House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik are demanding the Justice Department investigate former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, alleging he committed perjury and “knowingly” made false statements while testifying before Congress in 2019.
Turner, R-Ohio, and Stefanik, R-N.Y., first called for an investigation into Cohen in November, after the former Trump attorney admitted in his time on the stand during the trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit against the former president that the testimony he gave before the committee in 2019 was “knowingly and intentionally false.”
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But Turner and Stefanik said they never received a response from the DOJ.
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is being used as the prosecution’s “star witness,” despite the fact that he has been convicted of making false statements, lawmakers said. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)
“To date, we received no response from the Biden Justice Department regarding this criminal referral,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday. “This is unacceptable.”
Turner and Stefanik said the Biden DOJ “eagerly prosecuted two different former Trump senior presidential advisers – Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro – for contesting the lawfulness of a subpoena.”
“In fact, the Biden Justice Department brought the first contempt-of-Congress prosecutions seen in nearly 40 years,” they said, adding that 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.”
“Yet, despite an admission from Mr. Cohen that he lied under oath to Congress, the Biden Justice Department did nothing,” they wrote. “The double standard is glaring.”
Turner and Stefanik accused Garland of having “politicized and weaponized the Biden Justice Department 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,” they wrote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and Rep. Marc Molinaro conduct a news conference on Capitol Hill on March 6, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Turner and Stefanik said what makes “the optics worse” is that a former senior Biden DOJ official, Matthew Colangelo, is a top prosecutor on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team. Colangelo delivered the opening argument in Trump’s unprecedented and historic criminal trial.
Turner and Stefanik said Cohen is being used as the prosecution’s “star witness,” despite the fact that he has been convicted of making false statements, and seemingly admitted perjury.
“Colangelo, of course, is the senior political appointee who served as President Biden’s and your Acting Associate Attorney General, the third most powerful position in the Biden Justice Department, who deployed to Bragg’s office to bring the first indictment ever against a former president – who happens to be your boss’ political opponent,” they wrote. “Mr. Cohen clearly admitted to committing perjury before this Committee.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (AP)
They added: “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.”
A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter from Turner and Stefanik, but declined to comment further.
While on the stand during Trump’s non-jury civil trial stemming from James’ lawsuit in October, Cohen was presented with the transcript of his February 2019 testimony.
When asked if he was being “honest” in front of the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019, Cohen testified: “No.”
“So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” Trump attorney Alina Habba asked him.
“Yes,” Cohen replied.
When asked for comment in November after Turner and Stefanik initially referred him to the DOJ, Cohen told Fox News Digital that they “continue to do Donald’s bidding in witness tampering and obstructing justice.”
“The two members fail to understand the distinction between explicit and implied; which is how the question was asked and accurately responded to,” Cohen. “The topic was further clarified several questions thereafter; which is conveniently and intentionally being ignored. I am not concerned at all with their baseless request.”
Michael Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. (Getty Images)
Cohen added: “This is the type of harassment everyone, especially critics, should expect if Donald becomes president again!”
Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
Meanwhile, as for Colangelo, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called for an investigation into his role at the Justice Department during the Biden administration.
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