Republicans are desperately trying to undermine President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen’s credibility as he testifies to the House Oversight Committee, even going so far as to claim Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis is being paid by a left-wing billionaire to represent him.
Thus far, Cohen has weathered the storm of Republican criticism and attacks since he began his testimony on Wednesday morning.
Just by showing up, he thwarted Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who threatened him in an effort to change his mind about testifying.
During the hearing, Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) pathetically took aim at Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis to challenge his credibility, suggesting that Davis is being paid by left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer.
Cohen denied the claim and testified that his attorney is working for free.
Both congressmen apparently took their cue from Trump himself, who tweeted earlier in the morning and retweeted later on that Cohen’s lawyer once represented Hillary Clinton. However, Davis served as special counsel to her husband Bill Clinton in the 1990s. He was not her personal lawyer.
Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time. Using Crooked’s lawyer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019
Both Meadows and Jordan also had previously fallen o their faces while spinning Clinton conspiracies as if Cohen is now a Clinton associate all of a sudden.
Asking Cohen how much his lawyer makes is a low blow and really has nothing to do with his testimony against Trump, but it turns out this little conspiracy is easily debunked by simply pointing out one thing. Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani also supposedly works for free, as Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake dutifully observed on Twitter.
Now the GOP attack is that Cohen’s lawyer (Lanny Davis) is working for free and may have ulterior motives.
Who else’s lawyer is working for free? Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) February 27, 2019
So, what are Giuliani’s “ulterior motives” to working for Trump free of charge? Could it be all the foreign contacts he has made since taking his case, which have made him a lot of money?
The New York Times did quite a good job revealing Giuliani’s foreign business trips at the end of last year.
In short, the questions posed to Cohen by Republicans could also apply to Trump and Giuliani. Shall we drag them into the House Oversight Committee so that Democrats can ask them? They can certainly subpoena Giuliani and ask him questions. Republicans will object, of course, but they opened the door.
Perhaps Republicans should stop and think about how their questions can backfire against Trump before they actually ask them. After all, they can hardly protect Trump if their own questions can be applied to him.
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