Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails
Quote:
Michael Cohen is expected to deliver a scathing and explosive testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee Wednesday, calling President Trump a "conman," a "racist" and a "cheat," according to a copy of his prepared remarks obtained by The Hill.
Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer turned political foe, also directly alleges that President Trump knew ahead of time that Roger Stone, the politically connected Republican operative who worked as an informal adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, coordinated with WikiLeaks to dump a tranche of Democratic emails during the 2016 election.
"I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat. He was a presidential candidate who knew that Roger Stone was talking with Julian Assange about a WikiLeaks drop of DNC emails," Cohen says in the prepared remarks.
"A lot of people have asked me about whether Mr. Trump knew about the release of the hacked Democratic National Committee emails ahead of time. The answer is yes," they continue.
Cohen claims that Stone called and that Trump spoke to him on the speakerphone, in which he overheard Stone saying that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is planning to dump emails in a couple days that "would damage Hillary Clinton's campaign."
"Mr. Trump responded by stating to the effect of 'wouldn't that be great,'" Cohen's prepared remarks say.
Cohen also confronted Republican criticism about his credibility head on, stating that he plans to offer documentation to back up his claims about the president.
He also suggested that Trump expected him to lie about his business negotiations to set up a Trump Tower in Moscow.
"Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That's not how he operates ... 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 business in Russia and then go out and lie to the American people," Cohen's prepared remarks say.
"Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign ... 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."
Cohen claims Trump repeatedly asked him about the status of the deal and "made it clear" he wanted him to lie to Congress about the negotiations because "his personal attorneys reviewed my statement before I gave it to Congress."
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27 Feb 2019, 2:13 am
