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Mark Meadows is already about to have an aneurysm
Is every GOP member of this committee a white man?
"The testimony Mr Cohen is about to provide is deeply disturbing and should be troubling to ALL Americans" --Chairman Cummings
Gym Jordan is so odious. And...why is he not wearing a jacket? I'm not a big traditionalist but maybe start with one?
Jordan going on about Tom Steyer like that means anything to most people.
Ban opening statements.
He is a racist
He is a con man
He is a cheat
and 1000 GIFs were born
He is a con man
He is a cheat
and 1000 GIFs were born
Cohen's statement is as well delivered as it is written.
"Mr. Trump is a racist....He once asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a “shithole.” This was when Barack Obama was President of the United States."
"While we were once driving through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago, he commented that only black people could live that way. And, he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid."
"It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed among the wealthiest people in Forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes." FACT CHECK TRUE
"Mr. Trump said he did not consider Vietnam Veteran, and Prisoner of War, Senator John McCain to be “a hero” because he likes people who weren’t captured. At the same time, Mr. Trump tasked me to handle the negative press surrounding his medical deferment from the Vietnam draft"
"Mr. Trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery...“You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam." I find it ironic, President Trump, that you are in Vietnam right now."
"What struck me as I looked back and thought about that exchange between Don Jr. and his father was, first, that Mr. Trump had frequently told me and others that his son Don Jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the world..."
"...And also, that Don Jr. would never set up any meeting of any significance alone – and certainly not without checking with his father."
Even having read Cohen's statements many times before he gave it orally, it is still very powerful.
It's right up there with @JohnWDean's "cancer on the presidency" testimony.
Jordan walked right into that one
Who is this lawyer that was there when, per Cohen, Cohen turned down a job in the White House because it would not let him keep attorney-client privilege for Trump.
DWS is not helping
Ask a damn question, Rep Green
Good day for @thedailybeast
Cohen basically says that there are a lot more Stormy Daniels-style catch-and-kill affairs out there, and they should talk to Peck and folks in the Trump Org to get more info
Cohen is well prepped and very calm
Might be time for Rep Norton to retire.
Omg is Meadows really trying to call Lynn "I was Eric Trump's wedding planner and now I'm a major HUD official" Patton to testify that Trump's not a racist because she's never heard him say a racist thing?
Cohen is like, "Ask Ms Patton how many people who are black are officers in the Trump administration. The answer is none."
I can't believe they pulled the "I have a black friend, er, employee" defense for Trump
Meadows might really stroke out.
Actually i can believe it
Man, the GOP reps are just not that good at this/have no material. Be interesting to see how Fox News frames these statements. 😹😹
Jim Jordan going full Deep State
Ladies, there are a lot more really dumb dudes in Congress who should be ousted.
Cohen's warning to the country that we are following his stead: learning to lie for Trump, excusing Trump's actions, is riveting
Here's what they should be asking motherjones.com/politics/2019/…
"We are not the fact-checkers for Buzzfeed" --Cohen lol
Jim Jordan is going full Q. Also he seems unhealthily amped.
"i find it interesting that not one question you and your [GOP] collegues have asked me is about President Trump."
Is Rep Higgins on break from running a craps table? 
Yes yes yes NDA questions
.@CongressmanRaja asks if Cohen knows of other illegal actions that Trump took. Cohen says yes, but can't discuss because of SDNY. He's then asked if he knows that Trump takes illegal drugs or helped arrange a "health procedure for a woman not in his family," Cohen says no.
Jamie Raskin always asks good questions.
Cohen can filibuster too lol
.@HarleyRouda and @KatieHill4CA are already showing that new/younger blood leads to better questioning. And we haven't even gotten to @AOC, @AyannaPressley, and @RashidaTlaib
Still no GOP questions about Trump
Though @justinamash was very careful not to give a sound bite that could be used against him if it all goes south for Trump
Not to be totally cynical about it, though. I do feel like @justinamash is one of the few in GOP who's shown any lasting civility and backbone re Trump.
God Gibbs seems dumb.
attn @Jim_Jordan
There have got to be smarter people—both parties!—to run for some of these seats.
Cohen says he's never been to Prague.
Cohen says there's no love child. Says he's intimidated people more than 500 times on behalf of Trump. Says he has 100 tapes he'll give to committee.
SIDEBAR: note how it was "crack babies" when it was perceived to be mostly a phenomena in black community but "neonatal abstinence syndrome" now that opioids are mostly a white abuse problem.
Armstrong's vigilance for Cohen's other clients is touching.
Reminder: Sean Hannity is one of those clients.
Reminder: Sean Hannity is one of those clients.
Eliot Brody is another Cohen client.
GOP Reps keep bemoaning that there is no probative value to this hearing by making grandstanding comments about book deals instead of asking probative questions.
Cohen says he makes his wife and kids travel separately to restaurants or whatever because he worries about being targeted by Trump and/or his followers.
"known conservative magazine Mother Jones" DRINK
.@RepLawrence also subtweeted Matt Gaetz pretty hard when she lambasted Trump for intimidating witnesses and people more broadly.
"i said to my beloved wife back in Dripping Springs, Texas..." Rep Roy then fake tears up. jfc
Running tally of pubs namechecked in testimony: Buzzfeed, Daily Beast, Pro Publica, Mother Jones...National Enquirer
Stacey Plaskett seems sharp
Overview: Cohen's testimony seems composed, compelling. He says there are more crimes that Trump has committed than in his statement. Says, convincingly, he's afraid for his life. GOP has not asked one question about Trump's actions.
The other thing that makes Cohen seems credible is that he's pushed back on a bunch of bad Trump rumors: love child, abortions, Prague, tape of Trump hitting Melania...
Also, bears repeating, Cohen has documentation of Trump paying off Stormy Daniels to cover up their affair, which is a probably campaign finance violation (in additional to a marital fidelity violation)
SIDEBAR: Obama was not perfect. But there were zero personal scandals in 8 years in office. And no scandals about scurrilous conduct of people who served with him either.
.@AOC went IN on Trump deflating assets, particularly golf courses, to avoid paying local taxes.
Americans, trying to keep track of all of all the crimes Trump is alleged to have done
"Hopefully this portion of your destiny will lead to a better Michael Cohen, a better Donald Trump, a better United States of America, and a better world."-- @RepCummings during an incredibly moving speech beseeching us all to do better, and return to normal.
The end of the beginning?
