Republicans say that ex-Trump lawyer should be prosecuted for perjury

Top House Republicans are referring former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to the Justice Department for criminal charges after admitting to lying to Congress in 2019. Cohen admitted last month that he lied under oath during a February 2019 deposition about Trump’s personal financial statements. He falsely told the committee behind closed doors that he was not instructed by Trump to inflate his net worth.

“So you lied under oath in February 2019? Is that your testimony?’ he was asked at the end of October by Trump lawyer Alina Habba in the ongoing $250 million civil fraud trial in New York about Trump’s finances. “Yes,” Cohen replied.

Elise Stefanik, RN.Y., chair of the GOP conference, told DailyMail.com that as a result, DOJ should “take off its partisan blinders” and investigate “disgraced fraudster and disbarred attorney” Michael Cohen. She called him a “felon who was previously convicted of lying to Congress, but who has just admitted to lying to Congress again.” Cohen was previously convicted of lying to Congress in 2018 about his work on a business deal with Trump Tower in Russia.

Elise Stefanik was joined Tuesday by House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, in the referral to Attorney General Merrick Garland. ‘Mr. Cohen’s testimony at the New York trial is inconsistent with his testimony before the committee,” the Republicans wrote in the letter to Garland.

“That Mr. Cohen was willing to openly and brazenly state at trial that he lied to Congress on this specific issue is startling. His willingness alone to make such a statement would necessitate an investigation.” DOJ confirmed receipt of the letter to DailyMail.com on Tuesday, but provided no further comment. In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including five counts of tax evasion and bank fraud. He was sentenced to three years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

He was also barred from practicing law in New York State. At the time, he said the lie to the House Intelligence Committee was an attempt to align with Trump’s “political message.” He was the first to be charged by former special counsel Robert Mueller with lying to Congress during his investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia.

Mueller concluded after 22 months that there was not enough evidence to prove collusion and while he did not rule on obstruction, he said he could not “acquit” the president. Trump’s lawyers last month questioned Cohen about his past convictions during an intense cross-examination at the civil fraud trial. Habba attacked Cohen’s credibility by citing comments made by prosecutors during his 2018 sentencing.

The then-judge also noted that Cohen’s crimes showed a “pattern of deception that permeated his professional life” and stated that he had “abused his relationship with a powerful individual,” referring to Trump. Habba cited statements saying Cohen was “motivated by personal greed” and had “repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive purposes.”

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