{"id":14707,"date":"2019-02-27T10:45:46","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T18:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/02\/27\/news-8456\/"},"modified":"2019-02-27T10:45:46","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T18:45:46","slug":"news-8456","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/02\/27\/news-8456\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Michael Cohen Testify Before Congress Right Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Credit to Author: Brian Barrett| Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:41:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, longtime Trump fixer Michael Cohen<\/a> is set to publicly testify before the House Oversight Committee. You can follow along live right here when it kicks off at 10 am ET.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, some expectation-setting. While Cohen has proven to be a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller<\/a>\u2019s ongoing investigation into Russian interference<\/a> in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, he won\u2019t be discussing any of that on Wednesday. Instead, he\u2019ll reportedly focus<\/a> on Trump\u2019s business conduct, apparently even providing documentation<\/a> that details suspect financial practices. (Cohen testified Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and will again on Thursday to the House Intelligence Committee, but both of those are closed-door sessions.)<\/p>\n

Of particular interest: Whether Donald Trump ordered Cohen to lie<\/a> about the Trump Tower Moscow Project, as alleged in a Buzzfeed News story<\/a> last month\u2014a report that Mueller's office disputed<\/a>. Cohen will also likely face questions about payments to Stormy Daniels intended to keep her alleged affair with Trump quiet in advance of the election. Cohen\u2019s plea agreement with the Southern District of New York states that Trump directed Cohen to make those payments, which Trump and his lawyers have denied.<\/p>\n

Expect the questions to range even wider than that, though. Cohen spent over a decade working for Trump, and has insight into the Trump Organization\u2019s inner workings that few can match. (Relatedly, remember that Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has been cooperating<\/a> with investigators since August.)<\/p>\n

Cohen's prepared testimony, released ahead of the hearing and embedded directly below, claims not only that Trump is racist and duplicitous, but that the president was aware of the alleged conversations between advisor Roger Stone and WikiLeaks<\/a>. Cohen apparently lacks any corroborating, documentary evidence to back this claim up. But he does purport to have financial documents, letters, and a copy of a check that all point to a variety of apparent malfeasance, including the notorious payment to silence porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied involvement.<\/p>\n