Michael Cohen’s opening statement released prior to his congressional testimony Wednesday describes President Trump as a “racist” and a “conman” whose bad character traits “far outweigh the good.”
In his statement, Cohen says he is “ashamed” that he worked for Mr. Trump, saying he regrets “all the help and support I gave him along the way.”
He also outlined several potentially damaging claims, including that Roger Stone told Mr. Trump about WikiLeaks releasing hacked emails from Hillary Clinton and that he was aware of the Trump Tower meetings with Russian officials while he was campaigning.
Cohen also said he would provide a copy of a check for $35,000, signed by Mr. Trump and dated for August 2017 when he was president. He added that the payments were made from the president’s personal bank account to reimburse Cohen for paying off porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Cohen was Mr. Trump’s fixer for over ten years. He pleaded guilty last August to campaign finance violations, bank fraud, financial crimes and lying to Congress. He is slated to serve his three-year prison sentence in May.
Mr. Trump tweeted on Wednesday that Cohen is trying to shorten his stay in jail, saying, “he did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time.”
The New York Times released Mr. Cohen’s 20-page testimony prior to his public hearing with the House Oversight Committee.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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