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Michael Cohen’s House testimony postponed, citing ‘threats against his family’

Posted at 3:41 PM, Jan 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-23 15:41:59-05

President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen announced he is postponing his public congressional testimony that was scheduled for February 7, citing “ongoing threats against his family.”

President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen announced he is postponing his public congressional testimony that was scheduledfor February 7, citing “ongoing threats against his family” from the President and his attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Democrats are now considering whether to subpoena Cohen to compel his testimony before he reports to prison next month, and at least one senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said he expects Chairman Elijah Cummings of Maryland to issue a subpoena.

“Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen’s continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen’s appearance will be postponed to a later date,” Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis said in a statement. “Mr. Cohen wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time.”

Davis added, “This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first.”

A source told CNN on Wednesday that Cohen’s wife and father-in-law feel threatened by comments by the President and Giuliani, Trump’s attorney. It has been Cohen’s intention to testify, but he has had reservations — and vacillated — because of concerns for his family given the Trump and Giuliani statements, the source said.

Cohen’s decision raises questions about whether he will ultimately testify publicly. He reports to prison for a three-year sentence on March 6.

Cummings and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, who is seeking Cohen’s closed-door testimony, issued a joint statement slamming Trump and Giuliani for “efforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family members, or prevent them from testifying before Congress.”

“We understand that Mr. Cohen’s wife and other family members fear for their safety after these attacks, and we have repeatedly offered our assistance to work with law enforcement to enhance security measures for Mr. Cohen and his family,” Cummings and Schiff said.

But the Democratic chairman said they still expected Cohen to testify. Earlier on Wednesday, Schiff said he was prepared to subpoena Cohen if he would not testify voluntarily.

“When our Committees began discussions with Mr. Cohen’s attorney, not appearing before Congress was never an option,” the lawmakers said. “We will not let the President’s tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. … We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances.”

Rep. Stephen Lynch, a senior member of the Oversight Committee, says he expects Cummings will issue a subpoena for Cohen’s testimony. Lynch, a Massachusetts Democrat, said that he’s spoken with Cummings and the “overwhelming consensus” among members of the committee is that Cohen should be subpoenaed. Lynch said that Cummings was still conferring with Democrats on his panel before making a final decision.

“I believe Chairman Cummings will institute the process of subpoenaing,” Lynch said. “He is conferring with other members of the committee right now, but so far I believe the overwhelming consensus is we should move forward with a subpoena.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat on the committee, said he hadn’t spoken to Cummings yet but supported a subpoena so the public would hear his story.

“I would support the issuance of a subpoena, however reluctantly,” Connolly said. “This is not a reluctant witness, at least up until now, and the reason for his reluctance isn’t our committee, it is the client he fears puts his family at risk.”

After Cohen’s public testimony was announced earlier this month, the President attacked him in a Fox News interview and on Twitter, suggesting on Fox News, without evidence, that he was aware of damaging information about Cohen’s family.

On Twitter, the President said: “Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!”

Giuliani appeared on news shows over the weekend, including CNN, where he called Cohen “a serial liar.” On CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Giuliani how Trump’s repeated calls for investigation into Cohen’s family members ahead of Cohen’s previously scheduled testimony did not amount to intimidating a witness or obstruction of Justice.

“We are so distorting the system of justice just to get Donald Trump, it’s going to hurt us so much,” Giuliani responded. When Tapper asked if it was OK to go after Cohen’s father-in-law, Giuliani responded, “it is, if the father-in-law is a criminal.”

Congressional Republicans criticized Cummings for scheduling a hearing with Cohen, accusing Democrats of “political theater.” Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the Oversight Committee, said the decision to subpoena Cohen was up to Cummings. But Jordan and Rep. Mark Meadows issued a letter Tuesday raising questionsabout the usefulness of Cohen’s testimony when many topics were off limits, citing a conversation they had with Davis.

Meadows dismissed Cohen’s concerns that he was being threatened by the President.

“No, you’re talking about one tweet,” Meadows said. “I can say that a congressional hearing that is narrow in scope is not a real congressional hearing. So you don’t get to come in and just talk about your feelings about somebody and not have a real robust back and forth.”