Michael Cohen, President Trump’s convicted former lawyer, said Americans “deserve more” from former special counsel Robert Mueller than what he offered during his appearance Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
Cohen offered the critique in a statement issued to CNN from a federal prison in New York, where inmates including the president’s former attorney and fixer watched on television as Mr. Mueller testified before members of Congress about the investigation he led into the 2016 election and Mr. Trump’s subsequent conduct in office.
“Mr. Mueller today had the world stage to answer questions regarding obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Sadly, his reluctance just continues to leave the debate open and those responsible free from prosecution … for the moment,” Cohen said, the network reported. “The American people deserve more!”
Cohen, 52, served as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer for more than a decade until May 2018. He pleaded guilty last year to fraud and perjury charges and is currently serving a three-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution Otisville in Orange County.
In pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws, Cohen claimed he was directed by Mr. Trump to make illegal huge money payments to two women during the 2016 presidential race “for the principal purpose of influencing the election.” He separately pleaded guilty to perjury for lying to members of Congress about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign.
Mr. Mueller testified Wednesday in front of both the House Judiciary Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence about the probe he led as special counsel for the Department of Justice, which investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election in addition to potential obstruction of justice on the part of the president. It marked the first time he fielded questions about the probe.
He published its findings in a redacted 448-page report released in April.
Mr. Mueller declined to answer scores of questions, however, referring instead to the report more than 40 times.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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