AOC Questions Michael Cohen About Trump's Taxes

Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Strange times make for strange bedfellows. It would have seemed improbable just a month or so ago to think that Resistance Twitter would suddenly be championing Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen.

But from the moment Cohen took the stand on Wednesday to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee and declared Trump to be a "racist," a "conman," and a "cheat," the once-brash (now-cowed) cigar-chomping fixer has found some unlikely allies. Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara took to social media to congratulate Cohen on calling out Republicans who seem intent on asking him about everything but the President of the United States.

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Michael Cohen nails it when he says no Republican member has asked a question about Mr. Trump. Speaks volumes.
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) February 27, 2019

Others cheered Cohen when he warned Republican committee members about misplaced loyalty saying, "I did the same thing that you're doing now. For 10 years. I protected Trump for 10 years."

Cohen to GOP lawmakers: "I did the same thing that you're doing now. For ten years. I protected Mr. Trump for ten years." His warning to them: "The more people that follow Mr. Trump -- as I did blindly -- are going to suffer the same consequences that I'm suffering." pic.twitter.com/vGXvGMXWxC
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 27, 2019

But the best was yet to come. As the committee resumed following the break, Cohen was grilled by freshman Congressional superstars Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Katie Hill.

AOC led with pointed questions about false financial statements and whether Trump devalued assets to avoid taxes on the Trump Links Golf Course in her home district of the Bronx. She basically got Cohen to give the committee a reason to subpoena Trump's tax returns.

Finally, @AOC weighs in on the #CohenTestimony. Weisselberg et al have apparently given false testimony about Trump assets. On the Trump Links golf course which cost the taxpayer $127m, Cohen confirms he valued his course at $5m when it was worth $50m. A regular M.O.
— Mo Ansar (@MoAnsar) February 27, 2019

In future, I'ma really need Dems to just let @AOC do things, then explain to the other Dems how they're done, before those other Dems try to do things. #CohenHearing
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) February 27, 2019

Hill got Cohen to reveal that he has 11 checks — hush money reimbursements — that show Trump broke campaign finance law. Cohen also confirmed to her that Trump directed him to "coordinate on public messaging" about payments to Stormy Daniels, i.e. lie about the hush money.

Is there additional corroborating evidence that Mr. Trump, while a sitting President of the United States, directly reimburse you hush-money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws? —Rep. Katie Hill

There are 11 checks —Michael Cohen pic.twitter.com/8QAjONcTUb
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 27, 2019

Pressley used her time to negate the idea that just because Trump has a Black friend, he's not a racist. She also got Cohen to admit that many of the President's alleged frauds were "all about ego."

.@AyannaPressley asks if a person can lead the birther movement, refer to the diaspora as "shithole countries", refer to white supremacists as "fine people", have black friend and still be racist.

Cohen: "yes"

Pressley: I agree
— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) February 27, 2019

Rep. Ayanna Pressley: Why would the President want to bid up the price of something he was ultimately paying for?

Michael Cohen: It was all about ego. https://t.co/4McXejykRV pic.twitter.com/nG5JbP21wu
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 27, 2019

As Tlaib began her questioning, she was sidelined momentarily by Republican Mark Meadows, whom she accused of using Lynne Patton as a "prop."

The camera cut to Michael Cohen during this Rashida Tlaib-Mark Meadows exchange: pic.twitter.com/G1fMYBpzMe
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) February 27, 2019

Meadows angrily accuses Tlaib of racism for calling him racist pic.twitter.com/4Wj6FcJO6l
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2019

The questioning and Cohen's responses are clearly getting to his former boss, who tweeted on Tuesday that Cohen had done "bad things unrelated to Trump."