100 DAYS SINCE MICHAEL COHEN’S TESTIMONY: WHEN WILL CHAIRMAN CUMMINGS HOLD COHEN ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS LIES?

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, 100 days since Micheal Cohen testified before the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ranking Member of the Committee, and Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), Ranking Member of the Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee, sent a letter to Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) urging him to uphold the integrity of the Committee and hold Michael Cohen accountable for his perjury-laden testimony. By letter dated May 22, 2019, Chairman Cummings informed Ranking Member Jordan that the Chairman did not believe Cohen lied and considered the matter “closed.”

Excerpts from the letter:

“Cohen was the first announced witness of your chairmanship, who you invited to testify during a made-for-cable-news hearing to attack President Trump for political gain. While your defense of Cohen’s testimony is perhaps unsurprising, it ignores information that does not support your analysis and fails to address the totality of lies that Cohen uttered under oath.”

“Today marks 100 days since Cohen’s testimony. We are deeply disappointed that you have declined to hold Cohen accountable, despite your forceful promises to do so and contrary to Vice Chair Katie Hill’s expectation that you would. We can only assume that you worry that acknowledging Cohen’s lies would undermine the investigations on which they are based and ultimately undercut your partisan attacks upon the President. We hope that you will reconsider your decision, put the institutional interests of the Committee ahead of your political goals, and do what you promised to do.”

“Your entire course of conduct with respect to Michael Cohen has been deeply troubling. You allowed a prominent Democrat operative to use the Committee for an orchestrated partisan attack on the President. You declined to follow up on your promises to hold Cohen accountable for his lies to the Committee. You declined to hold a Committee vote on Cohen’s lies. You deferred action on Cohen’s lies until you reviewed his HPSCI testimony, but you never requested access to HPSCI’s transcripts. You admitted to considering writing a letter of commendation on behalf of Cohen to reduce his prison sentence. You admitted to speaking on the phone with Cohen before he began his prison sentence, but you have not informed the Committee about the substance of your phone call.”

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