Cohen: 'Trump was involved in extensive illegal activities after elected'

U.S. President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Committee on Wednesday (local time) hit top headlines of major U.S. media such as The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. The media continued to keep top articles on Cohen even after the second North Korea-U.S. summit began in Hanoi on the following day.

Illegal acts undertaken during the presidential election and presidency are evident reasons for impeachment for high-ranking public officials, including the president, which is why U.S. media continued to shed spotlight on Cohen’s testimony despite global attention on the U.S.-North Korea summit.

CNN reported that though Cohen’s blow did not quite meet the Democrat’s expectations, he provided specific and articulate testimonies that can undermine Trump’s position.

Cohen worked as a faithful lawyer for President Trump for more than 20 years working as his “fixer.” The key message of his opening remarks to the House Oversight and Reform Committee was that “Trump lied to the American people."

The most important parts of the testimony considered to impact Trump is that “Trump had known of plans to dump e-mails to damage Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign” and “that he asked to pay off adult stars whom he had an affair with."

Cohen also said that Trump had him “pay off a massive amount of money to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to cover up alleged affairs.” Prosecutors say that both events violate political campaign finance laws.

“I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty – of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him,” said Cohen, speaking with emotion at times during the testimony. "He is a racist. He is a con man. And he is a cheat."


Taek Kyoon Sohn sohn@donga.com