Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after President Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to two Congressional committees—the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence—about contacts with the Russian officials on behalf of Donald Trump during the 2016 election:
"Lying to Congress is a serious crime with serious consequences. Mr. Cohen has now admitted to lying about his contacts with Russian officials on behalf of President Trump. His guilty plea contemplates Mr. Cohen’s further cooperation with investigators. Anyone who still believes that this is a “witch hunt” must now face the reality that the investigation appears to be closing in on the President.
"The Special Counsel has now secured guilty pleas from President Trump’s personal attorney, his campaign manager, his deputy campaign manager, a foreign policy advisor to his campaign, and his National Security Advisor. He has filed 191 charges against more than thirty individuals—almost all of whom are in President Trump’s orbit, Vladimir Putin’s orbit, or both. The President can pretend that this investigation has nothing to do with him and nothing to do with Russia, but these indictments speak for themselves. We must allow this investigation to run its course without interference from the President or his allies on Capitol Hill. As the new Congress begins, these developments make clear that my colleagues and I must step in and provide accountability. No one is above the law, not even the President, and our job will be to check his impulse to abuse his office to protect himself. We will do everything in our power to allow the Special Counsel to finish his work and follow the facts and the law to their conclusion."
