Donald Trump accused his former lawyer of perjury on Friday, saying Michael Cohen’s scathing testimony to Congress this week contradicted a manuscript he wrote last year that complimented the U.S. President.
“Wow, just revealed that Michael Cohen wrote a ‘love letter to Trump’ manuscript for a new book that he was pushing,” Mr. Trump tweeted Friday. “Book is exact opposite of his fake testimony, which now is a lie!”
The President called on Congress to demand the transcript, given to publishers a short time ago and yet to go on sale. “Michael Cohen’s book manuscript shows that he committed perjury on a scale not seen before,” Mr. Trump added.
‘Racist, conman, cheat’
Mr. Cohen assailed his ex-boss as “a racist... a conman... a cheat” in testimony on Wednesday to the House Oversight Committee.
In a book proposal Mr. Cohen sent to publishers in early 2018 — before he was sentenced to three years in prison, partly for crimes related to his work for Mr. Trump — the attorney promised a glowing picture of the real estate billionaire.
The proposal was pulled back after FBI agents raided Mr. Cohen’s home and offices in April 2018 in an investigation probing the attorney’s taxes and hush payments he arranged for women who claimed affairs with the President.
“Some time in early 2018, Mr. Cohen was offered a substantial advance for a proposal regarding a book on understanding Donald Trump,” Mr. Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis said. “Mr. Cohen ultimately elected not to proceed.”
In the months after the raids, Mr. Cohen went from being a close ally of Mr. Trump to a foe, providing testimony in a plea deal with prosecutors that the President ordered him to make one hush payment and reimbursed him.
Felony charges
He eventually pleaded guilty to felony charges of misuse of campaign funds in the hush payment, tax evasion and lying to Congress.
In five hours of testimony on Wednesday, he compared employment with Mr. Trump to working for a “mobster”.
