Transcript: Here’s what Michael Cohen is expected to say in his opening statement
Michael Cohen, former lawyer for President Donald Trump, will testify before Congress beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. In Cohen’s opening statement, he is expected to detail alleged hush-money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and accuse then-candidate Trump of knowing that Wikileaks would release Hilary Clinton’s emails before the 2016 election.
“He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat,” Cohen writes in his prepared statement, first reported by Politico.
Cohen has pleaded guilty to tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and campaign fraud while working for Trump, The Washington Post reported. He faces a three-year prison sentence.
Cohen said he brokered a $130,000 payment in 2016 to adult film star Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement about an affair Clifford said she had with Trump in 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Cohen has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into allegations of campaign fraud and Russian influence in the 2016 election, according to USA Today.
Cohen began testifying before Congress on Tuesday in a closed session, CNN reported. Following his public testimony before Congress on Wednesday, he is set for another closed session on Thursday.
He’s expected to accuse Trump of “racist language, lies about his wealth and possible criminal conduct,” The New York Times reported.
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Transcript: Here’s what Michael Cohen is expected to say in his opening statement."
