Posted on 01/24/2019 9:55:25 AM PST by jazusamo
President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen has been subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, his spokesman and attorney Lanny Davis confirmed.
"This morning the Senate Intelligence Committee served Michael Cohen with a subpoena," Davis said in a brief statement Thursday.
CNN was first to report the news, saying Cohen was subpoenaed to testify in mid-February before he reports to federal prison.
Cohen was interviewed by committee staff in fall of 2017 as part of its ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Since then, he has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump property in Moscow and agreed to cooperate in a separate federal probe run by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) has repeatedly signaled the committee would like to bring Cohen back for questioning, raising the possibility he could be subpoenaed if he did not agree to a return appearance. The committee has conducted most of its interviews behind closed doors.
A spokesman for the committee declined to comment.
The subpoena comes one day after Cohen postponed his scheduled testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 7, citing threats from Trump. That appearance was supposed to be in public.
It remains unclear whether Cohen plans to fight the subpoena to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Cohen has attracted massive attention since last April, when a recommendation from Mueller triggered a federal raid of his office and hotel room.
Last August, Cohen pleaded guilty to a slew of federal charges, including campaign finance violations stemming from a scheme to pay off women who alleged affairs with Trump before the 2016 election. Cohen implicated Trump in the hush-money payments, but the president has denied any wrongdoing. Cohen later pleaded guilty in connection with the Mueller investigation and the special counsel has signaled he offered valuable information.
Trump has attacked his one-time confidante as a liar willing to peddle falsities to prosecutors in order to obtain a lighter prison sentence. In an interview with Fox News’s Jeanine Pirro earlier this month, Trump said Cohen should “give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that’s the one that people want to look at.” Democrats have suggested those comments amounted to witness tampering.
Davis said in a statement Wednesday that Cohen would postpone his testimony to the Oversight Committee “due to ongoing threats against his family” from Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison in December for his crimes. He is due to report to jail in early March.
--This report was updated at 12:07 p.m.
Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
If you are looking for the absolute bottom of the beltway sewer it is here.
I’m surprised Burr is considered chairman of that committee, everyone knows Warner runs it and Burr sits meekly in the corner
Cohen isn’t the big story here. The big story is the Senate GOP continuing to openly collude with the Mueller Coup. This is a career ender for Tom Cotton. I have no idea why he is anywhere near this. He needs to get off that committee ASAP.
Note how this subpoena arrives ONE DAY after Cohen claimed to be threatened by Pres. Trump and wouldn’t testify. Contrast that to the weeks and months that went by before GOP House members would issue a subpoena to Democrats who refused to show up after being begged to testify by the inept, weak committee chairmen. Yes, that’s you, Issa and Gowdy.
Barr is a Rat traitor once you understand that it all makes sense.
LOL who cares what that jackass has to say..what next, is Casey Anthony going to testify too..President Trump could give a rats ass what this buffoon has to say
In a criminal investigation done by law enforcement, anyone convicted of lying under oath is virtually never used as a witness for obvious reasons.
The question is... is he dumb enough to lie under oath again?
I know what I would ask him.
So, you lied on this date ___________?
And, you also lied on this date _______?
And, you also lied on this date _______?
And, you also lied on this date _______?
And, you also lied on this date _______?
And, you also lied on this date _______?
And, you also lied on this date _______?
Yep, in my view this will mean nothing and just be a waste of time.
Bingo! That's the real reason he backed out of his House testimony. The claim Trump ordered him to lie is itself a lie and he doesn't want yet another perjury charge.
Note how this subpoena arrives ONE DAY after Cohen claimed to be threatened by Pres. Trump and wouldn’t testify. Contrast that to the weeks and months that went by before GOP House members would issue a subpoena to Democrats who refused to show up
Correct. This warp speed subpoena could only be happening with full collusion between the Democratic and Republican Parties. It’s hard to see how the Party of Lincoln ever recovers from this treasonous behavior.
Cohen is a rat but he does not deserve what Mueller has done to him.
Trump should at least COMMUTE his sentence.
So who is Cohen’s father-in-law?
No way Trump should commute this Crook’s sentence. Cohen is a pig and deserves to wallow in his own $#*+.
The guy is a crook, and a thief. He already said to the House Committee, that he wasn't going to say anything related to current investigations, just offer some anecdotes about Trump. Sounds more like a roast than a hearing. Then he asked for postponement. Now he's subpoenaed to appear in front of the Senate Intel Committee. The guy can't possibly offer anything new that he hasn't already shared with Mueller, or else he's opening himself up for new charges. This will be just another waste of time like the Democrats investigating Trump's financial ties to Deutsche Bank.
I don't know about that. he's my states Congress critter. Maybe it's good to have one honest person on a committee to to know what is actually going on behind the scenes.
I don;t know... he’s only in there because of pressure from Mueller.
I’d be OK with commute (not pardon)
Hes still convicted but he does not go sit in jail for years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.