Posted on 07/18/2019 8:04:47 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is demanding that former White House communications director Hope Hicks clarify her testimony before the committee after he said new court filings suggested there were “inconsistencies” between her words and evidence collected by federal investigators in Michael Cohen’s case.
“We write regarding your testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on June 19, 2019, which appears to be inconsistent with evidence unsealed this morning by a federal judge in New York,” Nadler wrote in a letter released Thursday evening.
“As I reminded you at the outset of your interview, anything other than complete candor can have very serious consequences. Accordingly, I would expect you to clarify this matter before the Committee in very short order—but no later than August 15, 2019,” he wrote.
Nadler threatened to use the compulsory process if Hicks does not clarify her testimony voluntarily.
The letter comes after court filings showed Hicks participated in a phone call with then-candidate Donald Trump and Cohen, his former longtime lawyer, at a time when Cohen was trying to prevent the details about an alleged affair with adult-film star Stormy Daniels from becoming public knowledge.
Cohen is currently serving prison time for campaign finance violations stemming from payments made to Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal during the 2016 contest. Both women alleged affairs with Trump, which the president has denied.
Hicks told the House Judiciary Committee during closed-door testimony in June that she was never "present" when Trump discussed Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, with Cohen and that she had no direct knowledge of payments made to Daniels, according to a transcript of the closed-door interview.
The newly unsealed filings have cast doubt on her statements.
An April 2018 affidavit justifying search warrants in Cohen’s case states that, after an “Access Hollywood” tape of Trump boasting about grabbing women by the genitals was released in October 2016, Cohen exchanged several communications with Keith Davidson, Daniels’s then attorney, executives at American Media Inc., as well as Trump and Hicks.
“Based on the timing of these calls, and the content of the text messages and emails, I believe that at least some of these communications concerned the need to prevent Clifford from going public, particularly in the wake of the Access Hollywood story,” the affidavit states.
The document states that Cohen received a call from Hicks on the evening of Oct. 8, 2016, and that Trump joined the call 16 seconds into it.
The call continued for more than four minutes. The document states that the call was the first Cohen had made to or received from Hicks in at least several weeks. The document also states that after the call ended, Hicks and Cohen spoke again for roughly two minutes. Cohen then called David Pecker, the president of American Media Inc., immediately after he got off the phone with Hicks, according to the documents.
Nadler’s letter points to multiple exchanges during which Hicks was asked during the June 19 interview about her knowledge of the hush money payments or participation in interactions with Cohen or Trump about them.
In one exchange, Hicks was asked by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas): “Were you ever present when Trump and Cohen discussed Stormy Daniels?”
“No, ma'am,” Hicks replied.
“I'm going to say it again. Were you ever present when Trump and Mr. Cohen discussed Stormy Daniels, since it was all over the news that that occurred?” Jackson Lee pressed.
White House attorney Patrick Philbin interrupted to clarify that Jackson Lee was referring to the time during the Trump campaign.
When she said it was, Hicks replied, “So, no is my answer.”
Nadler on Thursday offered Hicks the opportunity to clarify her closed-door testimony on a “voluntary basis,” before the committee considers the “compulsory process.”
“In your testimony, you suggested that any knowledge you may have had about the President’s arrangement with Ms. Daniels during the campaign was limited to information relayed to you from the press. The record now seems to suggest that you obtained additional information directly from Mr. Cohen prior to any public reporting on the matter,” Nadler wrote.
Attorneys for Hicks did not immediately return a request for comment.
The documents — which include search warrants, warrant applications and supporting affidavits tied to raids on Cohen’s properties — were ordered released Thursday by U.S. District Judge William Pauley III, who wrote in an order Wednesday that federal prosecutors’ investigation into the campaign finance violations tied to the hush money payments had ended.
“The campaign finance violations discussed in the Materials are a matter of national importance. Now that the Government’s investigation into those violations has concluded, it is time that every American has an opportunity to scrutinize the Materials,” Pauley wrote Wednesday.
Cohen is currently serving a three-year prison term for the campaign finance charges and various other crimes that he pleaded guilty to last year.
Cohen has implicated Trump in the scheme to suppress the revelations about his alleged affairs before the 2016 election. However, the president has denied any wrongdoing and labeled Cohen, his onetime attorney and “fixer,” a liar.
No, the pervs just want another opportunity to ogle her in person.
They need more pictures.
Isn’t this the negro-hater who falsely stated before his committee that Candace Hicks called a committee member STUPID..?
Nadler needs a new fantasy.
When Nadler called Hick’s, Mrs. Lewandowski I wish she’d have replied, “I’m sorry Mr. Nadless, were you talking to me?”
Wonder what ever happened with creepy porn lawyer?
This won’t end well for Jerry.
Being on the phone is the next best thing to being present, but it ain’t being present.
You'll end up on the south end of a north-bound rope.
I’d tell him “That’s as inappropriate as if I were to ask you how many years it’s been since you could see your d#ck”.
Rep. jerry OompaLoompa.
Hope Hicks: “Sorry, I was confused. We never discussed Stormy Daniels. We discussed another woman named Stephanie Clifford.” :-P
Tweedle Dumb.
I hope he doesn’t pass-out from sitting again.
Paulie Wallnuts looking Chrissy up and down after making him strip naked to check for a wire: “Well, I guess you could call that a dick, heh-heh-heh” on The Sopranos.
If he pulls his pants up any higher he can use his necktie to hold them up.
He’ll have to unzip to talk...
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