On Wednesday, two leading House Republicans again pressed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump’s onetime lawyer and fixer, committed perjury during testimony before Congress in 2019.
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, claiming that the DOJ had yet to address the criminal referral they sent nearly six months ago.
“To date, we received no response from the Biden Justice Department regarding this criminal referral. This is unacceptable,” the lawmakers wrote, adding that “despite an admission from Mr. Cohen that he lied under oath to Congress, the Biden Justice Department did nothing.”
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to multiple crimes, including lying to Congress, and ended up serving time in prison. He is now slated to testify in a New York City hush-money trial about his role in facilitating payments to women who allegedly had affairs with Trump — claims the former president denied.
Trump, who is again running for re-election, faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to allegedly cover up the payments in a bid to conceal damaging information as part of a “catch and kill” scheme to influence the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty and criticized what he says is a “political persecution.”
Stefanik and Turner contend that evidence shows Cohen may have made false statements while testifying under oath to the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019. They point to Cohen’s testimony in Trump’s New York civil fraud trial in October of 2023 as cause for a perjury inquiry.
“Mr. Cohen was asked if he was honest during his testimony before the Committee in February 2019. In response, Mr. Cohen stated, ‘No.’ When asked if he lied under oath in February 2019 before the Committee, Mr. Cohen stated, ‘Yes,'” their letter said.
Due to a lack of a response by the DOJ, Stefanik and Turner suggested, the agency is actively working to “help” President Joe Biden, who is also running for a second term, and “hurt” Trump.
“We urge you to stop politicizing and weaponizing the Biden Justice Department — and open a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Cohen committed perjury and knowingly made false statements to the Committee during his testimony in February 2019,” they added.
A DOJ spokesperson told The Daily Wire the agency confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment further.
When Stefanik and Turner first sent their criminal referral in November, Cohen released a statement accusing the lawmakers of doing Trump’s “bidding in witness tampering and obstructing justice,” according to POLITICO.
They “fail to understand the distinction between explicit and implied; which is how the question was asked and accurately responded to. The topic was further clarified several questions thereafter; which is conveniently and intentionally being ignored. I am not concerned at all with their baseless request,” Cohen added.
Stefanik, who is seen as a contender to be Trump’s vice presidential running mate, announced on Tuesday that she had filed an ethics complaint with the DOJ against special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading two other criminal cases against Trump.