Schiff: A Lot of What Cohen Said ‘Bolstered His Credibility’

On Wednesday’s “PBS NewsHour,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) stated that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen “bolstered his credibility” with many of the things he said before the House Oversight Committee.

Schiff said, “Well, look, there’s no question that any witness coming before Congress who has a history where they have been dishonest with Congress comes in with a credibility problem. But, at the same time, a lot of what he said today, I think, bolstered his credibility…when people want to make things up, they don’t generally do it in a half fashion.”

He continued, “And so, when Mr. Cohen testified, for example, that he overheard a conversation between Don Jr. and his father that, in retrospect, he recognized was about the Trump Tower in New York meeting with the Russians, if he was just determined to bury the president, he would not have made any ambiguity about that. There were also times when I thought that his testimony was quite striking, and in a very credible fashion. For example, when he testified about the rumors of a videotape of the president striking his wife in an elevator, he was very quick to come to the president’s defense and say, I don’t believe he would do that. Now, that’s not something you do if your agenda is just to bury the president or receive a lighter sentence. And those type of things do give a witness credibility.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett