Politics
WATCH: Michael Cohen Stuns MSNBC Panel, Predicts Guilty Verdict Comey Case
Michael Cohen, a former attorney for President Donald Trump who was convicted of fraud and perjury for matters outside the White House, left an MSNBC panel speechless when he agreed that Comey “weaponized” the FBI against Trump. He ultimately predicted that Comey will be found guilty of a crime relating to his role in the bogus Russian collusion investigation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday released a grand jury indictment against former FBI Director James Comey on two federal counts, one for making false statements while testifying before Congress and another for obstruction of justice.
The indictment alleges that Comey obstructed a congressional investigation into the disclosure of sensitive information in violation of 18 USC 1505. It also alleges that the former director made a false statement when he did not authorize someone at the FBI to serve as an “anonymous source” in order to leak classified materials to outlets like the New York Times.
During a panel discussion on MSNBC’s “The Weekend Primetime,” Cohen left his fellow panelists visibly stunned by agreeing with the Trump Administration in concluding that the FBI was “weaponized” for political gain under Comey.
“What you’re saying right now is that the Department of Justice under Donald Trump has been weaponized or has not been weaponized?” Cohen was asked by host Ayman Mohyeldin. “I think it’s been weaponized under more than just Donald Trump. I think it’s been weaponized by government for, I don’t know, as long as it’s been around.”
Fellow panelist Elise Jordan then asked Cohen to clarify, saying, “And so you think that there will be evidence that will show that in court and so thus validate Donald Trump’s vendetta against James [Comey],” to which Cohen replied, “Elise, I couldn’t have said it better.”
He ultimately predicted that Comey will indeed be found guilty of a crime. “Do any of us actually really know whether or not Comey is or is not guilty of the charges? I know that they parade out all of these pundits, they have the great titles in the chyron, former prosecutor, yada yada, former FBI. Who’s seen a single document that’s in the possession right now of the DOJ?” Cohen said.
He went on to state that through his time working as the president’s attorney, he learned that Comey was “actually very much involved in the Russia investigation in a very negative way,” adding that the Justice Department likely has every single email, every text message, every communication.”
After reiterating that he believes Comey will be found guilty, an audible gasp was heard from one the panelists. “I believe likely he committed a crime. I don’t know what that crime is, but there are hundreds of thousands of documents and government has each and every one of them. All they need to find is that one,” the former attorney added.
Comey is currently facing one count of obstruction of justice and another charge for lying to federal investigators.
The obstruction charge appears to relate to questioning of Comey by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who asked about referral U.S. intelligence agencies sent to the FBI in September 2016 indicating that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign hoped to distract from the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server by accusing Trump of colluding with the Russian government.
“You don’t remember getting that or being talked —,” Graham said of the referral, to which Comey replied, “That doesn’t ring any bells with me.”
The former FBI director is expected to plead not guilty.
