President Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen testified publicly in front of the House Oversight Committee yesterday. Grown men postured, argued, and talked over each other. Things got loud.
We analyzed the audio of the hearing to pick out the loudest moments. Here they are as waveforms and video clips:
5. BUT THAT’S MY POINT
Cohen and Republican congressman Kelly Armstrong talk over each other here in a mild, but louder exchange. By the end of the verbal tête-à-tête, Armstrong was wagging his finger at Cohen.
4. SHAME ON YOU MR. JORDAN, THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID
In a fiery rebuke of Jim Jordan, the highest-ranking Republican member of the House Oversight Committee, Cohen defended his seemingly contradictory statement that he had never committed fraud in regards to obtaining a loan, when he in fact pleaded guilty (paywall) to doing just that.
3. SIR, I TAKE EXCEPTION TO THAT
Republican congressman James Comer stated Cohen had defrauded a bank. Cohen didn’t like that, but it doesn’t make him right. One of Cohen’s recent guilty pleas was unambiguously for bank fraud.
2. DO YOU WANT US TO READ IT TO YOU?
In an exchange about the details of a written disclosure Cohen made, Republican congressman Mark Meadows accused Cohen of lying by omission on the form. He almost went as far as saying that Cohen had perjured himself. Later in the hearing, Katie Hill, a Democratic representative from California, noted that Meadows seemed to have mischaracterized the question at issue. “The question is in fact whether witnesses have any contracts or payments originating with a foreign government. It does not cover all foreign entities.”
1. DID THEY PAY YOU $1.2 MILLION TO GIVE THEM ADVICE?
Meadows’s loudest moment came when questioning Cohen about his consulting work for pharmaceutical firm Novartis. The congressman was trying to characterize the arrangement as lobbying. Cohen said in response that his contract with them was specifically altered to not include any lobbying.
Shhh! Here’s one more
Not everyone was raising their voices yesterday. The most quiet exchange from yesterday was when Democratic representative John Sarbanes questioned Cohen.