House Republicans call for criminal probe of Michael Cohen for allegedly lying to Congress

A pair of senior House Republicans on Tuesday urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate former Trump attorney Michael Cohen after he testified in New York court that he lied to Congress about his work for the former president.

Writing to Garland, House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael Turner asserted that Cohen's recent testimony in the ongoing civil fraud trial brought against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James suggested that Cohen committed perjury during a 2019 deposition before the committee.

"Mr. Cohen admitted that the testimony he gave before the Committee in 2019 was knowingly and intentionally false," they wrote, in a letter first obtained by NBC News. "Congress cannot perform its oversight function if witnesses who appear before its committees do not provide truthful testimony. Perjury and false statements before Congress are crimes that undermine the integrity of the Constitutional duty to conduct oversight and inquiries."

The letter then cited Cohen's statement before the committee in which he stated "Did he ask me to inflate the numbers? Not that I recall, no." James has alleged that Trump manipulated the value of his assets to obtain favorable loan terms and lower insurance premiums. Cohen, during his October 2023 testimony explicitly stated that he lied under oath during the 2019 deposition.

"That Mr. Cohen was willing to openly and brazenly state at trial that he lied to Congress on this specific issue is startling," they continued. "His willingness to make such a statement alone should necessitate an investigation."

Cohen previously served as Trump's personal attorney before the 2016 election. He remains a central figure in an unrelated criminal case against Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

In that matter, Bragg has insisted that a payment Cohen made to Stormy Daniels to remain silent about an alleged affair with Trump constituted an illegal campaign contribution and that the former president further committed fraud by allegedly disguising the payment as an attorney fee to Cohen. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.