‘Are my children next?’ Michael Cohen delays House testimony, citing fears for family’s safety after threats from Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani
- US President Donald Trump suggested recently that Michael Cohen’s father-in-law should be investigated, and that Cohen had cut a deal to keep him out of trouble
- Cohen’s lawyer says Trump ‘has terrorised someone who wanted to tell the truth before Congress’
Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, has postponed his testimony to Congress citing concerns for his family’s safety.
Cohen’s family, including his wife, children and in-laws, encouraged him to postpone the appearance after calls by Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani to investigate Cohen’s father-in-law, according to Cohen’s lawyer and spokesman Lanny Davis.
“The president has terrorised someone who wanted to tell the truth before Congress,” Davis said Wednesday.
Cohen was scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee in a public hearing on February 7.
Trump, asked Wednesday whether he’d threatened Cohen, told reporters at the White House, “I would say he’s been threatened by the truth.”
House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said they still expect Cohen to appear before both panels.
“We will not let the president’s tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities,” the Democrats said in a statement. “This will not stop us from getting to the truth.”