Jordan and Meadows ask Cummings for clarity on Michael Cohen’s Appearance
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), Ranking Member of the Government Operations Subcommittee, sent a letter to Chairman Elijah Cummings requesting additional information about Micheal Cohen’s scheduled appearance before the Committee.
Excerpts from the letter:
“We write with questions about the upcoming hearing with Michael Cohen. At least one news organization has reported you may schedule the hearing for next week. Based on communications with our staff, Michael Cohen’s attorney and media adviser, Lanny J. Davis, has notified you Cohen’s testimony will be limited in scope.”
“By letter dated January 11, 2019, we asked you to obtain a basic set of documents from the Department of Justice so our Members may meaningfully prepare for the Cohen hearing, the first major hearing of your Chairmanship. We also sought to question Cohen at a transcribed interview so we could better-understand the scope limitations you have agreed to. Your decision not to do so raises the prospect you are leading us towards a circus of a hearing.”
“We are perplexed by the authority you have ceded to Davis in producing this made-for-television hearing. Lanny Davis is a close associate of former President Bill Clinton and former 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton. His undisputed remarks to our staff on January 18 create the perception that Cohen’s appearance is a media stunt initiated and financed by career Democrat political operatives as a way of meting out retribution against the President.”
“We hope you share our mission in ensuring our Committee is serious minded in its pursuit of fact based oversight and investigative work. Although you have been unwilling to seek documents from the Justice Department or a transcribed interview with Cohen, we hope you will reflect on your decision and keep an open mind about reversing yourself.”
Full text of the letter can be viewed here.