Senate Intelligence Committee Subpoenas Michael Cohen
Cohen postponed his February testimony yesterday due to supposed threats from President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani.
A day after President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen postponed his Congressional testimony, the Senate Intelligence Committee served him with a subpoena.
Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis confirmed he received the subpoena.
Cohen was scheduled to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee on February 7. Cohen postponed his testimony due to supposed threats from Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Cohen and Davis did not elaborate on these threats.
From USA Today:
Lanny Davis, one of Cohen’s lawyers, confirmed Thursday that he had received a subpoena. The committee didn’t set a date for him to testify, but said it wanted him to do so in February, before Cohen is due to report to federal prison March 6.
Davis told MSNBC that Cohen will “honor” congressional subpoenas, but any appearance would depend on lawmakers’ assurances that Cohen and his family would be protected.
“Mr. Cohen is concerned that when you are labeled a rat and you are going to federal prison, there could be some danger,” Davis told MSNBC.
However, as I mentioned in my post yesterday, Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Mark Meadows had some questions about Davis:
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee claimed Tuesday that Michael Cohen’s adviser Lanny Davis orchestrated the former Trump fixer’s upcoming public hearing before the panel, and that Cohen was reluctant to do it.
Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., penned a letter Tuesday to Cohen’s criminal defense attorney Guy Petrillo, requesting information ahead of Cohen’s appearance slated for Feb. 7. The letter includes extensive details, apparently based on a meeting with Davis, about his purported role in setting up what has become the most highly anticipated hearing of the new Congress.
“Davis made clear that Cohen’s upcoming appearance before the Committee is entirely a result of Davis’s orchestration,” Jordan and Meadows wrote, questioning whether it’s part of a broader “media stunt” to harm the president. “According to Davis, the hearing was Davis’s idea and his alone. Cohen apparently did not want to testify — but Davis has persuaded Cohen to appear despite his concerns and fears.”
The letter was sent to Petrillo after committee staff met with Davis in Washington last Friday. According to Jordan and Meadows, Davis told staff that Cohen “did not want to testify,” saying he was “fearful for his family.”
The letter said: “Davis acknowledged, ‘I pushed him to do this,’ explaining ‘this was my idea; nobody else’s.’”
The decision also comes a few days after Mueller and Trump’s team debunked a BuzzFeed report that claimed Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress.
Cohen pleaded guilty in two federal investigations last year: One came from the Southern District of New York and the second from Special Counsel Michael Cohen. The charges included finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress about other Trump’s business plans with Russia. He received a sentence of three years.
The news of Cohen testifying in front of Congress came out a few weeks ago. Cohen told CNN he wanted to speak to Congress “in furtherance of my commitment to cooperate and provide the American people with answers.”
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Comments
Interesting move – senate subpoena now overtakes declined house oversight date? We’ll see if Lanny changes his mind…
As we have already learned, Congressional subpoenas may be safely ignored without consequence…
Both chambers of Congress have subpoena and investigative powers, but cannot prosecute – only recommend to the Justice Dept.
Malicious Mueller has all 3 powers – and has used them – at a cost of millions of tax payer dollars.
Odd. I had it on reliable authority that the government is shut down, but congress critters got time and money for TV time wasting.
Nope. To date Mueller has managed MUCH more in fines than his investigation has cost.
Narrator: Of course Mueller claims that, and NeverTrumpers will swallow the bull$hit whole. If any Republican proposed an independent audit, the REEEEEEEE from them would be heard at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.
Just facts and figure, buckwheat. You can’t deal in reality.
Fines assessed is a lot different than fines collected. Do we know Mueller has deposited millions into the US Treasury? I cannot find anything definitive.
Thank you! And expenditures published are not gospel, are they?
Interesting how many lies published are believed by the faithful, huh?
I guess, but my question remains: “Do we know Mueller has deposited millions into the US Treasury?”
If not, my original assertion of millions of tax payer dollars explains how this investigation is funded.
You are ASSuming on both ends. You don’t know, so why keep asserting what you don’t know?
Particularly since most of the prosecution is against Russian companies who will never be touched by US law, so they can charge a few billion dollars against them and never receive a cent.
Personally, I find it fascinating that some of Muellers bigtime fines against Papadopoulos were because of ‘fraud against banks’ although the banks did not request the prosecution, nor will they receive the money.
“You ripped off Fred, so I’m taking your money and keeping it!”
Yeah, right.
Name the fines against Russian banks. That’s just bullshit.
I am rooting for a special prosecutor assigned to root the crap out of Mueller.
My personal observations on Michael Cohen is that he is stalling because he doesn’t want to say anything more.
Expect a big song and dance until the subjects allowed only include Stormy.
Cohen has already admitted to being a pathological liar and with so many conflicting statements already on record, why would Lanny Davis believe he could navigate this minefield without adding to his perjury? How many more years will be added to Cohen’s sentence? Will Davis be disbarred for malpractice?
Place your bet.
Nobody cares about Cohen or what he says, they just want another 48 hours of ‘orange man bad’ coverage in the press. Burr is supposed to run the committee, but it looks like Warner calls all the shots.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is totally corrupt. Why would they all of a sudden take an interest in deposing Michael Cohen?
Burr heads the committee but from all appearances, it’s Warner that actually directs the committee’s actions.
Old man Davis should be careful least his offices are raided given client attorney privilege no longer means anything.
Attorney-client privilege means what it always has; it never covered fraud and conspiracy.
I hope Cohen has more protection than Whitey Bulger did from Mueller.
May need to correct this sentence: Cohen pleaded guilty in two federal investigations last year: One came from the Southern District of New York and the second from Special Counsel Michael Cohen.
Michael Cohen is not the special counsel, is he?