By Gabrielle Cajas SYRACUSE N.Y. (NCC News) – President Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified before members of the House Oversight Committee.
“I am not protecting Mr. Trump anymore,” Cohen said.
For 10 years, Cohen worked for Trump and through the five hour testimony, he described what it was like.
“He is a racist. He is a con man. And he is a cheat,” he said.
Cohen provided the oversight committee with statements and proof of hush-money payments, the Trump family’s business dealings in Russia and the Mueller investigation.
In the past, Cohen had pleaded guilty to lying under oath to Congress. Republicans tried to discredit Cohen, and Democrats tried to get more details on Trump’s role in the hush money payments.
Shana Gadarian, Syracuse University Political Science PHD, said she’s seen testimonies in front of Congress before, but nothing as quite as dramatic as this one.
“It goes to the heart of Presidential power, and it goes to the heart of what we will accept in democracy,” Gadarian said.
Even though Cohen’s allegations imply various explosive revelations into Trump’s presidency, Gadarian doesn’t see any immediate consequences for Trump.
“Impeachment, which seems like one of the steps people will talk about, it is a political standard. So when people of Congress feel it is in their best interest to support impeachment, they will. But not until that point,” Gadarian said.
