Michael Cohen didn’t say the phrase “golden showers” in what would have been his opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but he didn’t have to. He asserted not only that he hasn’t colluded with the Russian Federation, but that his reputation, and that of his family members, has been gravely damaged by even being associated with the infamous Christopher Steele dossier that started the pee-pee tape rumors.
Cohen portrayed himself as a family man in his statement, alleging that when the dossier said he was in the Czech Republic, he was instead visiting colleges with his son. He claims that since the dossier went public, his wife and daughter have been harassed to such a degree he wouldn’t repeat the attacks “in mixed company.” Cohen even compared himself to a Trump-supporting tween who was beat up in Missouri:
“You might say that the experiences I am living through are the cost of being in the public eye, but they shouldn’t be as I am not a government official. Many Trump supporting Americans are also paying this cost, like the twelve year old child in Missouri who was beaten up for wearing a Make America Great Again hat.”
Trump’s attorney also asserted that the news stories about Steele’s findings, and the dossier itself, were based on dubious sources or copied directly from the internet. “In my opinion,” Cohen explained, “the hired spy didn’t find anything factual, so he threw together a shoddily written and totally fabricated report filled with lies and rumors.”
However, leaks from U.S. intelligence suggest that at least some of the dossier is true, and though the anonymous sources didn’t specify which pieces of information were legit, they added that it wasn’t necessarily the pee tape part. At the time, Sean Spicer doubled down on the Trump camp’s claim that CNN’s reporting on the dossier was fake news.
It seems Cohen took a page from the same book in his statement, describing Trump’s interest in building a Trump Tower in Moscow as “a real estate deal and nothing more.” He also repeatedly railed against those who presume Trump and his associates guilty before the investigation is complete, and even questioned their patriotism:
There are some in this country who do not care about the facts, but simply want to politicize this issue, choosing to presume guilt – rather than presuming innocence – so as to discredit our lawfully elected President in the public eye and shame his supporters in the public square … this is un-American.
After all, Cohen reluctantly agreed to appear before the Senate not to defend his wife, children, or even himself, but to defend the POTUS, who has hired him as legal counsel. Unfortunately for Cohen, the Senate cancelled his appearance because he circulated his opening statement to the media beforehand. And now, the Daily Beast’s Andrew Desiderio tweets that the Senate Intelligence Committee will call Cohen back to testify in an open session.
NEW: Senate Intel Committee says Michael Cohen violated agreement, will now have to appear in open session pic.twitter.com/NsrdTSDrkL
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) September 19, 2017
(Via: CNN)