When even CNN’s fact-checking shows Michael Cohen is not telling the truth, it can’t be a good sign for President Trump’s former attorney.
A CNN panel discussed some of Cohen’s statements during a break in Wednesday’s explosive House Oversight Committee hearing, noting a problem with one remark that “raised our eyebrows.”
“The one potential problem that I thought Michael Cohen has, is when he was asked if he wanted a job in the White House and he said no,” Dana Bash noted.
“Our reporting, Pam I know you’ve been told, I’ve been told, all of us been told by people in and around the process real time, he very much wanted a job in the White House,” she explained.
Jake Tapper jumped in to play a video clip of the moment, noting that “a lot of us here raised our eyebrows because we knew it to not be true.”
During questioning by Rep. Jim Jordan, Cohen repeatedly denied ever wanting a job in the White House.
“How long did you work in the White House?” the Ohio Republican and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member asked.
“I never worked in the White House,” Cohen replied.
“That’s the point, isn’t it? You wanted to work in the White House, but you didn’t get brought to the dance,” Jordan shot back. “You wanted to work in the White House and you didn’t get brought to the dance.”
Cohen vehemently denied that was true, claiming that he knew Trump had even “reamed out” former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus because he had not been offered a job.
The CNN panel noted the questionable comments.
“I think the issue there is that one sentence. ‘I did not want to go to the White House.’ All of our reporting suggests that’s not true,” Tapper said.
Bash added that she had spoken Priebus and that Cohen’s statement does not line up with the president’s aggressive style of getting what he wants.
“And let me just tell you that after he said that, I reached out to Reince Priebus, I spoke to him and his comment was ‘No comment.’ He said, ‘I’m not getting involved in this.’ But I can just say, and we of course witnessed this real time, that this president, probably more than any other, if he wants somebody in the White House, they’re there,” Bash said.
“You know, Reince Priebus and John Kelly probably didn’t want Omarosa to be working in the White House and other people, but they were there because the President wanted it to be so. So if Michael Cohen and the President really wanted it to happen, more importantly the President, it would have happened. And he wanted it,” she added.
Cohen served as Trump’s personal attorney for 10 years and reportedly told many people he wanted to get a job in the administration once Trump was elected. The president’s sons tweeted their comments during Wednesday’s hearing.
Nailed it. It really was the biggest joke of the entire transition. The beginning of his bitterness was when he realized that was never going to happen. #Delusional. https://t.co/ddizWugguU
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 27, 2019
Rep. Michael Cloud later questioned Cohen about the same thing, according to Breitbart News, reading part of the sentencing memo from the Southern District of New York which read:
Cohen’s criminal violations in the federal election laws were also stirred like others’ crimes by his own ambition and greed. Cohen privately told friends and colleagues including in seized text messages that he expected to be given a prominent role in the new administration. When that did not materialize, Cohen found a way to monetize his relationship and access with the president.
“So were they lying, or are you lying today?” the Texas Republican asked Cohen.
“I’m not saying it’s a lie, I’m just saying it’s not accurate,” Cohen replied.
Trump Jr. tweeted with a link to the story later Wednesday.
I bet there dozens of people that would swear under oath that this is a lie. Including me.
Michael Cohen Claims He Did Not Want White House Job. https://t.co/CtBfRpVkz5
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 27, 2019
Many others also chimed in, echoing the CNN fact-check of Cohen’s denial that he wanted a job in the White House.
GOP consultant Arthur Schwartz, who works with Trump Jr., tweeted that Cohen had “complained” to him about not getting a White House job offer.
Cohen: “I didn’t want to go to the White House.” LIAR. He complained to me on numerous occasions about the fact that POTUS didn’t offer him a job at the WH. #CohenTestimony
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) February 27, 2019
Cohen: “I didn’t want to go to the White House.” He was running around telling people that he was going to be chief of staff because he earned the job. #liar #CohenTestimony
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) February 27, 2019
Cohen “had told friends that he even expected to be named chief of staff” in the White House, a Daily Beast article in 2018 had noted.
Michael Cohen asked…no, BEGGED me REPEATEDLY, to ask the POTUS to give him a job in the Administration! He’s STILL lying under oath!
— Dr.Darrell Scott (@PastorDScott) February 27, 2019
I co-sign that Pastor. I remember that conversation
— Bruce LeVell (@Bruce_LeVell) February 27, 2019
Michael Cohen did want a job in the White House, per lots of Trump people at time. Reince Priebus, others were very skeptical of him even visiting building. POTUS told Cohen he would try to bring him in. (He didn’t.)
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 28, 2019
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