Matthew R. Bishop, World Report News
Washington, D.C. – February 27th, 2019

Mr. Michael Cohen, who has previously appeared before Congress to deliver federal criminal testimony, today appeared again to elaborate on previous allegations and to reveal new hard evidence in support of the outstanding criminal allegations against the President of the United States.

Mr. Cohen testified before the assembly and provided the United States Congress with evidence and testimony to confirm or assert the following criminal allegations against President Trump:

+ Threating and intimidation of federal witnesses called upon by Congress
+ Using non-profit funds to purchase private assets and private artwork
+ Using federal campaign finance money to issue blackmail payments covering up Mr. Trump’s private extra-marital affair
+ Federal tax fraud and personal income tax fraud and tax evasion in the amount of several million dollars
+ Bank fraud in the amount of tens of millions of dollars
+ Using the Office of the President of the United States to threaten civilian institutions including schools, colleges, private media, and non-profit groups
+ Threatening legal action and physical violence against groups and individuals in order to prevent the release of personal records including school grades, college transcripts, tax returns, financial statements, and Vietnam War records
+ Censoring and redacting evidence from the United States Congress which implicated the President of the United States, including the testimony given by Michael Cohen on previous occasions
+ Interference with Congressional hearings regarding his own alleged criminal violations
+ Managing and pursuing private business interests with foreign adversaries worth hundreds of millions of dollars
+ Speaking and cooperating with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in order to hack into, weaponize, and release the records and e-mails of Democratic Party members, allegedly in collusion with Russian agents.

In addition to the documentation, presentation, and testimony given to corroborate the above allegations, Mr. Cohen did confirm that President Trump “did not actually expect to win” the 2016 election, and therefore was continuing with “business as usual”, which may have included working with Russian foreign agents, intelligence officers, and party members.

Asked whether or not Mr. Trump would have even been willing to work with agents of a foreign adversary in order to win the 2016 election, Mr. Cohen responded “yes” and that Donald Trump “would do anything to win.” Mr. Cohen elaborated furthermore that he never was under the impression Donald Trump “cared at all for this country”, that he frequently criticized the government, and that he called the IRS “stupid” for giving “someone like a him [Donald Trump]” a federal tax refund. He bragged about dodging his taxes and instructed Mr. Cohen to do likewise.

The language now disclosed in the evidence supplied by Mr. Cohen paints a portrait of a man willing to use violence to coerce his enemies and to silence those who might speak out against him. Threats were made not only against the personal safety of President Trump’s enemies, associates, and former business partners, but also against the safety of their families and loved ones. President Trump also directed threats against his former school and college, telling them not to release his grades and threatening violence if they did so.

Further evidence and testimony revealed how Mr. Trump regularly refused to pay his vendors, taking advantage of small, vulnerable businesses by sub-contracting or hiring them outright and then not paying their wages, expenses, or invoices after the work had already been completed. Mr. Trump directed Mr. Cohen to call these vendors on a regular basis to explain they would not be getting paid.

Established charges have previously focused on key individuals surrounding President Trump, including close family members and the C-level management of Trump Organization, which Mr. Cohen again confirmed in this hearing. But this hearing also nailed down precise criminal and federal allegations against the President himself, including federal tax fraud, personal finance fraud, non-profit fraud, campaign finance fraud, tax evasion, bank fraud, threatening and intimidating court witnesses, threatening and intimidating Congressional witnesses, threatening and intimidating civilian institutions to withhold documents and evidence, covering up criminal charges, and censoring criminal evidence from the United States Congress.

Collusion with a foreign adversary (treason) was not brought as a charge today before Congress, and Michael Cohen insisted that he did not have requisite evidence to assert such allegations at this time. He suggested Robert Mueller or the House Intelligence Committee might have that evidence.

The majority of these criminal activities occurred during the 2016 Presidential election cycle, and not during the Presidency itself.

Although the matter of Russian involvement in U.S. elections and ongoing governance at the executive level is currently classified and is the subject of a House Intelligence Committee investigation, Mr. Cohen did allude to the President’s colluding with foreign adversaries in order to release classified American materials and to pursue private business gains at the expense of American national security.

The Mueller Report is expected to arrive soon at the Office of the Attorney-General. The Attorney-General then decides which information contained in the report, if any, may be reviewed by Congress. Congress, in turn, decides whether or not that limited information will be made available to the American public. The Attorney-General is not required to release Mueller’s full report to Congress, and neither is Congress required to release that report to the American public.

Whether or not the country moves forward with an impeachment process may therefore depend on how much information is made available regarding the President’s criminal activities not only to the American people, but also to the United States Congress itself, which might be kept in the dark.

Impeachment, moreover, is a political process more than it is a legal process. Impeachment is not an automatic, structural reaction to a violation of federal laws while in office. It is not as simple as breaking the law, where someone may file a charge, take you to court, and send you to prison. Impeachment is more like a piece of actual legislation, which members of Congress must negotiate and agree on before moving forward.

​Therefore, even in the face of such grave and serious allegations, it may remain the case that no impeachment process moves forward at all, especially if key information from the Mueller Report is withheld from Congress or the American people.