Michael Cohen’s public hearing began before the House Oversight Committee with a fiery exchange Wednesday morning when Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., demanded that his testimony be delayed.
At the outset, interrupting the chairman’s introduction, Meadows cited the timeliness of Cohen’s prepared remarks and evidence, arguing that it was received 24 hours in advance and therefore a violation of the committee rules.
Meadows said committee members received Cohen’s prepared testimony at 10:08 p.m. on Tuesday and evidence he provided to the committee at 7:54 a.m. Wednesday. The hearing began at 10 a.m.
“Now, if this was just an oversight, Mr. Chairman,” Meadows said to Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., “I could look beyond it. But it was an intentional effort by this witness and his advisers to once again show his disdain for this body. And with that, I move that we postpone this hearing.”
[Read: ‘Smeared’ as ‘a rat’: 7 key points in Michael Cohen’s testimony]
Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about negotiations regarding a Trump Tower project in Moscow during the 2016 campaign and has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Meadows said news organizations had the testimony before members of the committee did.
Cummings responded that Democrats passed on the testimony to Republicans as soon as they got it. Meadows said he wasn’t blaming Democrats and faulted Cohen for the matter.
After demanding a voice vote to delay the hearing which did not go his way, Meadows appealed.
Twenty-four members of the committee voted in favor of moving forward with Cohen’s testimony. Seventeen lawmakers voted to postpone it.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mark-meadows-accuses-michael-cohen-of-breaking-the-rules-calls-for-hearing-postponement
Comments