Cohen Incarceration Delayed and Testimony Rescheduled

News  |  Feb 20, 2019

UPDATE 2: House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) has released a memorandum outlining his agenda for the upcoming Michael Cohen hearing now rescheduled for February 27th at 10am ET.

II. SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF HEARING

After consulting with the Department of Justice and with Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Chairman Cummings has set the scope for the Oversight Committee’s hearing with Mr. Cohen to address the following issues:

  • the President’s debts and payments relating to efforts to influence the 2016 election;

  • the President’s compliance with financial disclosure requirements;

  • the President’s compliance with campaign finance laws;

  • the President’s compliance with tax laws;

  • the President’s potential and actual conflicts of interest;

  • the President’s business practices;

  • the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.;

  • the accuracy of the President’s public statements;

  • potentially fraudulent or inappropriate practices by the Trump Foundation; and

  • public efforts by the President and his attorney to intimidate Mr. Cohen or others not to testify.

Mr. Cohen has agreed to testify voluntarily and in public before the Oversight Committee. He will not be under subpoena.

On February 28, 2019, the day after Mr. Cohen testifies before the Oversight Committee, he will appear in closed session before the Intelligence Committee. The scope of the Oversight Committee’s open public hearing will not include questions relating to the Intelligence Committee’s investigation of efforts by Russia and other foreign entities to influence the U.S. political process during and since the 2016 U.S. election, and the counterintelligence threat arising from any links or coordination between U.S. persons and the Russian government, including any financial or other compromise or leverage foreign actors may possess over Donald Trump, his family, his business interests, or his associates. Among other lines of inquiry within its jurisdiction and the investigative parameters it announced on February 6, 2019, the Intelligence Committee’s closed interview also will examine in depth Mr. Cohen’s prior false statements to the Intelligence Committee.

House Oversight Committee Chairman's Memorandum 


UPDATE: NBC News

cohen


US District Court Judge William Pauley has ruled Michael Cohen can have two more months of freedom, saying he must report to prison May 6th instead of March 6th as planned. 

CNN:

In asking for the postponement, an attorney for Cohen said in a court filing that his client required more time to cope with both recovery from a recent surgical procedure and to prepare for expected testimony before three congressional committees.

(...)

Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for nine charges, including campaign-finance violations related to payments he arranged to silence women who claimed affairs with Trump, all of which Cohen pleaded guilty to last year. Trump has denied the affairs.

Cohen's prospective testimony has been the subject of a series of postponements in recent weeks. He has delayed his appearances on Capitol Hill three times, with three different reasons.

(...)

After Cohen's House Oversight committee testimony was postponed earlier this month, Maryland Democratic Chairman Elijah Cummings declined to confirm a date that Cohen would testify, but he has repeatedly told reporters with certainty that the public hearing would occur. 

"As sure as day becomes night," Cummings has said when asked about Cohen's appearance.

Cohen's attorney, Michael Monico, said in his letter to the court that officials at the Manhattan US Attorney's office, one of the offices that charged Cohen, didn't object to a "one-time 60-day" delay "in light of Mr. Cohen's medical condition." 

The letter also said that Cohen himself had submitted a separate letter under seal on February 12.

Michael Cohen won't have to report to prison until May, judge rules (CNN)