Michael Cohen Reportedly Plans to Provide Evidence of Trump’s Criminal Activity While President

 

Michael Cohen is planning to accuse President Donald Trump of criminal acts this week when he appears on Capitol Hill, according to multiple reports.

The president’s former personal attorney will appear before Congress on Tuesday for a closed-door hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee. During Cohen’s public hearing on Wednesday, however, multiple reports said that Cohen plans to come forward with evidence and everything he knows about Trump’s business interests in Russia and his illegal hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election.

According to NBC News, Cohen is expected to provide evidence of alleged criminal conduct by Trump since he became president, though this appears to come from a single source and no further detail is reported.

Cohen will head to prison in May for a number of financial crimes and for lying to Congress last year when he misrepresented the timeline of Trump’s interest in building a Trump Tower in Moscow. Critics are likely to use these factors to impugn Cohen’s credibility, but it’s possible that Cohen will answer questions on the project’s development and how much foreign influence – Russian or otherwise – overshadows the Trump family’s business dealings.

Cohen’s testimony will also undoubtedly focus on how he has incriminated Trump in campaign finance lawbreaking during the election. The president’s former attorney has claimed that his boss personally ordered him to pay Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal so they’d both keep quiet about their affairs with Trump.

Other topics that might come up with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform include questions of whether Trump has cheated on his taxes throughout his business life, and whether Cohen can provide more anecdotes describing Trump’s racism and his litany of falsehoods.

UPDATE – 9:20 a.m. ET: The White House has responded to Cohen’s upcoming testimony.

[Photo via Getty Images]

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