Here's Mark Meadows, who just sidetracked the entire House Oversight Committee to assure him he's not racist, saying that "2012 is the time we are going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya or wherever it is" pic.twitter.com/90L1xnWf6v

— Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) February 27, 2019

A clip of Rep. Mark Meadows calling for then-President Barack Obama to be sent back to Kenya has resurfaced after the Congressman made waves during the Michael Cohen Congressional hearings by bringing along a black woman and HUD official to use as evidence President Donald Trump is not racist.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Meadows brought along Lynne Patton, a Trump family associate who was appointed by the president to a HUD post.

The stunt did not turn out well for Meadows.

Instead, it prompted a heated exchange between Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Meadows during the hearing.

After the hearing,  unearthed video of Meadows in 2012 also began to circulate. That video showed Meadows making anti-Obama birther claims.

Media Matters Steve Morris shared the clip early Wednesday evening.

CNN’s Don Lemon was among those who rolled tape of Meadows’ unearthed Obama birther moment after Meadows’ hearing stunt.

On Twitter, the same video also circulated with KFile’s Andrew Kaczynski, Michael Moore and others sharing the 2012 clip.

Wild. I had no idea Meadows made birther comments. https://t.co/r4Mc7ZGkeP

— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) February 28, 2019

Yeah, Mr. Meadows, you’re an effin’ racist. Get it all out of your system bro because a country like ours which is nearly 70% female, people-of-color and/or young adults is taking power—and the day of the angry, racist, white man is soon going to be a thing of the past, farewell. https://t.co/gyi4mHzfhh

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) February 27, 2019

This is the man who brought a black employee of Trump’s to the hearing today to prove Trump isn’t racist. Mark Meadows is a fucking PIG https://t.co/hx3T6xJH59

— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) February 27, 2019

In related news, I wonder how Rep Meadows rationalizes his “I’m not racist” stance with his questioning the legitimacy of America’s first Black President b/c “he was born in Kenya or wherever he’s from” stance?pic.twitter.com/8B7F591EcB

— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@MuslimIQ) February 27, 2019

The Michael Cohen hearings dominated the news on Wednesday and, not surprisingly proved fodder for the late night hosts, including Seth Meyers, who focused on the hearing in his latest — and lengthy — The Closer Look.

Meyers started by talking about Trump ally and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz who, even before the hearing began, sent out a tweet appearing to threaten Cohen.

That tweet, since deleted, read: “Hey @MichaelCohen212 – Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot.”

“I didn’t think anyone could out-sleaze Donald Trump, but you did it, my friend,” Meyers snarked at Gaetz on Wednesday night. “You are trying to intimidate a witness on Twitter. What’s next, are you going to Instagram a picture of a brick with the caption, ‘About to throw this through your window?’”

Meyers also slammed Ohio’s Jim Jordan, who he said just managed to embarrass himself and for “the most part just yelled all the random buzzwords you hear Fox News pundits screaming about all day” during the hearing.

Turning to President Donald Trump, Meyers noted that Cohen listed off “a bunch” of alleged crimes committed by the president on national TV.

“It’s so ironic. Trump finally went to Vietnam and is getting killed back home,” Meyers quipped, referencing the fact Trump did not serve in Vietnam because of bone spurs.

Watch above, via NBC

CNN’s Tara Setmayer was not at all pleased that Rep. Mark Meadows used Lynne Patton as a human prop to make his case that President Donald Trump wasn’t a racist.

Yet, she wasn’t exactly pleased with Patton for allowing herself to be put in that position during the Congressional hearing either.

Speaking on CNN Wednesday night, Setmayer talked about Patton —  Housing and Urban Development (HUD) official and Trump associate — and her appearance at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.

“It was tokenism at its worst,” she said. “And it was laughable.”

Then she said this: “On top of that, you’re going to pick someone like Lynne Patton, who is basically the wedding planner for Eric Trump, who had no experience whatsoever working at HUD. She was a family friend of the Trumps in a major position, and that’s who you’re going to trot out? Someone who was like the personal assistant of the family to say, oh, well he’s not racist?”

Turning to Meadows, she added: “And Mark Meadows of all people, he was one of the birther guys. There is video of him out there now talking about we’re going to send Barack Obama back to Kenya or wherever.”

Setmayer was not done yet.

A little while later after Lemon aired video of Meadows birther moment, she lambasted Patton for being part of the Trump attention-seeking cabal.

“She likes the attention,” Setmayer said. “She tweeted it out ahead of time she was going to do this. She’s part of that same cabal of Trump attention seekers that were nobodies before, that have a taste of power now, and they’re milking it. ”

“And shame on the Republican Party for doing this over and over again,” she concluded.

Watch above, via CNN

On Wednesday night,  CNN’s Don Lemon slammed Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) for bringing a black, female government employee into the hearing in an attempt to counter claims President Donald Trump is racist.

After showing video of the moment where Meadows brought out HUD official Lynne Patton — who stood at his side but did not speak — Lemon stressed it was like Meadow was saying, “I have a black friend prop. A black employee prop.”

“Come on, y’all. What he’s essentially saying is this president can’t be racist because he’s hired this black woman,” Lemon continued on. “That’s not how racism works.”

Lemon then noted he asked Meadows to come on his show, but he went on Sean Hannity‘s show instead.

“And by the way, in fairness, in truth, we asked Mark Meadows to come on. I wanted to hear from him himself, to explain, to have a thoughtful conversation. But he went on Fox News with Sean Hannity tonight.”

He added: “And I think I could have had a really good conversation about this with him. I’d still like to have that conversation.”

Watch above, via CNN.

This is so disturbing and I get more uncomfortable every time I watch this creepy guy assault @chrisgloverCBC on live television. Why do people think it’s OK to #harass & #assault reporters while they do their job?! It’s gotta stop! @chrisgloverCBC @CBCToronto #Toronto #reporter pic.twitter.com/rSeTStQI5L

— Jeffrey Vallis (@jeffrey_vallis) February 27, 2019

A comedian in Toronto has sparked outrage for accosting a CBC reporter on live television.

The incident occurred at a comedy club in Toronto on Tuesday. CBC reporter Chris Glover was delivering a live report, when comedian Boyd Banks snuck up behind him. Banks then began licking and kissing Glover — who threw back to the studio after approximately 30 seconds.

“There is no excuse for my behaviour last night. I’m guilty of everything,” Banks said in a radio interview Wednesday, according to the CBC. He added, “I am an idiot, and there’s something wrong with me. I’m not making excuses. I want to apologize to the stand-up community in Canada and, of course, the reporter who was doing his job.”

The horrifying footage ignited a fury. Here is a sampling:

Here is the full clip of CBC reporter @chrisgloverCBC somehow maintaining his composure while a man lurks behind him, kisses his neck and licks him. Totally disgusting, and disheartening, that this happened. https://t.co/NbAPVewz7O

— Meagan Fitzpatrick (@fitzpatrick_m) February 27, 2019

I just saw this. I hope the police are looking for this guy. You do not get to touch, kiss or lick reporters. It's not funny or cute. Journalists are not your property or there for your pleasure or entertainment. I'm so sorry you experienced this @chrisgloverCBC https://t.co/Hh6Pm1E0Vz

— Mercedes Stephenson (@MercedesGlobal) February 27, 2019

Horrendous. Astounds me that people think this kind of thing is ok. Feel for the reporter in this really difficult position. https://t.co/TddhczXVN3

— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) February 28, 2019

This guy is terrifying. Def someone in my nightmares. Feel bad for the reporter. https://t.co/pUZKJvZ5TV

— Kathy Le (@CTVKathyLe) February 28, 2019

This is gross. Let him do his job. https://t.co/ahSoxVyI7B

— Katherine Klingseis (@Katkling) February 27, 2019

Hey @chrisgloverCBC why didn’t turn around and tell that guy to get off you??? Just cuz you’re live on TV doesn’t mean you have to take that. No job requires you to a be a victim. And to that creepy jerk….. someone should just slap you! https://t.co/ZCTbT1nv9A

— Liz Habib (@LizHabib) February 27, 2019

This makes my blood boil. Remarkable restraint from Chris, which I doubt I’d have shown in the same circumstance. https://t.co/k5CZY0SSaW

— Redmond Shannon (@RedShannon) February 27, 2019

What is wrong with people? I would have reacted very differently than Chris. The viewers wouldn’t see the man standing in seconds! https://t.co/N5p55JX9Ii

— Mad (@Allakariallak) February 27, 2019

This is incredibly disturbing. https://t.co/Ld9d1KHNKZ

— Angela Sterritt (@AngelaSterritt) February 27, 2019

Bravo @chrisgloverCBC for handling this with grace and professionalism. This is not cool. I don’t know why some people think it’s ok to #harass a reporter doing his/her job. https://t.co/7YdshGhwZq

— Jee-Yun Lee (@JeeYunTV) February 27, 2019

I would have absolutely elbowed this loser in the teeth. Props to @chrisgloverCBC for keeping his cool. https://t.co/NaF60YAc2H

— Ryder (@ryderfm) February 27, 2019

Watch above.

During a panel discussion on Michael Cohen‘s public testimony in front of Congress on Wednesday, CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin slammed Rick Santorum for his attempt to defend President Donald Trump’s Russia lies.

“I want to pick up on a conversation that Senator Santorum and Carl Bernstein were having before the break, questioning why people in the Trump orbit continue to lie about Russia. I mean, does it — is there an explanation for you in this?” host Anderson Cooper prompted.

“Well, I guess the point I was trying to make to Carl is, the president doesn’t tell the truth about a lot of things fairly consistently,” Santorum attempted.  “And so the fact that he’s not telling the truth about Russia fairly consistently, at least in the eyes of people around here, why is that any different?”

Then, digging in, he continued on: “I mean, it’s not like he’s doing something out of character with the Russia investigation that he’s not doing in any other areas. So that’s — so you make the point, oh, he lies about Russia all time. Well, according to what I hear on this roundtable and the network, he  lies about everything all the time.”

Toobin was not buying it — at all.

“Is that really — is that really the best defense you can come up with?” Toobin pressed.

“No, but –” Santorum began.

“Well, he lies about everything, your honor!” Toobin mocked.

“No, wait, stop,” Santorum said, before attempting to explain again.

“What he’s saying is and the argument is, is that he’s acting differently here than he is otherwise,” Santorum argued. “I’m not saying any of it’s good, but the point is, he’s not acting differently.”

Bernstein then countered that not all of Trump’s lies are the same despite Santorum’s claims.

“There’s a real specificity to his lying about Russia…There’s a specificity to almost all of the lies that try to contradict whatever that day’s breaking news is, very specifically.”

Watch above, via CNN

After nine hours in the witness chair on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Michael Cohen managed to elicit sympathy from a somewhat unlikely source: Tucker Carlson

During his opening monologue on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the Fox News host suggested that he views President Donald Trump‘s former attorney as a patsy of sorts.

“By the end, you start feeling kind of bad for Michael Cohen, honestly,” Carlson said. “He’s not a genius, anyone who knows him will affirm that. He’s in his 50s now and he’s headed to prison. And that’s a long way from where he expected to be. Cohen showed up in Washington two years ago anticipating he’d be the kind of mover and shaker that would welcome any restaurant in town. Part the seas for Michael Cohen! Now he’s going to be eating Sloppy Joe’s off of a metal tray with a thousand other creeps in identical polyester uniforms in the lock up.”

Carlson went on to suggest that the campaign finance violations which Cohen admitted to are not actually campaign finance violations.

“Take the politics out of it for a minute, if you can,” Carlson said. “Let’s be honest. This is a sad story. Michael Cohen is a broken and desperate man. But nobody cares. Democrats cheered for his conviction on ludicrous, absurd campaign finance charges. As if paying off somebody’s girlfriend is a campaign finance violation. That’s laughable. But they don’t care. Now they’re squeezing whatever use they can out of Michael Cohen as he shuffles off to his cell.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

Read the rest of this entry »

The first lady of Virginia has been accused of being racially insensitive after she handed out cotton to African-American kids during a governor’s mansion tour and asked them to imagine being slaves.

In a letter reported on by The Washington Post on Wednesday, Leah Dozier Walker, the head of Equity and Community Engagement at the state Education Department, claimed Virginia first lady Pam Northam handed the cotton to the only black kids on a tour.

During that tour, Northam talked about how slaves used to grow cotton on the land around the mansion and handed out the raw cotton. The young people on the tour had served as pages for the state legislature.

“The Governor and Mrs. Northam have asked the residents of the Commonwealth to forgive them for their racially insensitive past actions,” Dozier wrote in the letter sent to the governor’s office and state lawmakers.

The letter continues on: “But the actions of Mrs. Northam, just last week, do not lead me to believe that this Governor’s office has taken seriously the harm and hurt they have caused African Americans in Virginia or that they are deserving of our forgiveness.”

In a statement to the Post, Northam’s office denied the first lady handed the cotton intentionally to the black kids on the tour and instead insists she handed it to the kids closest to her.

“I regret that I have upset anyone,” Mrs. Northam also said in a statement emailed to WaPo.

The latest accusations of racial insensitivity come on the heels of Gov. Ralph Northam‘s blackface controversy sparked by an image in his medical school yearbook showing two people, one dressed in Klan robes and the other in blackface.

Northam has denied either person in the photo is him.

Fox News’ Bret Baier repeatedly confronted Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) tonight to address the actual substance of President Donald Trump‘s actions instead of just continuing to blast Michael Cohen.

Jordan today accused Cohen of being bitter about not getting a White House job, and at one point after ripping Cohen, the president’s former lawyer fired back by saying it’s “interesting” he and his Republican colleagues seemingly have no interest in asking about President Donald Trump‘s actions.

And Chris Christie agreed with that sentiment, saying on ABC during the hearing that Republicans have absolutely not defended Trump “on the substance” at all.

After Jordan trashed Cohen’s lack of credibility tonight, Baier asked him about the “specifics of the hush payments” made by Trump.

Jordan dismissively said “there was no new evidence here” before returning to blasting Cohen and saying you can’t believe what he says. He added, “This was the first step in the Democrats’ crazy impeachment plan.”

Baier then played the clip of Christie saying Republicans aren’t defending Trump on the substance. Baier asked him to respond and Jordan immediately said, “Michael Cohen can’t be trusted.” He proceeded to go on another tear against Cohen.

Baier tried again, asking, “When he repeatedly said he could not talk about certain things because they are under investigation by the Southern District of New York, is that not a red flag to the Trump Administration, to the president?”

“We don’t know what we are referring to, Bret,” Jordan responded. “Maybe he’s referring to the special counsel. We don’t know what he’s referring to. We didn’t get into some of these questions. We don’t know what the Southern District of New York or the special counsel’s office told him relative to what he could or could not say in today’s hearing.”

He also knocked Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) for the limited scope of the hearing before Baier once again attempted to get him to address the actual substance of the actions undertaken by the President of the United States:

“What about the specifics? I mean, I understand all of your points about credibility. I understand all of the things about undermining his veracity. He is a flawed, flawed witness. But what about the substance? I mean, the president writing a check to him while president for these payments, these eleven payments, that he says were to pay off stormy Daniels, and the other woman… is that not true?”

Jordan finally this in response:

“Michael Cohen said he’s the personal lawyer for the president. He said there was a retainer arrangement where he was paid these installments, these payments over the course of the time he was the person lawyer for the president and the Trump Organization. I don’t think that’s unusual. My guess is there’s all kinds of companies, all kinds of individuals who had a similar type of relationship. That’s what was brought out today… Where was the new news?”

Baier followed up by noting how Cohen said he has no firsthand knowledge of collusion nor has he ever traveled to Prague.

“But you said his credibility is shot, right?” he asked.

Jordan responded, “Every once in a while, you’ll get some truth from some people.”

At one point Baier asked him if Trump “has no fault here, nothing to worry about.”

“There was no new news,” Jordan said. “I think as one of my colleagues said, no new news but some fake news.”

You can watch above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

After today’s big Michael Cohen Oversight Committee hearing, Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said it appears that President Donald Trump has committed a crime in office.

Cummings was directly asked, “Do you believe that the president committed a crime while in office?”

“Based on looking at the checks and listening to Mr. Cohen, it appears that he did,” he responded.

Reporter: “Do you believe that the President committed a crime while in office?”

House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings: "It appears that he did" https://t.co/nMM0eWaT04 pic.twitter.com/Dp5TP5f3Ns

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 27, 2019

He said that “I’m basing that on what has already been found” and added he wants to see what Robert Mueller ultimately says.

You can watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

President Donald Trump‘s lawyer has responded to former Trump fixer Michael Cohen‘s claim that his prior Congressional testimony was edited by Trump’s personal legal team.

During his testimony in front of Congress today, Cohen said that the president’s “personal lawyers reviewed and edited” his statement that ultimately led to his conviction.

In November, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress.

Trump’s personal lawyer though is denying the veracity of Cohen’s claim.

“Today’s testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the President edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false.” Jay Sekulow, counsel to the president said in a statement sent out Wednesday night.

NEW: Statement from Jay Sekulow, Counsel to the President:
“Today’s testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the President edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false.”

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 27, 2019

Cohen’s testified in front of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. His testimony is expected to continue on Thursday behind closed doors.

Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) took great exception when he was accused of a “racist act” during the Michael Cohen hearing, but he once trafficked in the racist “birther” conspiracy theory by promising a crowd that they’d help “send Mr. [Barack] Obama home to Kenya.”

Meadows invited black Trump administration official Lynne Patton to the House Oversight Committee in order to argue that Trump is not racist, an act which caused Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) to condemn Meadows’s stunt as “racist,” and touching off a firestorm in the hearing. An offended Meadows demanded Tlaib’s words be stricken from the record, a request he later withdrew after considerable back-and-forth.

Despite Meadows’ protestations, however, Meadows himself once whipped up a crowd using the racist “birther” conspiracy theory, as Steve Morris flagged on Twitter.

At a Tea Party Express forum in June of 2012, Meadows took the stage and told the crowd that “the more we find out, the more we realize how wrong the directions were going.”

“And so what we’re going to do is take back our country, 2012 is the time that we’re going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya, or wherever it is,” Meadows added. “We’re going to do it.”

Meadows would later call the remarks “a poor choice of words on my part more than anything else. I believe he’s an American citizen and I believe, in my district, he is going to lose overwhelmingly.”

But that didn’t stop him from using the lie to whip that crowd into a frenzy, which some might call a racist act.

Watch the clip above.

[Image via screengrab]

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) closed today’s Michael Cohen testimony with a heated call to get America “back to normal.”

“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked, in 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy in tact?” Cummings asked of his fellow lawmakers, who were gathered to question Donald Trump’s ex–lawyer about his claims regarding the president’s criminal activity and unethical behavior. “Did we stand on the sidelines and say nothing?”

“We can do more than one thing,” he said. “And we have got to get back to normal.”

Cummings also slammed Trump for referring to “Cohen” as a rat and warned about the dangers of the snitch label within the prison system.

“When you call somebody a rat, that’s one of the worst things you can call them because when you go to prison, that means a snitch,” he said. “I’m just saying. So the president called you a rat — WE’RE BETTER THAN THAT! We really are!”

Earlier in his closing statement, the committee chair suggested Cohen could find a path to redemption, which caused the witness to break down in tears.

“You made a lot of mistakes, Mr. Cohen, and you’ve admitted that. And you know what is the saddest part of this whole thing is? That some very innocent people are hurting too and you acknowledge that and that’s your family,” the lawmaker said. “And you know if we as a nation did not give people an opportunity after they made mistake to change their lives a whole lot of people would not do very well.”

Cummings continued:

“I want to say thank you. I know that this can be hard. I know that you are facing a lot. I know that you are worried about your family but this is part of destiny and, hopefully, this portion of your destiny will lead to a better Micheal Cohen, a better Donald Trump, a better United States of America and a better world.”

He finished his remarks by calling out his GOP colleague Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for claiming this was the committee’s first hearing for this cycle’s congressional class, when it was actually the second hearing.

Watch above, via MSNBC.

Read the rest of this entry »

Things got heated between Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld and Juan Williams on The Five today following Michael Cohen‘s hearing.

As the hosts were clashing over Cohen’s testimony and Williams went on a tear over Trump, Gutfeld jumped in to say, “What about Morgan [Ortagus]? Morgan has not spoken.”

Williams said, “Gosh, are you guys ever going to let me finish?!”

“No, because you’re always finishing!” Gutfeld exclaimed. “There’s somebody sitting there who hasn’t said a damn word!”

Williams told Gutfeld he’s “so deep in the bunker” and Gutfeld fired back, “Oh, shut up, Juan! I’m in nobody’s bunker. Enough with your bunker. I’m trying to be polite to somebody on the panel, Juan, which you won’t do!”

Minutes later, Jesse Watters panned the hearing and said Cohen has “no documentation, no corroboration, no witnesses of any Russian collusion, any Trump Tower advanced knowledge.”

Williams shot back by pointing to details about Roger Stone and Donald Trump Jr. that came up during the hearing before saying, “You are so blind because you, like Greg, are deep in the bunker.”

And Gutfeld went off, telling Williams, “If you say that again, I’m going to throw you off the set. You know what the bunker means? What you’re intimating is that––who’s in the bunker, Adolf Hitler, correct?”

“No, I was not!” Williams said.

“That’s what you’re saying. No, when you are saying somebody is in the bunker… Juan, Juan, Juan, what you’re saying is you choose the worst intent of people’s words. Like when I say that I believe something, I’m in the bunker. What if I said that about you? I never say that about you!” Gutfeld shot back.

You can watch above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

Michael Cohen delivered his closing statement at the end of today’s explosive hearing, and he threw in a few dire warnings to the country.

Most significantly and ominously, the president’s former lawyer said the following:

“Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”

He also made a point of addressing Trump directly, bashing him on a number of issues from his attacks on the DOJ and FBI to his disparagement of Gold Star Families to his “fake news” declarations against the media.

You can watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) caused disarray at the end of Michael Cohen‘s hearing Wednesday when she accused fellow committee member Mark Meadows (R-NC) of a “racist act.”

As Tlaib spoke with Cohen, she blasted ranking member Meadows for inviting Housing and Urban Development official Lynne Patton to the Oversight hearing for the express purpose of pushing back on allegations of President Donald Trump‘s racism.

“Just to make a note, Mr. Chairman, just because someone has a person of color, a black person, working for them does not mean they aren’t racist, and it is insensitive that some would even — the fact that someone would actually use a prop, a black woman, in this chamber, in this committee is alone racist in itself.”

Meadows was apoplectic in response, and demanded Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) strike Tlaib’s remarks from the record. As Cummings tried to bring the chaos back under control, he asked Tlaib to rephrase her statement. She responded that she wasn’t calling Meadows a racist, but she accused him of committing a “racist act” by using Patton.

The proceedings nearly fell off the rails again as Meadows demanded to get a word in, hitting back at Tlaib by accusing her of racism for her suggestion.

“To indicate that I asked someone who is a personal friend of the Trump family, who has worked for him, who knows this particular individual, that she’s coming in to be a prop,? It’s racist to suggest that I ask her to come in here for that reason…She came in because she felt like the President of the United States is getting falsely accused.”

Cummings brought the hearing back in order by noting his close relationship with Meadows, acknowledging the congressman’s frustration, and by giving Tlaib one more chance to clarify her comments.

“That was not my intention and I do apologize if that’s what it sounded like,” Tlaib said.

Watch above, via C-SPAN.

— —

>> Follow Ken Meyer (@KenMeyer91) on Twitter

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) ran through a number of questions about President Donald Trump‘s assets and finances with Michael Cohen this afternoon.

After first asking about the “treasure trove” of documents at AMI that David Pecker has knowledge of, Ocasio-Cortez questioned Cohen on Trump’s “asset inflation” and whether Trump “ever provided inflated assets to an insurance company.”

Cohen said yes, adding that information relating to this would be at the Trump Organization.

The New York congresswoman brought up the Trump Golf Course in the Bronx and a report from which “many New Yorkers and people in the country learned that taxpayers spent $127 million to build Trump Links” in a generous deal.

“According to an August 21st, 2016 report by the Washington Post while the president claimed in financial disclosure forms that Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida was worth more than 50 million,” she continued, “he had reported otherwise to local tax authorities that the course was worth ‘no more than 5 million.’ Mr. Cohen do you know whether this specific report is accurate?”

“It’s identical to what he did at Trump National Golf Club at Briarcliff Manor,” Cohen responded.

Ocasio-Cortez asked, “To your knowledge, was the president interested in reducing his local real estate bills? Tax bills?”

Cohen said yes, telling her that “what you do is deflate the value of the asset and put in a request to the tax department for a deduction.”

Finally she brought up the blockbuster New York Times report on alleged Trump tax fraud, asking him if it’s accurate. Cohen couldn’t say for sure, but said Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg would know.

You can watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

In the latter part of his testimony to Congress on Wednesday, Michael Cohen told Rep. Ro Khanna (D-PA) he believes Donald Trump and his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were part of a criminal conspiracy involving financial fraud.

“You provided this committee with a check from President Donald J. Trump’s revokable trust account which is marked exhibit 5B It’s a check for $35,000 dated March 17, 2017, after the president took office,” Khanna explained.  “The Trump revokable trust is the president set up to hold his assets after he became president.”

Cohen said he was paid through the revokable trust instead of Trump’s personal account, and it was signed off by Trump organization CFO Allen Weisselberg or one of the sons, with Trump’s knowledge.

“Payments like this check resulted in numerous false statements in the books and records of the Trump Organization. It’s important for the American public to understand. Nothing to do with collusion. This is financial fraud, garden variety financial fraud,” Khanna continued. “It was disguised as a payment for legal services to you. This was not a payment for legal services, was it Mr. Cohen?”

“No sir,” Cohen replied.

“They knew this payment was false and illegal,” Khanna asked.

“I can’t make that conclusion,” Cohen said, adding Trump was aware of the “scheme.”

Watch above, via Fox News.