May 1, 2024
By Ryan King
House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik and the leader of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday accused the Justice Department of ignoring their demand that investigators probe former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen for alleged perjury before Congress.
Cohen, 57, who worked as Trump’s lawyer and fixer before turning against him, admitted to lying before the Intelligence Committee during February 2019 testimony about various allegations related to the 45th president.
Intel panel Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Stefanik (R-NY) urged the DOJ to take up a criminal referral against Cohen back in November but claimed the department has declined to follow up.
“The Biden Administration’s attempts to stonewall this investigation is yet another example of Biden’s lawfare against President Trump,” Stefanik said in a statement. “It’s time Joe Biden stop weaponizing the federal government against his leading political opponent.”
In February 2019, Cohen appeared before the House Intelligence Committee and testified under oath that he did not recall Trump asking him to inflate the value of the then-president’s real estate holdings to obtain more favorable loan terms.
Last year, during Trump’s civil fraud trail, in which the 45th president was found liable and ordered to cough up over $454 million, Cohen was again questioned about whether he was asked to cook the books.
“I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected … and my responsibility, along with [then-Trump Organization CFO] Allen Weisselberg, primarily, was to reverse-engineer,” he said.
Cohen was later asked by Trump lawyer Alina Habba about the inconsistency with his prior testimony and answered “yes” when asked if he “lied under oath” to Congress — a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
“Michael Cohen has no credibility. He is an admitted liar,” Turner said in a statement.
Cohen was previously sentenced to three years after pleading guilty in 2018 to crimes including violating US campaign finance laws during Trump’s 2016 presidential run.
In a follow-up letter to the DOJ Wednesday, Turner and Stefanik highlighted how the department pursued charges against former Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro, who is now in jail; and former White House adviser Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress after they refused to appear before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“The Biden Justice Department brought the first contempt-of-Congress prosecutions seen in nearly forty years,” Turner and Stefanik wrote in a letter to US Attorney Merrick Garland.
“Yet, despite an admission from Mr. Cohen that he lied under oath to Congress, the Biden Justice Department did nothing,” they went on. “The double standard is glaring. The obvious implication is that you have politicized and weaponized the Biden Justice Department to help your boss and hurt his political enemy.”
Both Stefanik and Turner are calling for an acknowledgment of their initial letter to the DOJ as well as an investigation into Cohen.
Cohen has emerged as a key witness in the criminal hush money trial against Trump, which began last month in Manhattan. This week, reports emerged that the ex-lawyer has been discussing the case on nightly TikTok streams in exchange for money.
Trump stands accused of falsifying business records to conceal reimbursement of Cohen for payments made to kill negative stories about the then-candidate.
The 77-year-old has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Stefanik, widely seen as a top contender in Trump’s veepstakes, has sought to help the former president battle his onslaught of legal challenges.
On Tuesday, she sent a letter to the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility demanding a review of special counsel Jack Smith’s handling of the four-count election subversion indictment of Trump.
Stefanik accused Smith of actively meddling in the 2024 presidential election by seeking to expedite the case amid Trump’s presidential immunity appeal.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
