Michael Cohen on Wednesday compared President Trump to a mobster, claiming he was seeking to intimidate him before he testified before Congress.
Cohen, Trump’s former-personal-lawyer-turned-foe, testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee that his former boss was seeking to attack him and his family.
“By coming today, I have caused my family to be the target of personal, scurrilous attacks by the president and his lawyer, trying to intimidate me from appearing before this panel,” Cohen said towards the end of his opening remarks. {mosads}
“Mr. Trump called me a ‘rat’ for choosing to tell the truth, much like a mobster would do when one of his men decides to cooperate with the government,” he continued.
Cohen then cited two tweets from the president that he says aimed to intimidate him.
“Remember, Michael Cohen only became a ‘Rat’ after the FBI did something which was absolutely unthinkable & unread of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started. They BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEY’S OFFICE! Why didn’t they break into the DNC to get the Server, or Crooked’s office?” one tweet read.
In another, Trump claimed that Cohen “lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”
Cohen argued in his opening remarks that these tweets clearly show Trump was trying to encourage “someone to do harm to me and my family.”
He also expressed surprise that Trump and his allies would go after him and his family.
“I never imagined that he would engage in vicious, false attacks on my family and unleash his TV lawyer to do the same,” Cohen said, in what appears to be a reference to the president’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani told The Washington Post on Wednesday that one would have to be a “fool” to believe what Cohen will allege in testimony to House lawmakers.
“It’s pathetic. This is a lawyer who tapped [sic] his own client when he claimed he was being loyal. If you believe him you are a fool,” Giuliani said.
His comments about intimidation come after a firestorm erupted over the tweet issued by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a staunch ally of the president, alleging Cohen cheated on his wife.
“Hey @MichaelCohen212 — Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?” Gaetz tweeted. “Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…” Gaetz tweeted.
The backlash was fierce and Gaetz later deleted and apologized for the tweet after Democrats called his tweet an attempt to intimidate their witness and after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement that the House Ethics Committee should “vigilantly monitor” lawmakers’ statements on social media.