Trump slams Michael Cohen and Wednesday's 'fake hearing,' but praises one thing Cohen said

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/AP)

published 28 February 2019

President Trump said Thursday that his former lawyer Michael Cohen's testimony to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that Trump is a racist, cheat, and conman is "incorrect," and he blamed House Democrats for hosting Cohen. "I think having a fake hearing like that, and having it in the middle of this very important summit, is really a terrible thing," Trump said at a news conference in Hanoi. "They could have made it two days later, or next week, and it would have been even better."

Most of the House hearings dealt with Trump's alleged financial misconduct and campaign-finance conspiracy, and committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) specifically forbade questions that might impede on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, as committee Republicans frequently pointed out. But Cohen's testimony that he saw no direct evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow was the one silver lining in the otherwise dark cloud for Trump. Cohen "lied a lot," he claimed, but he did not lie about "the Russian collusion," and "I was a little impressed by that, frankly." Trump spent most of the rest of his answer denying "collusion" and calling Mueller's investigation a "hoax" and "Russian witch hunt." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.