Michael Cohen, a former attorney for President Donald Trump, will testify publicly this week that the president committed criminal acts while in office, a new report states.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Cohen will provide House Committee on Oversight and Reform investigators evidence that the president was criminally involved in hush payments made to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with the president years before he ran for the White House. In addition to Daniels, née Stephanie Clifford, Cohen also made payments to former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, who also alleges to have had an affair with Trump. The Journal, citing an individual familiar with Cohen’s plans, will also detail President Trump’s so-called “lies, racism and cheating,” with regard to the transactions.
On December 12, A federal judge sentenced Cohen to three years in prison on nine counts, including tax evasion, campaign finance violation, and issuing false statements to a bank in connection to the payments to Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The former Trump attorney will meet behind closed doors with Senate Intelligence Committee members on Tuesday.
President Trump has criticized Cohen, calling him a “rat” and a “weak person,” along with accusing him of lying in order to receive a lighter prison sentence.
Last Thursday, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) analyst was charged for disclosing confidential information regarding Cohen’s bank records. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California charged John Fry with leaking a suspicious activity report (SAR), which financial institutions file upon spotting red flags associated with a transaction, to television lawyer Michael Avenatti. Fry reportedly turned down an offer to plead guilty to felony charges in exchange for probation time, and will likely face two additional charges, which include the misuse of a government computer and misuse of a Social Security number.