Dem rep says Cohen hearing ‘could lead to impeachment’

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that she believes the revelations from Michael Cohen’s public testimony a day earlier could lead to impeachment proceedings.

Maloney, who is a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said Cohen’s comments to the panel on Wednesday were “absolutely alarming.”

{mosads}President Trump’s former longtime personal lawyer highlighted potential campaign finance violations and ethics violations, as well as examples of tax and insurance fraud that could implicate the president, she said.

“A lot of information came out that I wasn’t aware of and we have numerous investigations taking place in Congress and we’ll follow the facts where they take us,” she said on CNN. “I think it possibly could lead to impeachment.”

Maloney, who said during Wednesday’s hearing that Cohen’s appearance was a “story of redemption,” said on CNN that she found the ex-attorney’s testimony credible, despite his guilty plea for previously lying to Congress.

“I believe him,” she said. “And I know he’s going to jail because he lied to Congress. If he lied to us yesterday I know he would be going to jail much longer.” 

“I found Cohen’s testimony absolutely alarming,” @RepMaloney tells @PoppyHarlowCNN.

“He pointed out possible campaign finance violations, ethics violations, tax and insurance fraud and other criminal activity.” https://t.co/isdxUqBxZy pic.twitter.com/3HhsGGYY5i

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) February 28, 2019

Cohen, who is facing a three-year prison sentence, testified for nearly seven hours on Wednesday, alleging that Trump is a “racist” a “con man” and a “cheat.” 

Cohen accused the president of engaging in a hush money scheme to silence a woman during the 2016 campaign who alleged she had an affair with him, and he claimed Trump had advanced knowledge of WikiLeaks’s dump of damaging Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential race.

Trump said his former lawyer “lied a lot” during the hearing, but welcomed Cohen’s comments that he had no direct evidence of collusion between the president’s campaign and Russia. Cohen said he did have “suspicions” about possible collusion between Trump and the Kremlin, but said he “wouldn’t use the word ‘colluding.’ “

Cohen’s testimony is likely to reinvigorate talks of impeachment among Democrats, though party leaders have said there should be bipartisan support for such a movement.