Congresswoman Tlaib’s Remarks – Oversight Hearing 2/27/2019
Feb 27, 2019
Uncategorized
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman for centering this committee on our sole purpose: exposing the truth. Some of my colleagues can’t handle the truth and this unfortunate because it is at the center of protecting our country.
“The people at home are frustrated and want the criminal schemes to stop, especially those from the Oval Office.
“Mr. Cohen, I am upset, and know that my residents feel the same way, that the man you worked for the past 10 years, is using the most powerful position in the world, to hurt our country solely for personal gain.
“We are upset that some of my colleagues here are so disconnected of what it means to have this President of the United States sending checks to cover bribe payments you made on his behalf. One in March 2017 and another one August 2017 after he was sworn in as President.
“They (my residents) are all upset that while my colleagues are trying to discredit your testimony by some of your own unlawful acts and lies, that they are disconnected with the fact that you were the personal lawyer for this President of the United States. That this President chose YOU as his legal counsel.
“My stance has always been the same based on the facts of what we know not of some future report that we are waiting on. My residents back home don’t need a collusion cause with a foreign government to know that the President, Individual 1, has disregarded the law of the land, the US Constitution, that he has even misused his pardon powers.
“In the sentencing memo filed by federal prosecutors in New York in December of last year, they stated, quote:
“’In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1.’
“Mr. Cohen, as you know President Donald Trump “brand” comes first, not the American people. Based on what we know now is that individual 1 used his money, businesses, and platform to enrich himself, his brand, and in the process directed you, Mr. Cohen, to commit multiple felonies and cover it up. You called it “protecting his brand great,” correct?
“Mr. Cohen, with this, do you think the President is making decisions in the best interests of Americans? Especially those that you said he used horrible words about? African Americans? Muslims Americans? Immigrants?
“Just to make a note Mr. Chairman, just because someone has a person of color, a Black person working for them, does not mean that aren’t racist. And it’s insensitive, some would even say racist in itself, to use a Black woman as a prop to prove otherwise.
“Donald Trump is setting a precedent that the highest office can be attained through intentional illegal activity, cover up, and to hold onto business assets to break campaign finance law and constitutional clauses.
“What we have here is criminal conduct in the pursuit of the highest public office by Mr. Cohen and Individual 1. I hope that the gravity of this situation hits everyone in this body, in Congress, and across the country.”