Reps Stefanik and Turner urge DOJ to open investigation into Michael Cohen

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, both Republicans, sent a letter to the Justice Department Wednesday, requesting it open a criminal investigation into Michael Cohen for lying to Congress.

Cohen admitted last year to lying under oath when he testified in front of Congress in 2019, by answering "no" when asked if he was truthful in his congressional testimony. Cohen's admittance occurred during former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial.

Stefanik's and Turner's letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland was a follow-up to a previous letter the duo sent in November that also recommended the DOJ open a criminal referral against Cohen.

The lawmakers also claimed there was a "double standard" when choosing who to prosecute, highlighting the prosecutions of former Trump aide Steve Bannon and former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro.

“To date, we received no response from the Biden Justice Department regarding this criminal referral. This is unacceptable,” Wednesday's letter stated, according to The Hill. “The obvious implication is that you have politicized and weaponized the Biden Justice Department to help your boss and hurt his political enemy. You are trying to protect the reputation of an admitted perjurer, one who just so happens to be set to testify against former President Trump in New York."

The letter comes as Cohen is expected to testify in Trump's alleged "hush money" trial, related to alleged payments he asked Cohen to pay former porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, so she would not talk about an alleged affair the pair had years before that. Trump has denied asking Cohen to pay off Daniels, and denied the affair ever took place.

“Michael Cohen has no credibility. He is an admitted liar,” Turner told the New York Post in a statement.

Cohen was previously sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating US campaign finance laws during Trump’s 2016 presidential run, and for lying to Congress. But he only spent 13 months in prison, and a year and a half under house arrest, per the Associated Press.