Rep. Stefanik Demands DOJ Take Up Perjury Referral for Michael Cohen

The letter, coauthored with the committee’s chair Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), is a follow-up from their November 2023 referral, which the lawmakers say has revealed a “double standard.”

Mr. Cohen is largely expected to be the Manhattan District Attorney’s star witness in the so-called hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump, which is well underway in New York.

Star Witness

Mr. Cohen announced on X, formerly Twitter that he would be taking a break from commenting on President Trump until he has been called to testify. However, he has still been active on TikTok, where he offers colorful commentary on and answers questions about President Trump’s trial, and also receives digital gifts that can be converted into money during his livestreams.

Defense attorneys have challenged Mr. Cohen’s credibility by pointing to the fact that he has monetized his vocal criticisms of President Trump for years and through various forms, including a book, podcast, and media appearances.

However, prosecutors recently asked New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to allow them to elicit testimony from Mr. Cohen that his livelihood does not “depend” on attacking the former president, as defense attorneys asserted.

Other witnesses have already painted Mr. Cohen as a “challenging” character they did not want to work with. A banker assigned Mr. Cohen’s account said he was assigned for his ability to work with challenging clients. An attorney who represented the recipient of the alleged “hush money” said he had gone out of his way to avoid speaking with Mr. Cohen, whom he cast as high-strung and dishonest.

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During jury selection, prosecutors cautioned potential jurors to keep an open mind about the witnesses even if they may in some ways be unlikeable. Besides Mr. Cohen, the other central witness in the alleged payment scheme is an adult film actress. Jurors were instructed to keep an open mind.

Defense attorneys have also challenged Mr. Cohen’s credibility by pointing to his multiple admissions of lying under oath.

Most recently, Mr. Cohen testified at a civil trial against President Trump, where he noted several times he had lied under oath, including the 2019 instance before Congress that resulted in Ms. Stefanik’s DOJ referral.

During questioning, Mr. Cohen backtracked on his claim that President Trump told him to inflate his net worth on financial statements. However, Mr. Cohen said during the same testimony that President Trump implied it without using so many words, comparing him to a “mob boss.”

Lawmakers Tell DOJ to Take Referrals Seriously

Mr. Stefanik warned the DOJ of “politicizing” the department by taking some referrals and ignoring others.

“This is unacceptable,” she wrote, pointing to the prosecution of two Trump administration senior officials, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. Mr. Navarro, currently in jail, was the first contempt-of-Congress prosecution the department has carried out in decades.

“Perjury and false statements before Congress are crimes that undermine the integrity of the constitutional duty to conduct oversight and inquiries—far more so than contesting the lawfulness of a subpoena,” Ms. Stefanik wrote.

She pointed out that Mr. Cohen has admitted to lying before Congress himself—and under oath—and said the refusal to follow up with a probe revealed a “glaring” double standard.

She warned that the DOJ is seen to “help your boss and hurt his political enemy.”

“You are trying to protect the reputation of an admitted perjurer, one who just so happens to be set to testify against former President Trump in New York,” the letter reads.

Ms. Stefanik said the “optics” were already bad with former DOJ prosecutor Matthew Colangelo now sitting on the Manhattan District Attorney’s team prosecuting President Trump.

“Mr. Cohen clearly admitted to committing perjury before this Committee. We urge you to stop politicizing and weaponizing the Biden Justice Department—and open a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Cohen committed perjury and knowingly made false statements to the Committee during his testimony in February 2019,” the letter reads.