Martin H. Simon/ZUMA
President Donald Trump lashed out at Michael Cohen on Friday morning, accusing his former longtime attorney and fixer of committing perjury during his explosive testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform earlier this week, which included allegations that Trump is a “racist” and a “con man.”
In a string of tweets, Trump claimed that he had just learned of the existence of a “love letter to Trump” manuscript that Cohen had shopped around in hopes of securing a book deal. “Book is exact opposite of his fake testimony, which now is a lie!” he tweeted.
Trump was likely referring to year-old reports of Cohen’s efforts to publish a book—which had reportedly portrayed Trump positively—that conservative outlets have resurfaced in recent days and seized on to suggest Cohen provided false statements to Congress by disparaging his former boss.
Wow, just revealed that Michael Cohen wrote a “love letter to Trump” manuscript for a new book that he was pushing. Written and submitted long after Charlottesville and Helsinki, his phony reasons for going rogue. Book is exact opposite of his fake testimony, which now is a lie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019
Congress must demand the transcript of Michael Cohen’s new book, given to publishers a short time ago. Your heads will spin when you see the lies, misrepresentations and contradictions against his Thursday testimony. Like a different person! He is totally discredited!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019
Oh’ I see! Now that the 2 year Russian Collusion case has fallen apart, there was no Collusion except bye Crooked Hillary and the Democrats, they say, “gee, I have an idea, let’s look at Trump’s finances and every deal he has ever done. Let’s follow discredited Michael Cohen…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019
…and the fraudulent and dishonest statements he made on Wednesday. No way, it’s time to stop this corrupt and illegally brought Witch Hunt. Time to start looking at the other side where real crimes were committed. Republicans have been abused long enough. Must end now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019
Michael Cohen’s book manuscript shows that he committed perjury on a scale not seen before. He must have forgotten about his book when he testified. What does Hillary Clinton’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, say about this one. Is he being paid by Crooked Hillary. Using her lawyer?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019
The president’s perjury accusation echoes similar allegations from two Trump loyalists who sit on the oversight committee, Reps. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows. “Mr. Cohen’s testimony is material to the Committee’s assessment of Mr. Cohen’s motive to monetize his former association with President Trump,” the congressmen wrote to the Justice Department on Thursday. “It is essential that the Department of Justice investigate these remarkable contradictions between Mr. Cohen, the SDNY prosecutors, and the public accounts of witnesses with firsthand information.”
On Friday, Trump also appeared to suggest that Cohen was participating in a Democratic plot to investigate his finances—an area the president has previously described as a “red line” that could potentially prompt his intervention in the special counsel’s Russia probe.
