Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime former lawyer, said Wednesday that he is “no longer” the president’s “fixer.”
Cohen, long known as Trump’s fixer in the years he served as his personal attorney, gave a scathing opening statement in his second of three days of testimony before Congress.
Cohen spoke directly to his former client in his sworn testimony in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
“I have lied, but I am not a liar,” Cohen said. “And I have done bad things, but I am not a bad man. I have fixed things, but I am no longer your fixer, Mr. Trump.”
{mosads}The former lawyer, who confirmed Wednesday that he was disbarred this week, called Trump a “cheat,” a “conman” and a “racist” in his testimony and made a number of explosive claims about his time working for the president.
Trump, his allies and his legal team have painted Cohen as an unreliable witness and a liar.
Cohen is headed to prison in May after pleading guilty to a number of financial crimes committed while working for Trump. He also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, a point that GOP members of the Oversight and Reform Committee repeatedly raised during questioning on Wednesday.
Cohen was contrite in his testimony, saying he is “sorry” for his lies.
“Over the past year or so, I have done some real soul-searching,” Cohen said. “I am sorry for my lies and for lying to Congress. And to our nation, I am sorry for actively working to hide from you the truth about Mr. Trump when you needed it most.”