(CNN) — Donald Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen plans to testify Wednesday that Trump was aware of his longtime confidante Roger Stone’s efforts to reach out to WikiLeaks ahead of the release of hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign, according to his public testimony submitted to Congress and obtained by CNN.
Cohen’s also plans to show the committee a copy of a reimbursement check that Trump signed as President in 2017 — which he says was reimbursement for the hush-money payments to women made during the campaign — and that Trump knew about the pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project well into the 2016 campaign, despite public claims Trump had no business with Russia.
Cohen’s testimony, which is likely his last chance to weigh in publicly on the President before he reports to prison in May, is sure to feature fireworks in a high-profile showdown between a Trump loyalist-turned-Robert Mueller cooperator taking his story public and Republican defenders of the President who will attack Cohen’s credibility.
Cohen’s hearing will also create a classic split-screen: He’s testifying about what he says are Trump’s misdeeds while the President is in Vietnam meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The White House has attacked Cohen’s credibility, labeling him someone who cannot be trusted after he already pleaded guilty to lying to Congress.
“Disgraced felon Michael Cohen is going to prison for lying to Congress and making other false statements,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in that statement. “Sadly, he will go before Congress this week and we can expect more of the same. It’s laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word, and pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies.”
In his opening statement, Cohen launches a broadside against Trump, accusing him making racist statements and being “a conman” and “a cheat.”
Cohen also plans to provides new details claiming Trump was heavily involved in the pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project in 2016. Cohen lied to Congress about that project in 2017 — which he pleaded guilty to in December — covering up how far into the campaign the discussions went.
“To be clear, Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Tower negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it,” Cohen will tell the committee. “He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project.”
CNN reported in July 2018 that Cohen was willing to testify to the special counsel that Trump knew in advance about the planned meeting at Trump Tower.
Cohen says that Trump did not “directly” tell him to lie to Congress, but that Trump would tell him personally and the public that he had “no business” with Russia, even as he was negotiating the Moscow project.
“In his way, he was telling me to lie,” Cohen says.
Cohen also plans to provide the committee with copies of letters he wrote threatening Trump’s high school, college and the College Board not to release his grades or test scores.
Wednesday’s hearing is the second of three congressional appearances for Cohen this week, which is intended to cover Cohen’s dealing with Trump and the President’s finances, but not the Russia investigation.
Cohen appeared behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday and will do the same on Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee, which are both settings where he will be quizzed on Russia matters.
Cohen’s congressional appearances come before he is scheduled to report to prison on May 6 for a three-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to tax crimes, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress in 2017.
The House Oversight Committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, told reporters earlier this week that he doesn’t know what Cummings will say Wednesday, but he predicted it could be an historically significant event.
“He’s the only person that I know of who has accused this President of a crime,” Cummings said of Cohen. “And so I think it’s only fair to the President and to Michael Cohen and to the public that he come forward so that they’ll have an opportunity to observe his demeanor, Republicans will be able to ask him questions, just like in a cross examination, and then they can make their own judgments.”
Indeed, Republicans are prepared to attack Cohen’s credibility. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the panel, has said his members will ask Cohen about the crimes he committed and other matters that fall outside the scope that Cummings outlined.
The-CNN-Wire
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