Lanny Davis pushed Cohen to testify before Congress, GOP lawmakers say

Two top Republicans said on Tuesday that Michael Cohen’s spokesman Lanny Davis told the committee that he “pushed” Cohen to testify before the House Oversight Committee.

“This was my idea; nobody else’s,” Davis said, according to Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who wrote to Cohen’s attorney in a letter obtained by POLITICO. Jordan is the top Republican on the Oversight Committee.

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Cohen intends to share “anecdotes” about his time working for President Donald Trump when he appears before the House Oversight Committee next month, but will be unable to speak about ongoing investigations relating to the president, Davis told the committee’s Republican staff.

The letter, addressed to Cohen’s attorney Guy Petrillo, outlines Republicans’ concerns about the purpose of Cohen’s scheduled appearance before the committee on Feb. 7. Jordan and Meadows used Davis’ answers to question whether Cohen’s testimony would represent a “media stunt initiated, produced, and financed by career Democrat political operatives as a way of scoring political points against the President.”

Jordan and Meadows, two of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, wrote in the letter that “Davis made clear that Cohen’s upcoming appearance before the Committee is entirely a result of Davis’ orchestration.” Davis is a longtime Democratic strategist and attorney with close connections to the Clintons.

GOP staffers then pressed Davis on how Cohen’s appearance before the committee is relevant to the panel’s official business. Davis replied that Cohen’s answers would be “unsatisfying” and “frustrating” to lawmakers.

Davis, according to the congressmen, told GOP staffers that Cohen will not answer questions relating to ongoing investigations by the Southern District of New York and special counsel Robert Mueller.

“Among other matters, we learned from Davis our Members will not receive answers to why Cohen defrauded the United States and the State of New York through his business dealings,” the congressmen wrote, adding that the committee “will not be hearing testimony about why Cohen intentionally provided false and misleading testimony to the United States Congress in previous appearances.”

Democrats have indicated that they’re interested in asking Cohen a host of questions that could intersect with ongoing probes, including whether the president directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project, as first reported by BuzzFeed. The special counsel’s office has disputed that report.

Jordan and Meadows also revealed in the letter that they asked Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the chairman of the Oversight panel, to bring Cohen in for a transcribed interview ahead of his testimony “so we may better understand the matters on which he is and is not willing to speak.”

Davis indicated to POLITICO last week that the hearing might be canceled altogether, saying Cohen was “very fearful.”