House Republicans urge Justice Department to go after Michael Cohen for lies to Congress

As he is about to testify for the prosecution against former President Donald Trump, House Republicans are urging the Justice Department to investigate his lies to Congress going back to a hearing in 2019.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) are trying again to refer Cohen to the DOJ after nothing happened previously when they tried to do so.

Cohen spent three years in jail after being convicted in 2018 on campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion.

Comer and Jordan made it clear in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that DA Alvin Bragg is relying heavily on Cohen's testimony in his case against Trump even though he is an admitted repeat liar.

Knowing perjury

They remind Garland that Cohen was referred to the Justice Department "for perjury and knowingly making false statements during his testimony" before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 27, 2019.

House members at the time cited "six specific lies told by Cohen and urged the Justice Department to take appropriate action."

"Last year, we learned that Cohen separately lied again before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in a 2019 deposition," they wrote.

"Cohen’s testimony is now the basis for a politically motivated prosecution of a former president and current declared candidate for that office," Jordan and Comer wrote. "In light of the reliance on the testimony from this repeated liar, we reiterate our concerns and ask what the Justice Department has done to hold Cohen accountable for his false statements to Congress."

The lies

Cohen lied about expecting a role in Trump's administration after he became president, said he did not create a "Women for Cohen" website, and said he didn't have any foreign government contracts when he had at least two he was required to report.

As recently as October 2023 during the Letitia James civil trial against Trump, Cohen testified "no" when he was asked whether he was honest in a hearing in front of the House Intelligence Committee.

"So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?" Trump attorney Alina Habba asked him.

"Yes," Cohen replied.

At that time, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) and committee member, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) referred Cohen to the DOJ.

We can fully expect the DOJ under Biden and Garland to keep ignoring the multiple referrals of Cohen to the DOJ as long as he's trying to hurt Trump.