Key moments

Key moments from Michael Cohen's House testimony

By MATTHEW CHOI

After months of anticipation, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is testifying publicly before Congress on hush-money payments, his loyalty to the president and possible Russian collusion into the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen's appearance before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday includes fiery accusations against the president and fierce backlash from Republican members of Congress, who have derided Cohen as an unreliable witness.

Cohen previously pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and financial crimes, and Trump's circle — including members of Congress — have derided Cohen as an opportunist. Cohen is slated to begin his prison sentence at the end of the spring.

Here are some key moments from Cohen's testimony:

Cohen accused Trump of knowing about the Trump Tower meeting between Trump associates and Russian agents.

Trump's team has repeatedly changed its story in regards to a meeting with Russians at the Midtown Manhattan Trump Tower, which has become a focal point in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion during the 2016 election. Trump’s defenders have said that while the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump, Jr., attended the meeting, the senior Trump had no knowledge of it.

But Cohen recounted a meeting with Trump where Donald, Jr., approached his father and told him in a hushed tone that the "meeting is all set." Cohen deduced that he was talking about the Trump Tower meeting, meaning the president knew of — and had a hand in planning — a meeting with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin ahead of the election.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz grilled Cohen about the 2016 election.

Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) served as chair of the Democratic National Convention during the 2016 election when Russian hackers hacked Democratic emails, which were leaked by WikiLeaks. Cohen claimed during his opening statements that Trump knew about a dump of Democratic emails in advance, using his associate Roger Stone as an intermediary with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange.

But when questioned by Wasserman Schultz if Trump knew about the Russian hacking efforts in advance, Cohen said he couldn't say for sure.

"I cannot answer that in a yes or no. He had advanced notice that there was going to be a dump of emails, but at no time did I hear the specificity of what those emails were going to be," Cohen said.

"But you do testify today that he had advanced knowledge of their imminent release," Wasserman Schultz replied.

"That is what I had stated in my testimony."

"And that he cheered that outcome?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Cohen joked who would play whom if his saga became a movie.

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) tried to discredit Cohen's testimony by insinuating he was trying to profit off his public comments after losing his law license this week. Cohen said he would not have an income once he goes to prison, but Green asked if there was a book deal in the works.

"I have no book deal in the process. I have been contacted by many including for television, a movie. If you want to tell me who you would like to play you, I'm more than happy to write the name down," Cohen said, prompting Green to chuckle.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) later asked if Cohen would commit to not pursuing a book or movie deal based on his experiences, but Cohen refused. Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.V.) asked Cohen if he planned to write a book on his experiences. Cohen flatly said, "yes."

Cohen and Jim Jordan got into a heated tussle.

Jordan (R-Ohio) accused Cohen of having no remorse for his actions after arguing with Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky) over the findings of federal attorneys in New York concerning Cohen's finances. But Cohen said he was not trying to wash his hands of responsibility but merely clarifying Comer's comments.

"I said that I pled guilty and I take responsibility for my actions," Cohen said. "Shame on you, Mr. Jordan. That's not what I said. Shame on you."

Republican members deferred to Jordan.

Comer, Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Foxx and others all yielded parts of their time to Jordan, allowing the ranking member to lay into Cohen on a variety of topics, from a bombshell BuzzFeed report that Trump directed Cohen to lie about a Moscow Trump Tower deal, to reports Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tried to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

"We are not the fact checkers for BuzzFeed," Cohen said.

Cohen warned young lawyers not to follow in his foot steps.

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) asked Cohen what warning he would have for young lawyers base on his self-admitted regret over serving Trump. Cohen replied his entire career should serve as a warning against "callous" self-serving actions.

"Look at what's happened to me? I had a wonderful life. I have a beautiful wife. I have two amazing children. I — I achieved financial success by the age of 39. I didn't go to work for Mr. Trump because I had to. I went to work for him because I wanted to, and I've lost it all," Cohen said.

Cohen denied he ever wanted to work in the White House.

Republicans repeatedly tried to portray Cohen as opportunistic, characterizing his testimony as retaliation for never getting a job at the White House. Cohen claimed he never wanted to work in the White House because it would end the attorney-client privilege between him and Trump.

"You wanted to work in the White House and you didn't get brought to the dance," Jordan accused.

"Sir, I was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the president of the United States of America," Cohen responded. "I did not want to go to the White House."

Mark Meadows grilled Cohen for not reporting his contracts with foreign firms ahead of the hearing.

Meadows (R-N.C.) pounced on Cohen for leaving an "N/A" when asked to list his contracts with foreign entities over the past two years in preparation for his testimony. Cohen said he did not feel it was necessary to declare his contracts because they were with private companies and he was not a government employee. But Meadows attacked back, saying Cohen lied to Congress.

"It says it's a criminal offense to not put them on this form for the last two years, why did you not do that?" Meadows demanded, yelling. "Do you want us to read it to you?"

"Well, then, I'm going to take a look at it and hopefully I will amend it prior to leaving because that's not the way I read your document," Cohen replied.

Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) later pointed out the form Meadows referred to does not ask for all foreign contracts, only those with government entities.

Cohen suggested there could have been other hush money payments, and not all of them involved women.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) asked if there were any other payments from Trump's organization to hide alleged affairs during the campaign. Cohen said David Pecker, a Trump ally and CEO of American Media Group, had spent money on Trump's behalf in similar instances in the past and was angry Trump never reimbursed him.

"So David Pecker had done this in other cases of other mistresses or women?" Raskin asked.

"Other circumstances, yes," Cohen replied. "Not all of them had to do with women."

Cohen describe the impact Trump's rhetoric has had on his family.

Cohen said he does not walk with his wife and children when going out because he fears what Trump's supporters could do against them. Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) asked Cohen to elaborate on what he thought Trump was capable of doing.

"A lot and it's not just him," Cohen said. "It's those people that follow him and his rhetoric."

Rashida Tlaib called out Meadows' attempt to disprove Trump's racism.

The freshman Michigan Democrat called out Meadows after the conservative lawmaker brought a black administration staffer, Lynne Patton, to dispel Cohen's claims that Trump is a racist. Other Democratic members had denounced the move, but Meadows grew particularly angry when Tlaib appeared to call the move racist.

Tlaib clarified she did not intend to call Meadows specifically a racist, as the Republican proclaimed he has a record of combatting racism. Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) attempted to pacify Meadows and Tlaib apologized, adding that if she'd meant to call Meadows a racist, she would have.

Cummings closed the hearing with a bang.

The Maryland Democrat used that last moments of the hearing to decry the indecorous state of American politics, repeatedly shouting the need to "get back to normal." Cummings denounced the vicious attacks against Cohen and his family, and said he was heart broken to hear the precautions Cohen has had to take to protect his family.

"I know it's painful going to prison. I know it's gotta be painful being called rat. A lot of people don't know the significance of that, but I live in the inner city of Baltimore, and when you call somebody a rat that's one of the worst things you can call them because when they go to prison, that means a snitch. I'm just saying," Cummings said. "The president called you a rat. We're better than that!"