Former CIA Director John Brennan on Wednesday accused Republican lawmakers of “covering up” President Trump’s corruption by failing to seek the truth during Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony.
“Committee Republicans are making no effort to find truth,” Brennan tweeted as Trump’s former lawyer testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. “They are failing their Constitutional responsibilities by covering up the corruption of a sitting President.”
“What is happening to the soul & integrity of the once storied Republican Party?”
{mosads}Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison last year after pleading guilty to bank and tax fraud and campaign finance violations, is on Capitol Hill giving testimony to congressional committees this week.
His testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday included several allegations that the president played a part in crimes. Cohen, among other things, said Trump directed him to break the law and make a hush money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had an affair with the president.
He also alleged that Trump knew Roger Stone, a former informal advisor to the president, was in contact with WikiLeaks about the release of damaging Democratic emails ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Several Republican lawmakers dismissed Cohen’s credibility, with many pointing to his prior admission that he lied to Congress about plans to construct a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, called Cohen a “fraudster, cheat, convicted felon and, in two months, a federal inmate.”
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who accused Cohen of being a pathological liar, placed a poster behind his seat featuring the slogan, ““Liar, Liar Pants on Fire.”
Brennan has repeatedly criticized Trump and the GOP over the past two years. He said in December that he hoped the “forthcoming exposure of [Trump’s] malfeasance and corruption will convince enough Republicans to abandon you in 2019.”