Michael Cohen postpones congressional testimony, alleging 'ongoing threats' from Trump and Giuliani


Michael Cohen's congressional tell-all won't come as soon as we'd thought.
President Trump's former fixer long ago left his ex-boss' side, providing hours of testimony to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into the Trump campaign's potential involvement with Russian election interference. Cohen was scheduled to publicly testify about Trump to Congress on Feb. 7, but revealed Wednesday he'd postpone that appearance due to "ongoing threats against his family from President Trump" and Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
In a statement from Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis, Cohen confirmed his "continued cooperation with ongoing investigations," presumably including Mueller's. But he also said he had to "put his family and their safety first" and put his House Oversight Committee hearing on hold indefinitely.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Cohen is probably best known for paying porn star Stormy Daniels to conceal her story of an affair with Trump, as well as reportedly handling the Trump Organization's plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. He's since fallen out of Trump's good graces and landed a three-year jail sentence for lying to Congress about the Moscow discussions and financial crimes. Cohen promised in his December sentencing to "state publicly all he knows about Mr. Trump" after the Mueller investigation concluded, and reportedly planned to "say things that will give you chills" in his February testimony.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
What's wrong with America's air traffic control systems?
Today's Big Question The radios and radar keep going out at Newark International
-
8 splashy items to elevate any pool party
The Week Recommends Fire up the snow cone machine, and turn on that outdoor movie projector
-
What to know as student loan collections resume
the explainer The restart comes as part of the Trump administration's reversal of Biden-era policies
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'