US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, giving testimony on Capitol Hill, has not been able to provide any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 election.
Cohen has been giving testimony described as “explosive” by mainstream media to the House Oversight Committee about his “suspicions” that Trump could have worked with Russia during the campaign — but when probed, was not able to provide any evidence to back up those suggestions.
CBS reporter Bo Erickson tweeted during the hearing that Cohen “cannot cite any real examples of Russian collusion” with the Trump campaign “even though he was one of [Trump’s] closest allies.”
“If [Cohen] doesn’t know about any collusion, who does?” Erickson tweeted.
Republicans on the committee have castigated Democrats for inviting a “convicted perjurer,” who they say cannot be trusted, to give testimony. Cohen pleaded guilty last November to making false statements to Congress about a potential deal to build a Trump Tower hotel in Moscow, later admitting that he lied to “protect” Trump.
During the hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan accused Cohen of being aggrieved with Trump because he didn’t get a job at the White House — a claim which Cohen denied.
While Republicans immediately took an adversarial tone with Cohen, Democrats on the committee have been pushing him to produce information implicating Trump in a conspiracy to steal the election with help from Russia.
Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said Democrats will continue to call Trump’s associates before Congress to testify in their “search for the truth” for the foreseeable future, taking advantage of the fact that the party now holds majority powers in the House of Representatives.
Tweeting before the hearing, Trump himself accused Cohen of "lying in order to reduce his prison time."
Like this story? Share it with a friend!