9 Striking Moments From Michael Cohen’s Testimony
Updated at 5:52 p.m. ET on February 27
In his long-awaited testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Michael Cohen summed up his former employer this way: “I know what Mr. Trump is: He is a racist, he is a con man, and he is a cheat.”
The comment from President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer was one of many striking moments in Wednesday’s hearing, Cohen’s first public appearance before Congress. His opening statement touched on the Russia investigation, Roger Stone’s connection to WikiLeaks, Cohen’s payoff of the adult-film star Stormy Daniels, and Trump’s very character itself. He also took hours of questions from lawmakers: Democrats focused their inquiries on the president’s conduct while Republicans zeroed in on Cohen’s record of previously lying to Congress.
Below, Cohen’s most noteworthy exchanges with members of Congress:
1. Cohen explains what business as usual looks like in Trumpland.
Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York: In your 10 years of working for Donald Trump, did he control everything that went on in the Trump Organization, and did you have to get his permission in advance or report back after every meeting of any importance?
Yes. There was nothing that happened at
