road, they better have an end statements regarding trump tower game because there's no way the and moscow. i want to drill down some of the senate is going to remove donald trump. >> we're coming up on 10:00 facts and details. right now. now, you may not be aware of we're covering of course the this, this go backs a ways back hearings of michael cohen, michael cohen testifying, the president's former lawyer and fixer, testifying on capitol hill. mary, we just saw michael cohen in 1997 mr. trump wrote he had make his way into that room ongoing discussions with soviet officials back then to build a surrounded. >> george, the crowds here are just tremendous. there's a level of interest in large luxury hotel across from this hearing -- i'm right the kremlin in partnership with outside the hearing room and you the soviet union. can still see just a mass tif line of people waiting to get in so, at that time it was the and have a chance to hear what soviet union. some have told history. i want to ask you, in your michael cohen has of course filing with the special counsel testified before congress. he has pleaded guilty to lying murrell's office, the to congress before. prosecutors wrote and i quote, today he says unlike before when mr. cohen discussed the status he came to protect the president, today he says he is here to tell the truth. of in progress of the moscow project with indidl one on this is his chance to do so publicly and on camera. more than the three occasions mr. cohen claims to the committee and he briefed family >> you hear that flutter of cameras as michael cohen prepares to take his seat. members of individual one with he will be testifying under oath. the company about the project. first we're going to have opening statements from the i know this is redundant. chairman of the committee,

mr. cohen, who were you elijah cummings. also the republican ranking referring to as we refer to member, jim jordan. individual one. >> donald trump. >> the company? >> the trump organization. michael cohen has been preparing >> okay. for this for some time. who were the family members that his time in prison delayed by two months. you briefed on the trump tower he was supposed to enter prison moscow project. for a three-year sentence on >> donald trump junior and i march 6. that's been put off two months to may 6 in part to give this ivanka trump. >> regular course of business or testimony and in part to did the president or family cooperate with prosecutors. request a briefing? he's also recovering from >> this is the regular course of shoulder surgery. business. this is expected to go all day, >> did you recall, a question on the number of briefings, do you as mary was saying,s a committee, 40 members, more than 40 members, several of the new members as well. recall how many of these briefings might have been. >> approximately ten in total. questioning under the >> all right. five-minute rule. in your written remarks you also that's usually violated. most of the time they go a little longer than that. we really don't know how michael wrote and i quote, at least half cohen is going to react under a dozen times between the iowa this pressure. we've seen him as the pit bull caucus in 2016 at the end of for the president. we've seen him with remorse june, mr. president would askin? after sentencing. have not seen him in a situation like this. there's the gavel.

>> the committee will come to order. without objection the chair is how would he communicate that? authorized to declare a recess >> michael, he was heading to rally or a car, he would ask me, we will hear the testimony of michael cohen, former attorney questions quickly regarding a to president donald trump. series of -- >> any doubt about what he was >> mr. chairman, i have a point of order. referring to in terms of the >> you'll state your point of project in russia? >> no, this would be it order. >> rule 9f of the committee otherwise there would have been rules say that any testimony no reason to ask it of me. from your witness needs to be >> you also wrote and i quote, here 24 hours in advance. committee and the chairman knows to be clear, donald trump knew well that at 10:08 we received of and negotiate d the project. the written testimony and then we received evidence this how did he direct the morning at 7:54. now, if this was just an negotiations? what details did he direct? oversight, mr. chairman, i could >> after each communication i look beyond it, but it was an had, i would report back to him intentional effort by this witness and his advisers to once and our goal was to get this project, we were interested in again show his disdain.

building what would have been the largest building in all of i move that we postpone this europe. sir, if i can say one last thing heari hearing. to the gentleman's statement >> i want to thank the gentle n since this is on topic. the lies that i told to gentleman. congress, in fairness benefited mr. trump, it was in further of let me say this. we got the testimony late last my protection of mr. trump which night, we did. i stated in my testimony. and i'm not protecting mr. trump and we got it to you all pretty much the same time that we got anymore. and so, while i truly appreciate taking some of your time on to it. i want to move forward with this hearing -- >> mr. chairman, with all due it, to attack me every single respect, mr. chairman, this is a time about taxes, i have no violation of the rule and if it credibility, it's for exactly was not intentional, i would not that reason that i spent the have a problem. i'm not saying it was last week searching boxes in intentional on your part. order to find the information i'm saying it's intention on his that i did so that you don't have to take my word for it. part because mr. dean last night i don't want you on a cable news network actually made it all very evident, john dean. and i'll quote, mr. chairman.

let me just say i don't think my he said, as a former committee colleagues on the other side of the aisle are afraid that you counsel in the house judiciary are going to lie. i think they're afraid you're committee and then a long-term going to tell the truth. >> thank you, sir. witness sitting alone at the table is important, quote, >> thank you very much. holding your statement as long >> the gentleman from ohio is as you can so the other side recognized. can't chew it up is important as >> i appreciate the gentleman well, close quote. yielding. when have you ever seen a so it was advised that our federal agency where this has happened? james comey director fired, andy witness got, for this particular mccabe deputy director fired, body, and mr. chairman, when you were in the minority, you lied three times under oath as we speak. wouldn't have stood for it and i can tell you that we should not jim baker, fbi counsel, demoted stand for it as a body. >> let me say this -- and then left under current investigation by the u.s. >> mr. chairman -- >> let me say this -- >> mr. chairman? attorney's office. peter strzok, deputy head of >> yes. >> i move to table. counterintelligence, demoted and then fired. >> chairman? >> second? that's what happen >> mr. chairman? mr. chairman, i was asked to be recognized before the motion. >> the vote is in tabling the motion. >> you know who had this material before all the members of the committee? cnn had it before we did. >> sir --

>> cnn had it before we did. >> yeah, well, the vote is on tabling the motion to postpone. all in favor say aye. >> aye. >> all in favor say no. >> no. >> the ayes have it. >> i appeal the ruling of the chair. i can assure you it's in the rules. i appeal the ruling of the chair. >> do the rules matter, mr. chairman? >> recognize the gentle lady. >> move to waive the rules. >> there's a motion to table. >> move to table. >> she made two motions, what's the motion? >> the vote is on tabling -- >> i move to table the appeal to the ruling of the chair. >> the vote is on that a. all in favor say aye. >> aye. >> all in favor say no. >> no. >> the ayes have it. >> i ask for a recorded voted, mr. chairman. >> very well. the clerk will recall the role.

>> there we see the republicans protesting, saying they didn't get michael cohen's prepared testimony 24 hours ahead of time. they're saying that did not happen. i want to bring in mary bruce for more on that. they're prettying here, mary, but what matters in a congressional committee is who has the votes. >> exactly. if there was any question as to the partisan tension in the room, that was just on full display. republican mark meadows straight off the bat demanding that this hearing be delayed because he said the testimony wasn't made available until late overnight. there is no question that the stakes are high here and we are seeing that play out inside this hearing room before it even gets started but democrats ultimately have the louder voice and more votes in this room. >> the vote is being called right now. let's listen in. mslaence yes.votes yes.

>> terry moran, one of the things we're going to see here and it's become common in our political culture is two very different story lines coming out of this hearing today. >> that's right. each one of them partisan, no question about it. this is more than two different story lines. this is an effort to sabotage the reliability, the credibility of these hearings. the democrats would do it too on the other side. you just throw as much sand into the gears as you can, make a lot of noise, pound the table, it's an injustice, this whole place is out of order and you water down the impact of the hearing. that's the hope anyway. that's an old-time strategy. >> mr. cloud votes no. mr. gibbs. >> they'll work their way through role call. cecilia, we do know that michael cohen spent hours with the senate intelligence committee

yesterday. even though they're saying that russia will be off the table today if michael cohen, as we expect, brings it up and talks about the negotiations for trump tower moscow, there are going to be a lot of questions on that as well. and the democrats are ready for that. many had been furious that they were not going to be allowed to ask about russia per the special counsel in that ongoing investigation but it sounds like they're going to ask about it now. >> they just finished the role call. let's go back to the chairman, elijah cummings. >> the motion to table is agreed to. let me say this, you've made it clear that you do not want the american people to hear what mr. cohen has to say, but the american people have a right to hear him. so we're going to proceed. the american people can judge his credibility for themselves. now -- >> mr. chairman? >> yes. >> we did not say that. we just said we wanted to follow the rules. we didn't say stop the hearing,

we just said postpone it so we could get his testimony and the exhibits when we were supposed to get them according to the rules of this committee. we didn't say we didn't want to hear from the guy. >> reclaiming my time. reclaiming my time. i now recognize myself for five minutes to give an opening statement. today the committee will hear the testimony of michael cohen, president donald trump's long-time personal attorney and one of his closest and most trusted advisers over the last decade. on august 21st, mr. cohen appeared in federal court and admitted to arranging secret payoffs of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the eve of the election to silence women alleging affairs with donald

tru trump. mr. cohen admitted to violating campaign finance laws and other laws. he admitted to committing these felonies, quote, in coordination with and at the direction of, unquote president trump. he admitted, he admitted to lying about his actions to protect the president. some will certainly ask if mr. cohen was lying then, why should we believe him now? this is a legitimate question. as a trial lawyer for many years, i have faced this situation over and over again, and i ask the same question. here is how i view our role. every one of us in this room has a duty to serve as an

independent check on the executive branch. ladies and gentlemen, we are in search of the truth. the president's made many statements of his own, and now the american people have a right to hear the other side. they can watch mr. cohen's testimony and make their own judgment. we received a copy of mr. cohen's written statement late last night. it includes not only personal eye witness accounts of meetings with donald trump as president inside the oval office, but it also includes documents and other corroborating evidence of some of mr. cohen's statements. for example, mr. cohen has

provided a copy of a check sent while president trump was in office, with donald trump's signature on it, to reimburse mr. cohen for the hush money payment to stormy daniels. this new evidence raises a host of troubling legal and ethical concerns about the president's actions in the white house and before. with y'all close that door, please. thank you. this check is dated august 1st, 2017. six months later, in april of 2018, the president denied anything about it. in april of 2018, president

trump was flying on air force one when a reporter asked him the question, did you know about a $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? the answer was, quote, no. a month after that the president admitted to making payments to mr. cohen, proclaimed they were part of a, quote, monthly retainer, unquote, for legal services. this claim fell apart in august when fellow prosecutors concluded, and i quote, in truth and in fact, there was no such retainer agreement, end of quote. today we will also hear mr. cohen's account of a meeting in 2016 in donald trump's office during which roger stone said over a speaker phone that he had

just spoken with julian assange who said there would be a, quote, massive dump of e-mails that would damage hillary clinton's campaign, end of quote. according to mr. cohen, mr. trump replied, quote, wouldn't that be great, end of quote. the testimony that michael cohen will provide today, ladies and gentlemen, is deeply disturbing and it should be troubling to all americans. we all have to make our own evaluation of the evidence and mr. cohen's credibility. as he admits, he has repeatedly lied in the past. i agree with ranking member jordan that this is an important factor we need to weigh, but we must weigh it and we must hear

from him. where i disagree fundamentally with the ranking member involves his efforts to prevent the american people from hearing from mr. cohen. mr. cohen's testimony raises grave questions about the legality of donald trump's -- president donald trump's conduct and the truthfulness of statements while he was president. we need to assess and investigate this new evidence as we hold our constitutional oversight responsibilities. we will continue after today to gather more documents and testimony in our search for the truth. i have made it abundantly clear to mr. cohen that if he comes here today and he does not tell us the truth, i will be the

first one to refer those untruthful statements to doj. so, when people say he doesn't have anything to lose, he does have a lot to lose if he lies. and the american people, by the way, voted for accountability in november, and they have a right to hear mr. cohen in public so they can make their own judgments. mr. cohen's testimony is the beginning of the process, not the end. ladies and gentlemen, the days of this committee protecting the president at all costs are over. they're over. before i close, i want to comment about the scope of today's hearing. at the request of the house intelligence committee and my very good friend adam schiff,

congressman adam schiff, the chairman, i intended over the rejections of the ranking member to limit the scope of today's hearing to avoid questions about russia. however, mr. cohen's written testimony, in his written testimony, he's made statements relating to russia. these are topics that we understand do not raise concern from the department of justice. so in fairness to the ranking member and all committee members, we will not restrict questions relating to the witness's testimony or related questions he is willing to answer. finally, i remind members that we will need to remain mindful of those areas where there are ongoing department of justice investigations. those scoping limitations have not changed.

finally, and to mr. cohen, martin luther king, mr. cohen, said some words that i leave with you today before you testify. he said faith is taking the first step, even when you can't see the whole staircase. there comes a time when silence becomes betrayal. our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that truly matter. in the end, he says, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. with that, i yield to the distinguished gentleman, the ranking member of our committee, mr. jordan. >> elijah cummings. you just saw michael cohen caught up with some emotion as the chairman quoted martin

luther king to him. we're about to hear from the ranking republican on the committee, jim jordan. let's tune in. >> your first announced witness, michael cohen. i want everyone in the room to think about this. the first witness for the 116th congress is a guy who's going to prison in two months for lying to congress. mr. chairman, your chairmanship will always be identified with this hearing. we all need to understand what this is. this is the michael cohen hearing presented by lanny davis. that's right, lanny davis choreographed the whole darn thing. the clintons' best friend, loyalist, operative, lanny davis put this all together. you know how we know? he told our staff. he told the committee staff the hearing was his idea, he selected this committee. he had to talk michael cohen into coming. and most importantly, he had to persuade the chairman to actually have it. he told us it took two months to

get that job done, but here we are. he talked him into it. this might be the first time someone convicted of lying to congress has appeared again so quickly in front of congress. certainly it's the first time a convicted perjurer has been brought back to be a star witness in a hearing. there's a reason this is a first, because no other committee would do it. think about this, with mr. cohen here, this committee, we got lots of lawyers on this committee, this committee is actually encouraging a witness to violate attorney/client privilege. mr. chairman, when we legitimize dishonesty, we delegitimize this institution. we're supposed to pursue the truth, but you have stacked the deck against the truth. we are aonly allowed to ask certain questions even with that amendment on the table. you initially told us we can't ask questions about the special counsel, can't ask questions about the southern district of new york, can't ask questions

about russia. nope, nope. only subjects we can talk about are ones you think are going to be harmful to the president of the united states, and the answers to those questions are going to come from a guy who can't be trusted. here's what the u.s. attorney said about mr. cohen. while mr. cohen enjoyed a privileged life, his desire forever greater wealth and influence precipitated an extensive course of criminal conduct. mr. cohen committed four, four distinct federal crimes over a period of several years. he was motivated to do so by personal greed and repeatedly, repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends, b but the democrats don't care. they just want to use you, mr. cohen. you're their patsy today. they got to find somebody somewhere to say something so they can try to remove the president from office.

tom steyer told them to. tom steyer last week organized a town hall, guess where? chairman nadler's district in manhattan. two nights ago tom steyer organized a town hall. guess where? chairman cummings' district in baltimore. the best they can find to start this process, michael cohen, fraudster, cheat, convicted felon and a two-month federal inmate -- actually, they didn't find him. lanny davis found him. i'll say one thing about the democrats, they stick to the playbook. remember, remember how all this started. the clinton campaign hired perkins law firm, who hired glen simpson, who hired a foreigner, christopher steele, who put together the fake dossier that the fbi used to go get a warrant to spy on the trump campaign. but when that whole scheme failed and the american people said we're going to make donald

trump president, they said we got to do something else. so now, clinton loyalist, clinton operative lanny davis has persuaded the chairman of the oversight committee to give a convicted felon a forum to tell stories and lie about the president of the united states so they can all start their impeachment process. mr. chairman, we are better than this. we are better than this. i yield back. >> i wanted to note -- >> mr. chairman, actually, i have a motion. >> yield back. >> i have a motion of 2k6 of rule 11 -- >> you yielded back, sir. >> mr. chairman, you took seven minutes. i took four. >> but the gentleman yielded back. >> that's how you're going to operate? first you don't follow the rules and now you're going to say -- >> point of order.

>> you get tote fro the ust h a mr. chairman. >> thank you. excuse me. i wanted to know that under rule 11, all media and photographers must be officially credentialed to record these proceedings and take photographs. i also wanted to briefly address the spectators in the hearing room today. we welcome you and we respect your right to be here. we also ask in turn for your respect as we proceed with the business of the committee today. it is the intention of the committee to proceed without any disruptions. any disruptions of this committee will result in the united states capitol police restoring order. we are grateful for your

cooperation. now i want to welcome mr. cohen and thank him for participating in today's hearing. mr. cohen, if you would please rise and i will begin to swear you in. raise your right hand. do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give is the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> i do. >> let the record show that the witness answered in the affirmative. thank you, and you may be seated. the microphones are sensitive so please speak directly into them. without objection your written statement will be made a part of the record. with that, mr. cohen, you are now recognized to give an oral presentation of your testimony. is the mic on? >> yes. chairman cummings, ranking

member jordan, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me here today. i have asked this committee to ensure that my family be protected from presidential threats and that the committee be sensitive to the questions pertaining to ongoing investigations. i thank you for your help and for your understanding. i am here under oath to correct the record, to answer the committee's questions truthfully and to offer the american people what i know about president trump. i recognize that some of you may doubt and into this ors rson tt opening statement documents that are irrefutable and demonstrate hear is accurate and truthful.

never in a million years did i imagine, when i accepted a job in 2007, to work for donald trump that he would one day run for the presidency, to launch a campaign on a platform of hate and intolerance and actually win. i regret the day i said yes to mr. trump. i regret all the help and support i gave him along the way. i am ashamed of my own failings and publicly accepted responsibility for them by pleading guilty in the southern ispledloyalty, things i mr.trfo to ott ote hi i am ashamed that i chose to take part in concealing mr. trump's illicit acts

than listen tog ing to my own conscience. i am ashamed because i know what mr. trump is. he is a racist. he is a con man, and he is a cheat. he was a presidential candidate who knew that roger stone was talking with julian assange about a wikileaks drop of democratic national committee e-mai e-mails. i will explain each in a few moments. i am providing the committee today with several documents, and these include a copy of the check mr. trump wrote from his personal bank account after he became president to reimburse me for the hush money payments i made to cover up his affair with an adult film star and prevent damage to his campaign. copies of financial statements from 2011, 2012 and 2013 that he

gave to such institutions such as deutsch bank. a copy of an article with mr. trump's handwriting on it that reported on the auction of a portrait of himself that he arranged for the bidder ahead of time and then reimbursed the bidder from the account of his nonprofit charitable foundation with the picture now hanging in one of his country clubs. and copies of letters i wrote at mr. trump's direction that threatened his high school, colleges and the college board not to release his grades or s.a.t. scores. i hope my appearance heretoday, my guilty plea, and my work with law enforcement agencies are steps along a path of redemption that will restore faith in me and help this country understand

our president better. before going further, i want to apologize to each member, to congress as a whole. the last time i appeared before congress, i came to protect mr. trump. today i am here to tell the truth about mr. trump. i lied to congress when mr. trump stopped negotiating the moscow tower project in russia. i stated that we stopped negotiating in january of 2016. that was false. our negotiations continued for months later during the campaign. mr. trump did not directly tell me to lie to congress. that's not how he operates. in conversations we had during the campaign, at the same time i

was actively negotiating in russia for him, he would look me in the eye and tell me there's no russian business and then go on to lie to the american people by saying the same thing. in his way, he was telling me to lie. there were at least a half a ze caucus and january of 2016 and the end of june when he would ask me, how's it going in russia, referring to the moscow tower project. you need to know that mr. trump's personal lawyers reviewed and edited my statement to congress about the timing of the moscow tower negotiations before i gave it. to be clear, mr. trump knew of and directed the trump moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it. he lied about it because he never expected to win.

he also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the moscow real estate project. and so i lied about it too, because mr. trump had made clear to me through his personal statements to me that we both knew to be false and through his lies to the country that he wanted me to lie. and he made it clear to me because his personal attorneys reviewed my statement before i gave it to congress. over the past two years, i have been smeared as a rat by the president of the united states. the truth is much different, and let me take a brief moment to introduce myself. my name is michael dean cohen, and i am a blessed husband of 24 years and a father to an incredible daughter and son.

when i married my wife, i promised her that i would love her, cherish her, and i would protect her. as my father said countless times throughout my childhood, you my wife, and you my children, are the air that i breathe. to my laura, and to my sami, and to my jake, there's nothing i wouldn't do to protect you. i have always tried to live a life of loyalty, friendship, generosity and compassion, qualities my parents ingrained and my siblings and me since childhood. my father survived the holocaust thanks to the compassion and selfless acts of others. he was helped by many who put themselves in harm'sayo do right. that is why my first instinct has always been to help those in

need, and mom and dad, i am sorry i let you down. as the many people that know me best would say, i am the person they would call at 3:00 a.m. if they needed help. i proudly remember being the emergency contact for many of my children's friends when they were growing up because their parents knew that i would drop everything and care for them as if they were my own. yet, last fall i pled guilty in federal court to felonies for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in coordination with individual number one. for the record, individual number one is president donald j. trump. it is painful to admit that i

was motivated by ambition at times. it is even more painful to admit that many times i ignored my conscience and acted loyal to a man when i should not have. sitting here today, it seems unbelievable that i was so mesmerized by donald trump that i was willing to do things for him that i knew were absolutely wrong. for that reason, i have come here to apologize to my family, to the government, and to the american people. accordingly, let me now tell you about mr. trump. i got to know him very well, working very closely with him for more than ten years as his executive vice president and special counsel and then as personal attorney when he became president. when i first met mr. trump, he was a successful entrepreneur, a real estate giant, and an icon.

being around mr. trump was intoxicating. when you were in his presence, you felt like you were involved in something greater than yourself, that you were somehow changing the world. i wound up touting the trump narrative for over a decade. that was my job. always stay on message, always defend. it monopolized my life. at first i worked mostly on real estate developments and other business transactions. shortly thereafter mr. trump brought me into his personal life and private dealings. over time i saw his true character revealed. mr. trump is an enigma. he is complicated, as am i. he is both good and bad, as do we all. but the bad far outweighs the

good. since taking office, he has become the worst version of himself. he is capable of behaving kindly, but he's not kind. he is capable of committing acts of generosity, but he is not generous. he is capable of being loyal, but he is fundamentally disloyal. donald trump is a man who ran for office to make his brand great, not to make our country great. he had no desire or intention to lead this nation, only to market himself and to build his wealth and power. mr. trump would often say, this campaign was going to be the greatest infomercial in political history. he never expected to win the primary. he never expected to win the general election. the campaign, for him, was always a marketing opportunity.

i knew early on in my work for mr. trump that he would direct me to lie to further his business interests, and i am ashamed to say that when it was for a real estate mogul in the private sector, i considered it trivial. as the president, i consider it significant and dangerous. but in the mix, lying for mr. trump was normalized and no one around him questioned it. in fairness, no one around him today questions it either. a lot of people have asked me about whether mr. trump knew about the release of the hacked documents, democratic national committee e-mail, ahead of time. and the answer is yes. as i earlier stated, mr. trump knew from roger stone in advance about the wikileaks drop of

e-mails. in july of 2016, days before th. mr. trump put mr. stone on the speaker phone. mr. stone told mr. trump that he had just gotten off the phone with julian assange and that mr. assange told mr. stone that within a couple of days there would be a massive dump of e-mails that would damage hillary clinton's campaign. mr. trump responded by stating to the effect, wouldn't that be great. mr. trump is a racist. the country has seen mr. sreci bigots. you have heard him call poorer countries shit holes. in private he is even worse. he once asked me if i could name

a country run by a black person that wasn't a shit hole. this is was when barack obama was president of the united states. while we were once driving through a struggling neighborhood in chicago, he commented that only black people could live that way. he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid. and yet, i continued to work for him. mr. trump is a cheat. as previously stated, i'm giving to the committee today three years of mr. trump's personal financial statements from 2011, 2012 and 2013 which he gave to deutsch bank to inquire about a loan to buy the buffalo bills and to forbes. these are exhibits 1-a, 1-b, and

1-c to my testimony. it was my experience that mr. trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in "forbes," and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes. i'm sharing with you two newspaper articles, side by side, that are examples of mr. trump inflating and deflating his assets, as i said, to suit his financial interests. these are exhibit 2 to my testimony. as i noted, i'm giving the committee today an article he wrote on and sent to me that reported on an auction of a portrait of mr. trump. this is exhibit 3-a to my testimony. mr. trump directed me to find a straw bidder to purchase a portrait of him that was being

auctioned off at an art hampton's event. the objective was to ensure that this portrait which was going to be auctioned last would go for the highest price of any portrait that afternoon. the portrait was purchased by the fake bidder for $60,000. mr. trump directed the trump foundation which is supposed to be a charitable organization, to repay the fake bidder, despite keeping the art for himself. please see exhibit 3-b to my testimony. and it should come as no surprise that one of my more common responsibilities was that mr. trump directed me to call business owners, many of whom are small businesses, that were owed money for their services and told them that no payment or a reduced payment would be coming. when i asked mr. trump -- or when i told mr. trump of my

success, he actually revelled in it. and yet, i continued to work for him. mr. trump is a con man. he asked me to pay off an adult film star with whom he had an affair and to lie about it to his wife, which i did. lying to the first lady is one of my biggest regrets. she is a kind, good person, and i respect her greatly, and she did not deserve that. i'm giving the committee today a copy of the $130,000 wire transfer from me to ms. clifford's attorney during the closing days of the presidential campaign that was demanded by ms. clifford to maintain her silence about her affair with mr. trump. this is exhibit 4 to my testimony.

mr. trump directed me to use my own personal funds from a home equity line of credit to avoid any money being traced back to him that could negatively impact his campaign. i did that too, without bothering to consider whether that was improper, much less whether it was the right thing to do or how it would impact me, my family, or the public. i am going to jail in part because of my decision to help mr. trump hide that payment from the american people before they voted a few days later. as exhibit 5-a to my testimony shows, i am providing a copy of a $35,000 check that president trump personally signed from his personal bank account on august 1 of 2017 when he was president

of the united states, pursuant to the coverup which was the basis of my guilty plea to reimburse me, the word used by mr. trump's tv lawyer for the illegal hush money i paid on his behalf. this $35,000 check was one of 11 check installments that was paid throughout the year while he was president. other checks to reimburse me for the hush money payments were signed by donald trump jr. and allen weisselberg. see, for example, exhibit 5-b. the president of the united states thus wrote a personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws. you can find the details of that scheme directed by mr. trump in

the pleadings in the u.s. district court for the southern district of new york. so picture this scene, in february of 2017, one month into his presidency, i'm visiting president trump in the oval office for the first time. it's truly awe-inspiring. he's showing me all around and pointing to different paintings, and he says to me something to the effect of, don't worry, michael, your january and february reimbursement checks are coming. they were fedexed from new york and it takes a while for that to get through the white house system. as he promised, i received the first check for the reimbursement of $70,000 not long thereafter. when i say con man, i'm talking about a man who declares himself brilliant but directed me to

threaten his high school, his colleges, and the college board to never release his grades or s.a.t. scores. as i mentioned, i'm giving the committee today copies of a letter i sent at mr. trump's direction threatening these schools with civil and criminal actions if mr. trump's grades or s.a.t. scores were ever disclosed without his permission. these are under exhibit 6. the irony wasn't lost on me at the time that mr. trump in 2011 had strongly criticized president obama for not releasing his grades. as you can see in exhibit 7, mr. trump declared, let him show his records, after calling president obama a terrible student. the sad fact is that i never heard mr. trump say anything in

private that led me to believe he loved our nation or wanted to make it better. in fact, he did the opposite. when telling me in 2008 or 2009 that he was cutting employee salaries in half, including mine, he showed me what he claimed was a $10 million irs tax refund and he said that he could not believe how stupid the government was for giving someone like him that much money back. during the campaign, mr. trump said that he did prisone of war senator john mccain to he becaueoe who weren't captured. at the same time, mr. trump me to handle the negative press surrounding his medical deferment from the vietnam

draft. mr. trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when i asked for medical records, he gave me none and said that there was no surgery. he told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment. he finished the conversation with the following comment. you think i'm stupid? i'm not going to vietnam. i find it ironic, mr. president, that you are inieht now, a now. and yet, i continued to work for him. questions have been raised about whether i know of direct evidence that mr. trump or his campaign colluded with russia. i do not. and iclear, but i have my suspicions. some time in the summer of 2017

i read all over the media that there had been a meeting in trump tower in june of 2016 involving don jr. and others from the campaign with russians including a representative of the russian government and an e-mail setting up the meeting with the subject line, dirt on hillary clinton. something clicked in my mind. i remembered being in a room with mr. trump, probably in early june of 2016, when something peculiar happened. don trump jr. came into the room and walked behind his father's desk which in and of itself was unusual. people didn't just walk behind mr. trump's desk to talk to him. i recall don jr. leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice which i could clearly hear and saying, the meeting is all set. and i remember mr. trump saying, okay, good, let me know.

what struck me as i looked back and thought about the exchange between don jr. and his father was first that mr. trump had frequently told me and others that his son don jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the world, and also that don jr. would never set up any meeting of significance alone and certainly not without checking with his father. i also knew that nothing went on in trump world, especially the knowdge d apoval so i concluded that don jr. was referring to that june 2016 trump tower walked behind his dad's desk that day. and trump knew that was

the meeting don jr. was talking about when he said, that's good, let me know. over the past year or so, i have done some real soul searching, and i see now that my ambition and the intoxication of trump power had much to do with the bad decisions in part that i made. and to you, chairman cummings, and ranking member jordan, the other members of this committee and the members of the house and senate, i am sorry for my lies and for lying to congress. and to our nation, i am sorry for actively working to hide from you the truth for those who question my motives for being here today, i understand. i have lied, but i am not a liar. i have done bad things but i am not a bad man.

i have fixed things but i am no longer your fixer, mr. trump. and i am going to prison and have shattered the safety and security that i tried so hard to provide for my family. my testimony certainly does not diminish the pain that i have caused my family and my friends. nothing can do that. and i have never asked for, nor would i accept a pardon from president trump. and by coming today, i have caused my family to be the tar get of personal, scurrilous attacks by the president and his lawyer, trying to intimidate me from appearing before this panel. mr. trump called me a rat for choosing to tell the truth, much like a mobster would do when one of his men decides to cooperate with the government.

as exhibit 8 shows, i have provided the committee with copies of tweets that mr. trump posted, attacking me and my family. only someone burying his head in the sand would not recognize them for what they are, encouragement to someone to do harm to me and my family. i never imagined that he would engage in vicious, false attacks on my family and unleash his tv lawyer to do the same. i hope this committee and all members of congress on both sides of the aisle make it clear that as a nation, we should not tolerate attempts to intimidate witnesses before congress and attacks on family are out of bounds and not acceptable. i wish to especially thank speaker pelosi for her statements. that's exhibit 9.

to protect this institution and me, and the chairman of the house permanent select committee on intelligence, adam schiff, and you, chairman cummings, for likewise defending the institution and my family against the attacks by mr. trump, and also the many republicans who have admonished the president as well. i am not a perfect man. i have done things i am not proud of, and i will live with the consequences of my actions for the rest of my life. but today i get to decide the example that i set for my children and how i attempt to change how history will remember me. i may not be able to change the past but i can do right by the american people here today. i thank you for your attention, and i'm happy to answer the committee's questions. >> 30 minutes of testimony from

michael cohen, unlike any we have seen before in the u.s. congress. the former lawyer for the president of the united states, direct, personal attack, a broadside attack on the president on his character, saying that he was directed to break the law and also calling the president a racist, also talked about russia. he's going to now be facing questions first from the chairman of the committee, elijah cummings. >> you are a lawyer, right? >> as of yesterday , i am no longer a lawyer. i have lost my law license, amongst other things. >> but you understand the gravity of this moment? >> i most certainly do, mr. chairman. >> i want you to really hear this, mr. cohen. we will not tolerate lying to this congress by anybody. we're in search of the truth. do you understand that? >> i do. >> the president has also made numerous statements that turned

out to be inaccurate. for example, he said he knew nothing about the hush money payments to ms. clifford, and his 2017 financial disclosure form said he never owed money to reimburse you for those payments. yet, in your testimony, mr. cohen, you said that you met with the president in the oval office in february of 2017 and discussed his plans to reimburse you for money you paid. you say he told you, and i quote, don't worry, michael, your january and february reimbursement checks are coming. is that accurate? and was that in the oval office? >> the statement is accurate, but the discussions regarding the reimbursement occurred long before he became president. >> would you explain that.

>> back in 2017 -- actually, i apologize. in 2016, prior to the election, i was contacted by keith davidson, who is the attorney -- was the attorney for ms. clifford, stormy daniels, and after several rounds of conversations with him about purchasing her life rights for $130,000, what i did each and every time is go straight into mr. trump's office and discuss the issue with him. when it was ultimately determined -- this was days before the election -- that mr. trump was going to pay the $130,000, in the office with me was allen weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the trump

organization. he acknowledged to allen that he was going to pay the $130,000 and that allen and i should go back to his office and figure out how to do it. so, yes, sir, i stand by the statement that i gave that there was a history to it. >> in your testimony you said you brought some checks, is that right? you said you brought some checks? >> yes, sir. >> let me ask you about one of these. this from the trump trust that holds the president's businesses, can youell me this ? >> believe tch signature is donald trump jr. and that the bottom signature i believe is allen weisselberg's. >> and date of that check?

>> march >> the date of the check is after president trump held his big press conference claiming that he gave up control of his businesses. . how could the president arranged for you to get this check if he was supposedly no role in his business? >> because the payments were designed to paid over the course of 12 months and it was declared to be a retainer for services that would be provided for the year. >> was there a>> w junr orr. meo about >> mr. aen weisselber fbo discussions and negotiations he

junior would have cursory information. >> here's another one. this one appears to be signed by donald trump himself, is that his signature? >> that's donald trump's signature. >> let me make sure i understand. donald trump wrote you a check out of his personal account while he was serving as president of the united states of america to reimburse you for hush money payments to ms. clifford, is that what you are telling the american people today? >> yes, mr. chairman. >> one final question, the president claims he knew nothing about these payments. hi filin he owed nothing to you. based on your conversations with him, is there any doubt in your mind that president trump knew

exactly what he was paying for? >> there was no doubt in my mind and i truly believe there's no doubt in the mind of the people of the united states of america. >> and these new documents appear to corroborate what you just told us. with that i'll yield to the gentleman -- >> i'll make sure that you and i meet one day while we're in the courthouse and i will take you for every penny you still don't have and i will come after your daily beast and everybody else that you possibly know, i'm warning you, tread very lightly. what i'm going to do is going to be effing disgusting. who said that. >> i did. >> did you say that mr. cohen in your testimony on page 2, you said you did things for mr. trump in an effort to protect him, was that statement that i just read that you admitted to

saying, did you do that to protect donald trump? >> i did it to protect donald trump, donald trump junior, ivanka trump and eic trump. >> in your sentencing statement back in december in front of the judge, you said this, mr. cohen, my weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to donald trump. a blind loyalty that led me to choose a path of darkness, is that accurate, mr. cohen in. >> i wrote that. >> you wrote that and said that in front of the judge, is that right? >> that's correct. >> when you filed a false tax return in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, was all of that out of blind loyalty to the president. >> no it was not. >> when you failed to report income to the internal revenue service, did you do that to protect donald trump? >> no, i did not.

>> when you failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes to the u.s. treasury, was that out of some blind loyalty to the president of the united states? >> it was not. but the number was 1.38 and change. i have paid that money back to the irs. >> i think i the american people appreciate that 1.3. >> i also liked to say it was over the course of five years. approximately 260,000 a year. >> when you made false statements to financial institutions concerning a home equity line of credit, in 2013, 2014 and 2015, you pled guilty to making those false was that done to protect the president? >> no, it was not.

>> how about this one? when you created the fake twitter account, women for cohen, to post tweets like this one, in a world of lies, deception and fraud, we appreciate this honest guy at michael cohen hp #tgif. #handsome. #sexy. was that done to protect the president? >> i didn't actually set that up, it was set up by a young lady who worked for red finch. we were having fun. >> done to protect the president? >> that was not done to protect the president. >> was it a fake twitter account? >> no, it was a real twitter account. it existed. >> it was done by a young lady who worked for the firm. again, sir, we were having fun during a stressful time. >> the point is, mr. cohen, did

you lie to protect the president or help myself? >> i'm not sure how that helped me, sir. more than half of people on that site are men. >> here's the point, mr. chairman gave you a 30-minute opening statement and you have a history of lying over and over and over again. frankly, you don't take my wod d for it. cohen did crimes that were marked by a pattern of desemgs and permeated his professional life. these crimes were distinct in their harms, they each involve deception and motivated by personal greed and ambition. a pattern of deception, personal greed and you got 30 minutes of an opening statement where you trashed the penalty resident of

united states of america. mr. cohen, how long did you work for donald trump? >> ten years. >> you said all these bad things about the president yet you worked for him for ten years? if it's that bad, i can see you working for maybe ten days, but you worked for him ten years, mr. cohen, how long did you work in the white house? >> i never worked in the white house. >> that's the point it is, mr. cohen. >> it isn't. >> sir, i was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the president of the united states of america. i did not want to go to the white house. i was offered jobs, i can tell you a story of mr. trump realing out reince because i didn't take

a job where mr. trump wanted me. >> mr. cohen, you worked for the president -- >> one second, what i said at the time, i brought a lawyer in who produced a mental row as to why i should not go in because there would be no attorney-client privilege. in order to handle the matters that i talked about in my opening it would be best suited for me not to go in and every president had a personal attorney. >> here's what i see, i see a guy who worked for ten years and trashing him for ten years, didn't get a job in the white house and now you're behaving just like everyone else who's got fired or didn't get the job they wanted. like andy mccabe, like james comey. that's what i see here today. >> mr. jordan, all i wanted was what i got -- to be personal attorney of the president. to enjoy the senior year of my

son in high school and waiting for my daughter who's graduating from college to come back to new york. i got exactly what i want. >> exact what i want? >> wanted. i received exactly what i wanted. >> gentlemen, time has expired. >> mrz wasserman schultz. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. cohen, thank you for being here today. i served as the chairman of the democratic national committee at the time of hacks. when russians weaponized the messages it stolen. my questions aren't about the harm done to any individual by wikileaks but it's about the likely harm to the united states ofcandur a series of questions that will connect more of these dots is it your testimony that the president had advanced

knowledge of wikileaks' release of the dnc's e-mail. >> reporter: i can't answer that in a yes or no. he had advanced notice that there was going to be a dump of e-mails but at no time did i hear the specificity of what those e-mails were going to be. >> but you do testify today that he had advanced knowledge of their imminent release? >> that's what i stated in my testimony. >> and he shared that outcome? >> yes, ma'am. >> did were eeric, don junior and ivanka still involved. >> the company was involved in the deal. >> if mr. trump and his daughter ivanka and son don junior involved in the russian-trump

tower deal, conflicted with a foreign adversary in the months before the election? >> yes. >> based on your experience with the president, his relationship with mr. stone, do you have reason to believe that the president authorized them to make contact with wikileaks to make. >> no. >> was he a free agent reporting back tothpresident? >> no, he was a free agent. >> a free at the that was reporting back to the president what he had done? >> correct. he frequently reached out to mr. trump and mr. trump was very happy to take his calls. it was free service. >> roger stone said he never spoke with mr. trump about wikileaks, how can we

corroborate what you're saying? >> i don't know. i suspect that the special counsel's office and other government agencies have the information that you're seeking. >> moving on to a little later in 2016, a major wikileaks' dump happened hours after the access holly woothd tape, do you believe or are you aware mr. trump signaled this e-mail dump? >> i'm aware of that. i wasn't in the country of the billy bush tape. i was in london visiting my daughter. >> knowing how mr. trump operates, do you believe that he would cooperate or collude with a foreign power to win the presidency, is he capable of that? >> it calls on so much speculation. >> i understand. you have a tremendous amount of experience -- >> mr. trump is all about

winning. he'll do what's necessary to win. >> in your opinion and your experience, would he have the potential to cooperate or collude with a foreign power to win the presidency at all costs? >> yes. >> based on what you know, would mr. trump or did he lie about colluding and coordinating with the russians at any point during the campaign? >> so as i stated in my testimony, i wouldn't use the word "colluding," was there something odd about the back and forth praise with president putin? yes. but i'm not really sure that i can answer that question in terms of collusion. i was not part of the campaign. i don't know the other conversations that mr. trump had

with other individuals. there's just so many dots that all seem to lead to the same direction. >> finally, before my time expires, mr. cohen, the campaign and the entire trump organization appeared to be filthy with russian contact, there are russian business contacts, there are campaign russian contacts, there are lies about all of those contacts and then we have roger stone informing the president just before the democratic national convention that wikileaks was going to drop documents in the public arena that we knew at that point were hacked and stolen brussia from the democratic national committee. >> the gentlelady's time has expired. >> given all those connections, is it likely that donald trump

was fully aware and had every intent of working with russia to help make sure that he could win the presidency at all costs? >> let me say that this is a matter that's currently being handled by the house select and senate select intelligence committees. i'd rather not answer that specific question other than just to tell you that mr. trump's desire to win would have him work with anyone and one thing that i had said in my statement that when it came to the trump tower moscow project, it was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and we never expected to win the election. so, this was just business as usual. >> thank you, mr. cohen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> ranking member jordan,

chairman of this committee, promised american people a fair. the democrats have issued a gag order to tell members of this committee that we can and cannot talk about. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle they want the truth and transparency, yet the democrats witnessed to testify before congress today is none other than a scorned man who's going to prison for lying to congress. let that singh in. he's going to prison for lying to congress. if you read the sentencing report on mr. cohen, words like deceptive and greedy are scattered throughout that report. it paints a picture of a bully who can't tell the truth whether it's. but today, he's the majority party's star witness. if the democrats were after the truth, they've had an honest

person here testifying. let's take a look at those restricted topics. first topic in your limited scope that i can ask mr. cohen is about the president's debts. didn't mr. cohen plead guilty to lying to banks about his personal finances? we're asking a guy going to jail for lying about his debts to comment about the president's debts. he's the expert. mr. chairman, your next couple of topics say i can ask mr. cohen about the president's compliance with campaign disclosure. didn't mr. cohen on two occasions break campaign finance law with his own donations? again, the star witness is a guy who broke compliance laws himself. mr. chairman, you graciously allow us to ask quehen t presid

with irs and tax law. your star witness here broke the law with regards with the irs on at least five times. he's the best witness you got? next up, with permission of the chairman, i get to ask mr. cohen about the his perspective on the president's deals. the witness lied to multiple financial institutions to pay off other lones and he's going to be the exrt onusiness practices? obviously, mr. chairman, the witness may produce documents that incriminate the president. yet, he lies to banks. documents that he forged. nothing he says or produces has any credibility, apparently he even lied about delivering his

own child which his wife had to correct the record. ladies and gentlemen, how on earth is this witness credible? with all the lies and deception, the self-serving fraud it begs the question, what is the majority party doing here? no one can see this guy's credible. he'll say whatever he wants to accomplish his own personal goals. he's a fake witness and his presence here is a travesty. i hope the american people see through this. i know the people back in tennessee will. with that statement, sir, i have a few questions for the witness. with your loss of your law license, i think you mentioned in your opening statement that you had been disbarred. what is your source of income in the future? >> i don't expect i'm going to have a source of income when i'm in federal penitentiary.

>> is there a book coming? >> i have no book deal. i'd like to turn around and correct your statement on -- >> let me ask one other question -- >> no individual -- >> who paid your expenses to be here today? >> who paid my expenses? i paid my expense and mr. chairman i'd like to yield my remaining time to the ranking member. >> how many times did you talk to the special counsel. >> seven. >> did they talk to you about today? have you had any conversations about the special counsel between sentencing and today? you talked to them seven times in the sentencing memos that were in front of the court back

in december. how many times have you talked to special counsel since then, up to today's -- >> the gentleman's time expired. you may answer the question. >> i don't have the answer to that. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. cohen, in your ten years of working for donald trump, did he control everything that went on in the trump organization? did you have to get his permission in advance and report back after every meeting of any importance? >> yes. there was nothing that happened at the trump organization, from whether it was a response as the daily beast story that you referred to ranking member that did not go through mr. trump with his approval. and sign off as in the case of

the payments. >> how many times did the president, michael, ask you or direct you to try and reach settlements with women in 2015 and 2016? >> i'm sorry, ma'am, i don't have the answer to that. i'd have to go back and try to recollect. it's certainly the two that we know about. >> and, why do you think the president did not provide the accurate information in his 2017 financial disclosure form? what was he trying to hide? he corrected other forms. but he didn't correct this one. >> the payments on the reimbursement of the funds that i extended on his behalf. >> can you elaborate more? >> well, going back to the story as i stated when allen weisselberg and i left the

office, we went to his office in order to make the determination on how the money was going to be wired to the interests on a lawyer's account for keith davidson in california, i had asked allen to use his money. didn't want to use mine. he said he couldn't. we then decided how else we could do it. he asked me whether or not know of anyone who wants to a party, or someone who wanted to become a member of one of the golf clubs and i also don't have anyone interested in that. it got to the point where it was down to the wire. it was either we -- somebody wired the funds and purchase the life rights to the story from ms. clifford. or it was going to end up being sold to television and that would have em bbarrassed the

president and interfered the election. >> the president has never amended his 2017 form to this day and while you're facing the consequences of going to jail, he is not. >> well, i believe they amended a financial disclosure form and there's a footnote buried somewhere. >> can you describe, michael, to the american people catch and kill? >> catch and kill is a method that exists when you're working with a news outlet and in this specific case it was ami, national enquirer, david picker and others, where they would contact me or mr. trump or someone and state therestorhas d in and then what you do is you

contact that individual and you purchase the rights to that story from them. >> you practiced this for the president? >> i was involved in several of these catch and kill episodes. but these catch and kill scenarios existed between david picker and mr. trump long before i started working for him in 2007. >> michael, can you suggest who else to talk about for additional information? >> i believe david pecker, barry levin of ami as well. allen weisselberg. trump organization as well. >> thank you very much for your testimony. mr. chairman, this is a story of redemption. >> thank you, ma'am. >> mr. comber.

>> in your testimony you stated that you began work for the trump organization as a lawyer dealing with real estate transactions, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> i served the director of two different banks. i have seen loan applications. i wanted to ask you a couple of real estate transaction questions to see how you operate. according to the southern district of new york prosecutors you lied to banks to secure loans by falsely stating the amount of debt you were carrying. . mr. cohen, was it donald trump's fault that you knowingly committed a crime of deception to defraud a bank? zmro no, it's not. >> was that fraudulent loan you obtained for the trump organization or for you personally? >> it would be for me. i'm not familiar to what loan you're referring to.ike to resp. when we're talking about the

home equity line of credit -- o no. >> summer home. >> i never purchased a summer home. >> no individual or no bank in the 22 years that i have had loan have ever lost a dollar with me. >> the banks usually find out if someone is trying to deceive them. >> in 22 years i have no money that's ever been owed to any individual or any bank. >> did your blind loyalty to the president cause you to defraud the bank -- >> sir, i take exception to that. >> let's dig deeper on that on the bank fraud. >> according to the southern district of new york, you failed to disclose $21 million, monthly expenses according to southern district of new york. mr. cohen, you being a lawyer,

surely you knew you were breaking the law, why would you have done that. >> i'm not a cpa and i pled guilty. i'm going to prison as a result of it. >> because you're a con? >> no, sir. >> because i pled guilty and i'm going to be doing the time. i have caused tremendous, tremendous pain to my family. i take no happiness in this -- >> when the bank found out about the liabilities that you failed to disclose you lied again to the bank, according to southern district of new york, and said it had to been expunged when you just shifted it to another bank. according to information that we received, your intent to defraud a bank was for the desire to purchase the summer home? >> no, sir. that would have been off an equity line.

considering i had 50% loan to value assets. it was a pre-existing line of credit that existed years before the date that you're referring to where this is all surrounding new york city taxi medallions. >> you understand when you failed to disclose liabilities especially $20 million in liabilities that's in fact fraud? >> except even with the $20 million in liabilities -- >> how much was it? >> the medallions were worth $45 million. >> you called donald trump a cheat in your opening statement, what would you call yourself? >> a fool. >> you're calling -- well, no comment on that. we were in search of the truth. i don't believe that michael cohen is capable of telling the truth.

i hope as this committee moves forward when we have the opportunity to subpoena witnesses that we subpoena witnesses that are not recently disbarred, are not convicted felons and witnesses that haven't committed bank fraud and tax fraud. that's how we're going to determine the truth. i yield the balance of my time to the ranking member. >> i would make one point, we had a five-minute debate where mr. cohen what the southern district of new york found, what the judge found he was actually guilty of committing bank fraud. mr. cohen's instinct to blame others. his remorse is nonexistence. >> mr. jordan, that is not what i said. i pled guilty and i take

responsibility for my actions. >> shame on you, mr. jordan. that's not what i said. >> mr. chairman -- >> what i said, i took responsibility and i take responsibility. what i was doing was explaining to the gentleman that his facts are inaccurate. i still -- i take responsibility for my mistakes. all right, i'm remorseful. and i'm going to prison. i will be away from my wife and family for years. so, before you turn around you cast more dispersion, please understand there are people watching you today that know me a whole lot better. i made mistakes, i own them. i didn't put the system through an entire scenario but what i did do is i pled guilty and i am going to be, again, going to

prison. >> mr. jordan. >> mr. cohen, at the center of reasons you're going to prison is conviction for campaign finance violations and they center around some salacious revelations, the washington post report reported or aired an access hollywood video, it set a record for the number of people who watched, crashed the newspaper's server, but this happened in early october, on the cusp of the election, what was mr. trump's reaction to the video becoming public at that time?

was he concerned about the impact of that video on the election? >> the answer is yes. as i stated before, i was in london at the time visiting my daughter who's studies there for a semester abroad. i received a phone call during the dinner, stating that she had just spoken to mr. trump and we need you to start making phone calls to the various different news outlets that you have relationships with and we need to spin this. what we want to do is claim that this was men locker room talk. >> concern about the election in particular? >> the answer is yes. then couple that with karen mcdougal which then came out around the same time. then op top of that, the stormy

daniels matter. >> these things happened in the month before the election. and almost one after another. the stormy daniels revelation, where prosecutors and officials of the prosecutors learned of -- of that -- of that matter. and prosecutors stated that the officials at the magazine contacted you about the story, the magazine of course is the national enquirer, is that correct? >> yes, ma'am. >> were you concerned about this news story becoming public right after the access hollywood tape in terms of impact on the

election? >> i was concerned about it but more importantly mr. trump was concerned about it. >> what was the president's concern about these matters becoming public in october, as we were about to go into an election? >> i don't think anybody would dispute this belief that after the wildfire that encompassed the billy bush tape that a second follow-up to it would have been pleasant and he was concerned with the effect that it had on the campaign on how women were seeing him and ultimately whether or not he would have a shot in the general election. >> so, you negotiated the $130,000 payment -- >> the $130,000 number was not a number that was actually

negotiated. it was told to me by keith davidson that this is the number that ms. clifford wanted you finally completed that deal as it were on october -- >> 25th. >> days before the election. what happened in the interim? >> contemplated whether or not to do it. wasn't sure if she was really going to go public. some communications back and forth between myself and keith davidson. and ultimately it came to either do it or don't. at which time, again, i had gone into mr. trump's office after each and every conversation and he told me he had spoken to a couple of friends it's $130,000. not a lot of money. and we should just doit ahan doas a that time aen weisselber direcds isselberg's office and figure

this all out. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. meadows. >> mr. cohen, do you know plynn patton. >> yes, i do. >> i asked lynn to come today in personal capacity to actually shed some light, have you known ms. patton? >> i'm responsible for lynn joining the trump organization and the job she currently hold. >> reporter: well, i'm glad you acknowledged that. you made some very demeaning comments about the president that ms. patton doesn't agree with, in fact, it has to do with your claim of racism. she says that as a daughter of a man born in birmingham, alabama, that there's no way that she would work for an individual who was racist. how do you reconcile two of

those? >> as neither should i as a holocaust survivor. >> i'm saying, i talked to the president over 300 times i haven't heard one time a racist comment out of his mouth in private, how do you reck sill it, do you have proof of those conversations? do you have tape recordings of those conversations? >> no. >> you taped everybody else -- >> i haven't taped anyone. >> i would ask you -- you asked me a question, sir. >> do you have proof -- yes, or no. >> i do. >> where's the proof? >> ask ms. patton how many people who are black are executives at the trump organization and the answer is

zero. >> we could go through this, mr. cohen. >> let me go a little bit further. did you collect $1.2 million or so from novartis? >> i did. >> for access to the trump administration? >> no sir. >> why did you collect it? >> because they came to me based upon my knowledge of the enigma donald trump, what he thinks -- sir, let me finish. >> no. did they pay you $1.2 million to give you advice? >> yes, they did. they came to me looking for information not something that's unusual here in d.c., looking for information and they believed i had a value. >> how many times did you meet -- >> the insight i was capable of offering them. >> how many times -- how many times did you meet with them for

$1.2 million. >> i provided them with both in-person as well as television access whenever they needed. >> that's a question. >> i don't recall. >> i spoke to them on several occasion and how many? >> six times. >> six times. wow. $200,000 a call. >> sir, i'd like to bring to your attention. >> did you get money from the bank of kazakhstan. >> i did. >> for what purpose. >> the former ceo of that bank had -- 4 to $6 billion and some of that money was here in the united states and they sought my assistance in terms of finding, locating that money and helping them to recollect that. >> all the reports that you're

paid some estimates over $4 million to have access and understanding of the trump administration, you're saying all of that was just paid to you just because you're a nice guy? >> i'm a nice guy. but more importantly -- >> i'd beg to differ. >> each contract contained the clause that said i will not lobby and i do not do government relations work. in fact, in fact, novartis sent me their contract which stated specifically that they wanted me to lobby, that they wanted me to provide access to government, including the president, information, that paragraphed was crossed out by me, initialled and written in my own handwriting, i will not lobby or do government relations work. >> so, novartis representatives say it was like they were hiring

a nonregistered lob yis. >> i don't know what they said, sir. >> have you contacted anybody in the administration? >> yes. >> to advocate on behalf of any aspect of any of your contract? i -- >> the gentleman's time has expired. you may answer the question. >> i don't know what you're referring to. >> mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. cohen, i'm pleased you ily.in my view we're all here f just one reason and that's the american people are tired of presidt trump. they've been lied to by thepres. they have been lied to by the president's legal

representatives. and it pains me to say, they have been even lied by his congressional enablers who are still devoted to perpetuating this giant con game on the american people. mr. cohen, i'd like to talk to you about the president's assets. since by law, these must be reported accurately on his federal financial disclosures and when he submits them for a bank loan. mr. cohen, you served for nearly a decade as then-businessman trump's personal attorney and so-called fixer. did you have -- did you also have an understanding of the president's assets and how he valued those items? >n november of 2017, crain's

business new york reported that the trump organization provided quote, flagrantly untrue business numbers going back to 2010 to influence the largest private companies in new york. according to the reports, while the trump organization reported nearly 9$9.5 billion in revenue in 2016, public filings suggestsed that revenues were actually less than 1/10th of that. to your knowledge, did the president or his company ever inflate assets or revenues? >> yes. >> was that done with the president's knowledge or direction? >> everything was done with the knowledge and at the direction of mr. trump. >> tell us why he would do that and what purpose did it serve? >> it depends upon the

situation. there were times that i was asked, again, with allen weisselberg, the cfo, to go back and to speak with an individual from forbes because mr. trump wanted each year to have his net worth rise on the forbes wealthiest individuals list. and so, what you do, you look at the assets and you try to find an asset that has, say, for example, 41 wall street, 1.2 million square feet, find an asset that's comparable, find t foot, achieved in the area, and apply it to that building, or, if you're going off of your rent roll, times the multiple and you make u multiple which is something that he had talked about based upon what he wanted to value the asset at.

>> you have provided this committee with copies of the president's financial statements or parts of them from 2011, 2012 and 2013. mr. chairman, i'd like to submit those for the record. mr. chairman, i'd like to submit the statements to the record. thank you. can you explain why you had these financial statements and what you used them for? >> so, these financial statements were used by me for two purposes. one, discussing with media whether it was forbes or other magazines to demonstrate mr. trump's significant net worth. that was one function. another was when we were dealing later on with insurance companies we would provide them with these copies so they would understand that the premium, which is based sometimes upon

the individual's capabilities to pay, would be reduced. >> and all of this was done at the president's direction and with his knowledge? >> yes, because whatever the numbers would come back to be we would immediately report it back. >> and did this information provided to us inflate the president's assets? >> i believe these numbers are inflated. >> and of course, indiaflating numbers to boost your ego, to your knowledge, did the president ever report inflated assets to bank in order to help him obtain a loan? >> you may answer that question. >> these documents and others were provided to deutsche bank on one occasion i was with them

in attempt to obtain money so that we could put a bid on the buffalo bills. thank you for your answer. >> i thank the gentleman to put into the record an article from staff, that indicates mr. cohen's promise to access not just trump but also the circle around him almost as if we were hiring a lobbyist, closed quote. unanimous consent we put in a criminal referral for statute6,. unanimous consent mri letter mr. cohen for violating for illegal lobbying activity be entered into the action. the first order of business for

this committee is for us to look in a bipartisan ways criminal referrals at the next business meeting. >> these are not documents. objection. >> so we're objecting to an unanimous consent request, mr. chairman? i'll yield back. >> let me be clear, mr. issa, i'll give you your whole five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. meadows, the ranking member made me aware that i had given a little more time to wasserman schultz. but i just want the comtt tokn n s goi to be tricky on the five minutes.

thank you very much. mr. issa, you have five minutes. >> mr. cohen, you claim you're a liar but not a liar. just set the record straight, if you lie you're a liar. if the facts they're accurate. that would make your inaccurate. i'd like to take a moment who you consulted with for today's hearing? >> i consulted with lanny davises well as michael monico. >> did you or michael or lanny davis or anyone else cooperate withtic majority to prepare for this testimony? >> we have spoken to the chairman cummings or anyone on your team? >> what do you prepare for team.

>> i prepared with my counsel. >> democratic majority or chairman cummings. >> we spoke with chairman cummings and the party. >> spoke with chairman schiff and his people as well. >> any other individuals acting as liaison for you as the majority party? did you have a liaison that you mentioned who were working with the majority to prepare for this hearing? >> we spoke with various individuals that you just raised, yes. >> tom, steyer. regarding him or any of his representatives, anyone associated with him, is he or any of them paying lanny davis to represent you? >> not that i know of.

>> he's doing all this work for nothing? >> i hope so. >> i kind of doubt it. how did lanny davis come to represent you? >> i reached out to lanny davis at the recommendation of my former counsel over at mcderm t mcdermott, will and emery who knew mr. davis. >> you reached out to mr. davis. i did, yes, initially. >> okay, so, d yify bor congres he urge you to testify here? >> i was asked to come here and i'm here voluntarily because it's my -- >> you were asked by who? did he ask you to come here? >> no, sir. >> because he says that he did ask you to come here and that he

convinced you and he did the same with the chairman cummings as well. so your testimony here is that you approached lanny davis to represent you and to come here, he did not persuade you to come here. >> he didn't persuade here. actually, chairman cummings, as well as chairman schiff and others, they spoke in in order for me to come here voluntarily. >> i find the connecting of the dots here with mr. davis and you and frankly the chairman and perhaps others to be rather stunning that there's angea rankly tha to bring the president down, to impugn the president. you made an oath last time you were here and that oath meant nothing to you then.

we had an oath here in this very room about a month ago and it was, quote, be clear that i will seek the truth, nothing but the truth, so help me god, end quote, sounds like an oath to me. the chairman made that statement. in this very room. last month. but here we are today, our first big hearing, with as you and we all know, a convicted liar, lying to congress, a criminal, and i believe this witness is totally incompatible with the stated goal of having to seek the truth in this hearing. this is the first time in the history of congress we have someone testifying here who's already convicted of lying to congress. congratulations for being the first in congress to do that and mr. cummings as well. i can't believe we're -- we brought this committee to its knees in terms of losing its

credibility. and it's shameful mockery of what the purpose is. i yield back. >> gentleman's time expired. >> let me pick up on those last comments. want to talk about a low point. how about mr. papadapolous pled guilty, mr. kliminik indicted for obstruction of justice. for two years, talk about an agenda, my friends on the other side of the aisle refuse to any of these people in front of the committee. urideanaway the neom f toy. truth. and we're trying to bring it to the american people. so, mr. con, about your