Trump slams Michael Cohen and Wednesday's 'fake hearing,' but praises one thing Cohen said
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
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
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.
-
Starbucks workers are planning their ‘biggest strike’ everThe Explainer The union said 92% of its members voted to strike
-
‘These wouldn’t be playgrounds for billionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The 5 best nuclear war movies of all timeThe Week Recommends ‘A House of Dynamite’ reanimates a dormant cinematic genre for our new age of atomic insecurity
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
