financial disclosure 114331 >> and when he submits them for a bank loan. Mr. Cohen, you served for nearly a decade as then businessman Trump's personal attorney and so-called fixer. Did you also have an understanding of the president's assets and how he valued those items? Mr. Cohen >> Yes. Mr. Clay >> In November of 2017, crane's New York business reported that 114401 >> the Trump organization provided, quote, flagrantly untrue revenue figures going back to at least 2010 to influence crane's ranking of the largest private companies in New York. According to the reports, while the Trump organization reported nearly $9.5 billion in revenues in 2016, public filings suggested revenues were actually less than 1/10 of that. 114432 >> To your knowledge, did the President or his company ever inflate assets or revenues? Mr. Cohen >> Yes. Mr. Clay >> Was that done with the president's knowledge or direction? Mr. Cohen >> Everything was done with the knowledge and at the direction of Mr. Trump. Mr. Clay >> Tell us why he would do that and what purpose did it serve. Mr. Cohen >> It depends upon the situation. There were times that I was asked, again with Allen Weissleberg, 114501 the CFO, to go back to speak with an individual from Forbes, because Mr. Trump wanted each year to have his net worth rise on the Forbes wealthiest individuals list. And so what you do is you look at the assets and you try to find an asset that has say, for example, 40 Wall Street, which is 114530 >> about 1.2 million square feet. Find an asset that is comparable, find the highest price per square foot that's achieved in the area and apply it to that building. Or if you're going off of your rent roll, go by the gross rent roll times a multiple and you make up the multiple which is something he had talked about. It's based upon what he wanted to value the asset at. Mr. Clay >> You know, you have provided this committee with copies 114601 >> of the president's financial statements or parts of them from 2011, 2012 and 2013. And Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit those for the record. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to submit the statements to the record. Mr. Cummings >> Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Clay >> Thank you. Can you explain why you had these financial statements and what you used them for? Mr. Cohen >> So these financial statements were used by me for two purposes. 114603 >> One was discussing with media whether it was Forbes or other magazines, to demonstrate Mr. Trump's significant net worth.That was one function. Another was when we were dealing later on with insurance companies, we would provide them with these copies so that they would understand that the premium, which is based sometimes upon the individual's 114700 >> capabilities to pay, would be reduced. Mr. Clay >> And all of this was done at the President's direction and with his knowledge? Mr. Cohen >> Yes. Because whatever the numbers would come back to be, we would immediately report it back. Mr. Clay >> And did this information provided to us inflate the president's assets? Mr. Cohen >> I believe these numbers are inflated. Mr. Clay >> And of course, 114731 >> inflating assets to win a newspaper poll to boost your ego is not a crime. But to your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to a bank in order to help him obtain a loan? Mr. Cummings >> The gentleman's time has expired, but you may answer that question. Mr. Cohen >> These documents and others were provided to Deutsche Bank on one occasion where I was with them in our attempt to obtain 114801 >> money so we can put a bid on the Buffalo bills. Mr. Clay >> Thank you for your answer. Mr. Cummings >> Mr. Hice of Georgia Mr. Hice >> I'd like to yield a second to the gentleman from North Carolina. Mr. Meadows >> I thank the gentleman for yielding. I want to ask unanimous consent to put into the record an article from stat which indicated that Mr. Cohen's promised access, not just Trump, but also the circle around him, it was almost as if we were hiring a lobbyist, close quote. I ask unanimous consent. Mr. Cummings >> Without objection. 114830 Mr. Meadows >> I ask unanimous consent that we put into the record a criminal referral for violating section 22 USC of the statute number 611. I ask unanimous consent that my letter referring Mr. Cohen for violating Fara for illegal lobbying activity be entered into the record. Mr. Cummings >> Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Meadows >> I asked unanimous consent that the first order of business for this committee is for us to look in a bipartisan 114900 way at criminal referrals at the next business meeting. Mr. Cummings >> These are not documents. There are objections. Mr. Meadows >> So we're objecting to a unanimous consent request? Mr. Chairman? Mr. Cummings >> Yes. Mr. Meadows >> I will yield back. Mr. Cummings >> Let me be clear. Mr. Hice, I'm going to give you your whole five minutes, alright? 114930 Mr. Hice >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Cummings >> In fairness to you. Mr. Meadows, the chairman, the ranking member made me aware that I had given a little more time to Ms. Wasserman-schultz. I was going to let you do that anyway, but I just want the committee to know that because there are so many members, I'm going to be strict on this five minutes, all right? Thank you very much. Mr. Hice, you have five minutes. 114959 Mr. Hice >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Cohen you said you lied, but you're a liar. If you lied you are a liar by definition. You also said a moment ago that the facts are inaccurate. If they are facts they are accurate and that would make you inaccurate, but I would like to take a moment and I would like to know who you consulted with to prepare for today's hearing? Lanny Davis and who else? Mr. Cohen >> I consulted with my counsel, Lanny Davis as well as Michael Monaco. Mr. Hice >> All right. Did you or Michael 115030 >> or Lanny Davis or anyone else cooperate with the Democratic majority to prepare for this hearing? Mr. Cohen >> I'm sorry, say that again, please? Mr. Hice >> Did you or anyone else on your team cooperate with the Democrat party in preparing for this hearing? Mr. Cohen >> We've spoken to the party. Mr. Hice >> Okay. Did you prepare with chairman Cummings or anyone on your team? Mr. Cohen >> What do you mean by prepare? Mr. Hice >> Prepare for this hearing? Mr. Cohen >> Prepare? I prepared with my counsel. Mr. Hice >> Did you prepare with the 115100 >>Democrat majority or chairman Cummings. Mr. Cohen >> We spoke with chairman Cummings and the party. Mr. Hice >> With chairman Schiff? Mr. Cohen >> I spoke with chairman Schiff and his people, as well. Mr. Hice >> Were there any other individuals acting as a liaise for you and your party. Mr. Cohen >> I'm sorry, sorry, what did you say? Mr. Hice >> Did you have a liaison other than who you mentioned that were working with the majority to prepare for this hearing? 115134 Mr. Cohen >> Liaison. We spoke with various individuals that you just raised, yes. Mr. Hice >> Tom Steyer, him or any of his representatives or anyone associated with him, any of them paying Lanny Davis to represent you? Mr. Cohen >> Not that I'm aware of. Mr. Hice >> Who is paying Lanny Davis? Mr. Cohen >> At the moment no one. Mr. Hice >> He is doing all this work for nothing? Mr. Cohen >> yes, sir. 115200 Mr. Hice >> Okay. Mr. Cohen >> And I hope so. [ Laughter ] Mr. Hice >> I kind of doubt it, but -- how did Lanny Davis come to represent you? Did he approach you or did you approach him? Mr. Cohen >> I reached out to Lanny Davis at the recommendation of my former counsel over at McDermott, Will & Emory who knew Mr. Davis and Mr. -- Mr. Hice >> So you reached out to Mr. Davis? 115230 Mr. Cohen >> I did, yes, initially. Mr. Hice >> Okay. So did you want to testify before Congress or did he urge you to testify here? Mr. Cohen >> I was asked to come here, and I am here, sir, voluntarily because it's my decision -- Mr. Hice >> By who? My question, did he ask you to come here? Mr. Cohen >> No, sir. Mr. Hice >> Okay because he says that he did ask you to come here and that he convinced you and also that he did the same with 115300 >> Chairman Cummings, as well. So your testimony here is that you approached Lanny Davis to represent you and to come here. He did not persuade you to come here? Mr. Cohen >> He did not persuade me. Actually, chairman Cummings, which was part of the conversations that we engaged in with his people as well as chairman Schiff and others, we spoke in order to ask me to come here voluntarily. 115329 Mr. Hice >> I find the connecting of the dots here with -- with Mr. Davis and you and frankly the chairman and perhaps others to be rather stunning that there is an agenda for all this happening here today, and I believe, frankly, that that's to bring the President down, to impugn the President. You made an oath last time you were here and that oath meant nothing to you then. We had an oath here in this very room about a month ago, 115401 >> and it was, quote, be clear that I will seek the truth, nothing but the truth so help me god, end quote. It sounds like an oath to me. The Chairman made that statement in this very room last month and here we are today, our first big hearing, with you as we all know a convicted liar, lying to Congress, a criminal, and I believe this witness is totally incompatible with the stated goal of having to seek the truth in this hearing. 115437 >> This is the first time in the history of Congress we have someone testifying here who has already been convicted of lying to Congress so congratulations for being the first in Congress to do that Mr. Cohen >> thank you Mr. Hice >> and Mr. Cummings as well? I can't believe we have brought this committee to its knees in terms of losing its credibility and it's a shameful mockery of what our purpose is. I yield back. 115502 Mr. Cummings >> The gentleman's time has expired. Mr. Lynch. Mr. Lynch >> Let me just pick up on those last comments. Want to talk about a low point? How about Mr. Papadopoulos pled guilty, Mr. Manafort convicted, pled guilty to two other charges. Mr. Gates pled guilty, Mr. Flint pled guilty, Mr. Vanders pled guilty, Mr. Kilimnik indicted for obstruction of justice and for two years 115530 >> you want to talk about an agenda, my friends on the other side of the aisle refuse to bring any of these people up before the committee. So today for the first day we have one witness who voluntarily is coming forward to testify. Your side ran away and we are trying to bring it to the American people. So, Mr. Cohen - Mr. Cohen >> Sir? Mr. Lynch >> Thank you for voluntarily coming before the committee to testify. 115600 >>I want to ask you about your statements regarding Trump Tower and Moscow, and I want to drill down some of the facts and details. Now you may not be aware of it, but this goes back a ways. Back in 1987, Mr. Trump wrote that he'd had ongoing discussions with Soviet officials back then to build a luxury, a large luxury hotel across from the Kremlin in partnership with the Soviet Union. So at that time it was the Soviet Union. 115632 >> I want to ask you, in your filing with the special counsel, Mueller's office, the prosecutors wrote and I quote, Mr. Cohen discussed the status and progress of the Moscow project with individual 1 on more than the three occasions Mr. Cohen claimed to the committee and he briefed family members of individual 1 with the company about the project. I know this is redundant, but Mr. Cohen, 115700 >>who were you referring to here when we refer to individual 1? Mr. Cohen >> Donald J. Trump. Mr. Lynch >> Okay. And the company? Mr. Cohen >> The Trump organization through a subsidiary. Mr. Lynch >> Okay. And who were the family members that you briefed on the Trump tower Moscow project? Mr. Cohen >> Don Trump Jr. And Ivanka Trump. Mr. Lynch >> Okay. Now were these in the regular course of business or did the president or family request the briefings? Mr. Cohen >> This is in the regular course of business. Mr. Lynch >> Do you recall, there is a question on the number of briefings, 115731 >>do you recall how many there might have been? Mr. Cohen >> I'm sorry, sir? Mr. Lynch >> Do you recall how many of these briefings there might have been? Mr. Cohen >> Approximately ten in total. Mr. Lynch >> All right. In your written remarks you also wrote and I quote, there were at least a half dozen times between the Iowa caucus in January 2016 and the end of June when Mr. Trump would ask me, how is it going in Russia referring to the Russia Moscow tower project. How did the president communicate those questions to you? Was it verbally or over the phone? 115803 Mr. Cohen >> Verbally most of the time. Virtually all of the time. It would -- he said say Michael -- he was reading to say a rally or to a car as I would walk him to the elevator he would ask me questions quickly regarding a series of issues. Mr. Lynch >> Could you tell what he was referring to in terms of the project in Russia? Mr. Cohen >> No, this would be it. Otherwise there would be no reason to ask it of me. Mr. Lynch 115829 >> Right. Right. You also wrote and I quote, to be clear, Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it, closed quote. How did the president actually direct the negotiations? What details did he direct? Mr. Cohen >> Well, after each communication that I had I would report back to him and our goal was to get this project. We were interested in building what 115900 >> would have been the largest building in all of Europe. Sir, I -- if I can say one last thing. Mr. Lynch >> Please, go ahead. Mr. Cohen >> -- In regard to the gentleman's statements since this is on topic. The lies that I told to Congress in fairness, benefited Mr. Trump. It was in furtherance of my protection of Mr. Trump which I stated in my testimony, and I am not protecting Mr. Trump anymore, and so while I truly 115931 >> appreciate taking some of your time, to attack me every single time about taxes, I have no credibility, it's for exactly that reason that I spent the last week searching boxes in order to find the information that I did. So that you don't have to take my word for it. I don't want you to. I want you to look at the documents. I want you to make your own decision. Mr. Lynch >> I need my last minute. Mr. Cohen >> sorry, sir. Mr. Lynch >> That's okay. Let me just say