The GOP and the White House have launched preemptive strikes on President Trump's former personal lawyer, who on Tuesday began three days of congressional testimony on the president's alleged wrongdoing, related to possible collusion with Russian election interference and campaign finance violations.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders started things off by calling it "pathetic" of Congress to give Michael Cohen, a "convicted liar", another opportunity to "spread his lies."
The Republican National Committee doubled down by releasing a video on its official YouTube channel titled "Have Fun in Prison!," which consists of a montage of clips from old television appearances in which Cohen, who was once the deputy finance chair of the RNC, ardently praised Trump.
"This whole charade is not about truth," RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News. "It is a last ditch effort to save face and cast blame on everyone but himself for his crimes."
Fox News also reported that the RNC is "preparing a war room" for the testimony as they did when former FBI Director James Comey testified last year. The party plans to book surrogates on television and flood the inboxes of reporters with emails about Cohen. Tim O'Donnell
Update 3:30 p.m. EST: This article was updated to reflect Cohen's previous position within the RNC.