AFP, New York :
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen alleged Wednesday that he had been “threatened” by the president and postponed planned testimony in Congress.
Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis said in an explosive statement that both Trump and Trump’s current personal counsel Rudy Giuliani had menaced Cohen and his family, forcing him to put off his February 7 appearance before the House Oversight Committee, where he was expected to talk about his work for the president.
“Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen’s continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen’s appearance will be postponed to a later date,” Davis said.
“This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first,” he added.
The threat allegation appeared to relate to repeated attacks by Trump and Giuliani against Cohen that made vague references to Cohen’s father-in-law, Fima Shusterman.
Asked by reporters if he had threatened his former top aide, Trump replied: “You know I would say he’s been threatened by the truth, he’s only been threatened by the truth.”
Elijah Cummings, the Democrat who leads the Oversight Committee, and House Intelligence Committee head Adam Schiff, suggested Cohen was the victim of illegal witness intimidation.
“Efforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family members, or prevent them from testifying before Congress are textbook mob tactics that we condemn in the strongest terms,” they said in a statement.
Cohen had planned to testify in the House in the wake of his three-year jail sentence on December 12 on charges of fraud, illegal campaign contributions, and lying to Congress in previous testimony.
Trump’s longtime New York “fixer,” the 52-year-old attorney told prosecutors that Trump directed him to arrange illegal hush payments to two alleged former lovers ahead of the 2016 election.
He also admitted lying to Congress over pursuing a Moscow real estate deal in Trump’s name during the election, even after Trump secured the Republican nomination.
Those subjects were expected to come up in his testimony, as well as an unproven, bombshell report last week saying that Cohen has told Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible Russia collusion, that Trump had directed him to lie to Congress.
