Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, has announced that he will not be participating in the congressional investigation of the Russia scandal, which means that the Trump team is pulling out all of the stops to deny investigators the information that they are looking for.
Politico reported:
“I declined the invitation to participate as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered,†Cohen told POLITICO via text message. He did not specify which House or Senate panels had sought him out as part of their investigations.
Congressional investigators should refine their request and immediately ask again. Trump’s lawyer doesn’t want to participate, and his answer suggested that his participation will need to be forced via a subpoena. Cohen’s response fits in perfectly with the pattern of the Trump response to the Russia investigation. Instead of welcoming the investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election, Trump has sought to interfere and obstruct at every turn.
Cohen’s response is nothing more than an effort to slow the investigation down or prevent investigators from getting information that they want access to. An innocent White House would instruct their people to cooperate because they would want to protect US democracy.
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Trump and his inner circle are only interested in protecting themselves, which suggests the sort of behavior that could destroy a president.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association