House Intel Committee Subpoenas Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen
Michael Cohen Image by Getty Images
By Aiden Pink May 31, 2017
President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee as part of their investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 presidential election.
The committee also issued subpoenas to former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who resigned under pressure after failing to disclose meetings with Russian officials, as well as businesses owned by the two men.
Cohen, known within the Trump Organization as Donald Trump’s “pit bull,” had previously received an “invitation to provide information and testimony” to the committee, which has no legal bearing. Cohen did not cooperate with that request, telling CNN on Tuesday that the request “was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered,” and that he considered it a “total fishing expedition.”
Cohen also told CNN that if he was subpoenaed, “I will comply — and gladly — as I have nothing to hide. There is no shred of evidence that implicates me.”
The New York Times reported earlier this year that Cohen hand-delivered to Flynn a proposal by a Ukrainian lawmaker to lift American sanctions on Russia in return for the withdrawal of pro-Russia separatists from Eastern Ukraine.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
