Jim Jordan: Cohen Hearing ‘First Step’ in Dems’ ‘Crazy Impeachment Plans’
Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said Wednesday evening that Democrats called Michael Cohen to testify before the panel in order to set the stage for President Trump’s impeachment.
“I do not think you could believe much of what this guy says. What I do think was going on today is that this was the first step in the Democrats’ crazy impeachment plans,” Jordan said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Special Report.”
Jordan’s comments came hours after Cohen publicly disparaged his former boss as a “racist,” a “conman,” and a “cheat” during his public testimony before Congress. Though Cohen accused Trump of engaging in “illicit acts” while in office, including the reimbursement of hush-money payments made during the campaign to his former mistresses, the former attorney admitted he did not have knowledge of any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Jordan and fellow Republicans on the Oversight Committee spent the hearing impugning Cohen’s credibility, frequently raising the fact that he previously lied to Congress under oath about the timing of plans to build a Moscow Trump Tower when he testified in August.
Democrats, meanwhile, said their Republican colleagues were angry that Cohen had stopped lying to protect the president, and argued he had nothing to gain by continuing to lie. Despite Cohen’s Wednesday testimony, Democratic leaders remain hesitant to openly broach the prospect of impeachment.
“Isn’t it interesting that not one person on our side even mentioned the word impeachment?” Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) said after the hearing. “Not one.”
Speaker Pelosi told reporters Wednesday that she did not watch Cohen’s testimony.
