House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) have formally referred Michael Cohen to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution due to his prior false testimony to Congress. They specifically urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to hold Cohen accountable for providing false information during his February 2019 testimony.
In their letter, the Republican members outlined six distinct lies that Cohen allegedly told the House Oversight Committee, prompting them to call for DOJ action. Last year, GOP members discovered that Cohen also gave false testimony during a 2019 deposition before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). The Republicans argue that Cohen’s misleading statements are now part of a politically motivated prosecution against a former president and current candidate for office.
Among the six falsehoods highlighted in the letter are Cohen’s previously admitted fraudulent activities, which led to his guilty plea in federal court. Cohen also falsely stated that he had not sought a position in President Donald Trump’s administration, despite evidence from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The letter indicates that Cohen misrepresented his involvement in creating a Twitter account, failed to disclose foreign government contracts, contradicted his own written statements, and claimed his crimes were due to “blind loyalty” to Trump, which was contradicted by federal prosecutors.
Separately, in 2023, Cohen admitted to lying to Congress during a 2019 deposition with HPSCI. When asked if he had been instructed to inflate financial figures, he admitted to providing false testimony, leading to another referral to the DOJ for perjury and knowingly making false statements.
Trump currently faces 34 felony charges related to allegedly concealing a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, with accusations that this was done to “influence” an election. Cohen, who was Trump’s personal attorney, previously pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and making false statements to Congress. His campaign finance violations were related to hush-money payments to two women claiming to have had affairs with Trump, while his false statements to Congress involved misleading information about a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. Cohen received a three-year federal prison sentence and a $50,000 fine, but was released to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
