Michael Cohen testified Wednesday that President Trump will “do what is necessary” to win, but told lawmakers he does not have “direct evidence” he colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign.
Cohen said during his opening statement before the House Oversight and Reform Committee that while he does not know of direct evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia, he has his suspicions.
“Questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia. I do not. I want to be clear,” said Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer.
{mosads}”But, I have my suspicions,” he added.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) later sought to pin down Cohen on whether he believed the president had colluded with Russia.
“Knowing how Mr. Trump operates with his winning at all costs mentality, do you believe that he would cooperate or collude with a foreign power to win the presidency? Is he capable of that?” Wasserman Schultz asked.
“It calls on so much speculation, ma’am,” Cohen responded. “It would be unfair for me to give you an answer to that. Mr. Trump is all about winning. He will do what is necessary to win.”
He responded “yes” when the congresswoman asked if Trump had the potential to cooperate with a foreign power to win the presidency at all costs, but was less committal when asked if Trump lied about colluding with the Russians during the 2016 campaign.
“I wouldn’t use the word colluding,” Cohen said. “Was there something odd about back-and-forth praise with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin? Yes. But I’m not really sure that I can answer that question in terms of collusion.”
“I was not part of the campaign,” Cohen continued. “I don’t know the other conversations that Mr. Trump had with other individuals. There’s just so many dots that all seem to lead to the same direction.”
Wasserman Schultz served as the head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 2016 election, when WikiLeaks published emails from the organization.
Cohen delivered blistering testimony on Wednesday that depicted the president as a “racist” and a “conman,” and alleged that Trump knew ahead of time that Roger Stone, the Republican operative and informal adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign, coordinated with WikiLeaks to release the DNC emails.