- President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said in a tweet that Michael Cohen lied “3 or 4 times” in his Wednesday testimony to Congress.
- He claimed Cohen could face a new DOJ probe because of his “pathological” lying during the testimony.
- In his bombshell appearance before Congress in which he branded President Trump a “racist” and “conman,” Cohen had denied that he was bitter at not being offered a White House job.
- The president’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., claimed that Cohen had repeatedly lobbied for a job in the Trump administration.
- Lanny Davis, Cohen’s attorney, in a statement to Business Insider Thursday said his client had “testified truthfully.”
President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, claimed in an early morning tweet that Michael Cohen committed perjury “at least 3 or 4 times” in his testimony to Congress.
In the tweet, Giuliani alleged that Cohen lied when he told lawmakers he had not sought a job in the White House after Trump’s election as president.
Giuliani wrote: “Michael Cohen committed provable perjury at least 3 or 4 times today. One was when he testified that he didn’t want a position in the Administration. There are many witnesses that can testify to the contrary. Let’s see if Chairman Cummings will refer it for prosecution,” tweeted Giuliani.
Giuliani a few hours later resumed his attack, claiming that “as a result of Cohen’s pathological lying, Cohen perjured his way into possibly yet another DOJ investigation. He came there to lie his way into a reduction of sentence and left looking at another sentence.”
Ahead of Cohen's testimony, Giuliani had in text message to The Washington Post branded Cohen's testimony "pathetic," adding "if you believe him you are a fool."
In an emailed statement to Business Insider Thursday, Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, said "Mr. Cohen testified truthfully before the House Oversight Committee. He took full responsibility for his guilty pleas. He also backed up much of his testimony with documents."
In his explosive testimony, Cohen branded his former boss a "racist," a "conman" and a "cheat."
He suggested that Trump had prior knowledge of his son's June 2016 meeting with Russians in Trump Tower and the WikiLeaks release of thousands of emails stolen by Russian hackers. Trump has denied knowing about either.
In cross-examination by Republican Representative Jim Jordan, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, Cohen was asked whether he was bitter towards Trump, and seeking revenge after not being offered a job in the White House.
This video from the testimony shows the moment:
https://twitter.com/CBS21NEWS/status/1100870690843123712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"I was extremely proud to be the personal attorney for the President of the United States of America. I did not want to go to the White House. I was offered jobs," Cohen said.
He said that he could tell lawmakers a story of Trump scolding former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus "because I had not taken a job where Mr. Trump wanted me to, which is working with Don McGahn at the White House general counsel's office," Cohen said.
Cohen said he hired a lawyer to produce a memo claiming that being hired to work in the White House would impact the attorney-client privilege necessary for him to fulfill his role as Trump's attorney.
That memo said "it would be best-suited for me not to go in and that every president had a personal attorney," Cohen told lawmakers.
Trump's sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were quick to hit back at Cohen's claims during his testimony.
Eric Trump wrote: "Michael was lobbying EVERYONE to be 'Chief of Staff.' It was the biggest joke in the campaign and around the office. Did he just perjure himself again?"
Donald Trump Jr. replied that his brother "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," he tweeted.
In December, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges filed by New York prosecutors and special counsel Robert Mueller.
The charges included arranging hush money payments to women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump, and lying to Congress over a proposed Trump real estate project in Moscow.
Contrary to Giuliani's claim, Cohen said Wednesday that - while he is cooperating with prosecutors on ongoing investigations with the possibility of reducing his sentence - he did not expect his comments in the hearing to lessen his punishment.