A pair of top House Republicans are urging the Department of Justice to criminally investigate Michael Cohen over whether the former Donald Trump attorney lied to Congress about his involvement in artificially inflating the value of the Trump Organization's holdings, raising questions about his recent testimony in the ongoing civil fraud case against the former president.
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and Rep. Michael Turner, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, submitted the criminal referral to the DOJ on Tuesday, accusing Cohen of repeatedly lying to Congress in relation to Trump’s case. The filing cites testimony Cohen gave last month against the former president's business empire, during which Cohen admitted to lying under oath while testifying before Congress nearly five years ago.
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Cohen initially testified before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on February 28, 2019, during which he was asked about the personal finances of then-President Trump and whether Cohen was instructed to “inflate the numbers for his personal statement.”
“Did he ask me to inflate the numbers?” Cohen replied. “Not that I recall, no.”
However, Cohen later walked back those comments while testifying before a state court in New York on Oct. 25 during a civil fraud case brought by Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James. During that trial, Trump's attorney Alina Habba pressed Cohen on his 2019 testimony, asking if he was “being honest” with the committee.
“No,” Cohen stated.
“So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” Habba asked.
“Yes,” Cohen replied.
Cohen has previously pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, including an instance in which the former attorney claimed efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016 but then later retracted to say those discussions lasted for about six months after that.
Stefanik and Turner say that previous conviction of lying to Congress paired with his most recent confession “merits a heightened suspicion” that he committed perjury before lawmakers for a second time.
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“The Biden Justice Department must take off its partisan blinders and investigate disgraced attorney Michael Cohen, a felon previously convicted for lying to Congress, who just admitted to lying again to Congress,” Stefanik said.
It’s not yet clear whether the DOJ will open an investigation into the matter. The Washington Examiner has contacted the department for comment.
This is not the first time Stefanik has sought to intervene in the Trump civil fraud trial. She filed a judicial ethics complaint last week against New York Judge Arthur Engoron, accusing him of using “weaponized lawfare” against Trump.