A past social media post by a Trump administration official who considered Michael Cohen one of her best friends claims his betrayal of his former boss has taken on a new significance following congressional testimony.
Department of Housing and Urban Development official Lynne Patton revealed in January that President Trump’s former attorney only “turned” on the president after his wife was threatened with prison, a departure from Cohen’s own testimony before Congress stating it was Trump’s stand on some issues and his controversial comments that prompted the change of heart, Fox News reported.
“What many of you may not be aware of is the fact that I can personally confirm that the ONLY reason Michael Cohen ‘turned on’ the President of the United States is because Mueller threatened to throw his wife in jail for up to 30 years. Period,” Patton wrote on Facebook on Jan. 18.
“She is the co-guarantor of a $20M personal loan that Mueller discovered Michael secured back in 2015 by falsely inflating the value of his taxi medallions—effectively making her part & parcel to the federal charge of ‘Making False Statements to a Financial Institution,’ to which Cohen ultimately plead guilty,” she wrote.
Patton, who has known Cohen for years and considered him “one of my very best friends,” sparked some controversy herself on Wednesday when she made an appearance at the House Oversight Committee hearing with Cohen. Rep. Rashida Tlaib sparked a firestorm of backlash when she accused Rep. Mark Meadows of a “racist” act for inviting Patton and using the longtime Trump employee as a “prop.”
Tables turn on Rashida Tlaib when she derails Cohen testimony, accuses Mark Meadows of pulling a racist stunt https://t.co/DLqlJtUgLK pic.twitter.com/b3nBQMzcRO
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) February 28, 2019
“This is also the reason why Cohen’s longtime taxi medallion partner, Evgeny “Gene” Freidman, was granted immunity,” Patton’s Facebook post continued.
But while special counsel Robert Mueller charged Cohen with one count of making false statements to Congress, it was the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York which actually investigated bank fraud and Cohen’s personal business dealings before charging him.
“There are several factors. Helsinki. Charlottesville. Watching the daily destruction of our civility to one another,” Cohen had responded Wednesday when asked about reaching his “breaking point” with Trump, after a decade-long work relationship.
The disgraced attorney also testified the president was “a racist,” a “conman,” and “a cheat.”
Trump slammed Cohen and said he was “totally discredited” in light of a reported book proposal in which Cohen had written favorably about his former boss, noting that he was pitching the book to publishers just before his office was raided by the FBI.
Michael Cohen was reportedly pitching a book ‘glowing with praise’ for Trump just weeks before FBI raid https://t.co/dE70bB52Z7 pic.twitter.com/nYzbuBs5mD
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) March 1, 2019
As for Patton’s claim about a legal risk for Cohen’s wife, she was apparently not alone in making the suggestion, according to Fox News which noted that in December, The Wall Street Journal reported she was never charged although “prosecutors had evidence that implicated her in potential criminal activity.”
Trump had also made a reference to Cohen’s wife in December, tweeting: “He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself and get his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free.”
“Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.” You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
….his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
Following Cohen’s testimony this past week, Republican members of the Oversight Committee referred the former attorney to the Justice Department on allegations he lied during his testimony. Jordan and Meadows outlined several examples as evidence in a 30-page letter to Attorney General William Barr accusing Cohen of perjury.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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