DPCC Chair Cicilline: We Must Investigate Trump’s Crimes
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman David Cicilline, Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on New Day on CNN to discuss Michael Cohen's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Mr. Cohen laid out a series of facts that suggest the President has engaged in both criminal activity and a concerted effort to deceive the American people about his conduct. Congressman Cicilline called for Congress to investigate these allegations further and protect the rule of law. Below are excerpts from the interview. Click here to watch the video
"I think Chairman Cummings is correct based on the testimony that we saw yesterday. It does appear in fact that the President engaged in crimes while in office. We saw evidence really of a crime spree that began before he became President and continued into the White House. This was the first public oversight hearing of the oversight Committee. The Judiciary Committee will begin its oversight work shortly. This is the beginning of Congressional oversight and investigation of the administration. We haven't been able to do oversight for two years because our Republican colleagues were unwilling to do that with us. That has changed and we will now begin this work. This is serious. These are serious allegations. We have a responsibility in the Judiciary Committee to fully investigate these and many other claims that have been made with respect to this President and this administration. We intend to do that."
"We need to investigate both the payment of hush money to influence the outcome of the Presidential election. We need to look at the financial crimes that have been alleged. We need to look at all of the evidence that's been presented. Some of it presented during the course of the Special Counsel's investigation, some revealed yesterday. We intend to do a robust review of all of this information and conduct oversight. We'll set out in the coming weeks our strategy and what areas we'll focus on. There is a lot of oversight that's been building up for two years that we haven't been able to do. We pleaded with our Republican chairman to begin oversight hearings. We are going to do our oversight responsibilities even if our Republican colleagues want to behave more like defense lawyers for the President rather than independent members of another branch of government with oversight responsibility."
"There is no question that we have seen evidence both in what has been made public in the Special Counsel's investigation and certainly in what Mr. Cohen testified to yesterday which constitutes crimes. We now have the responsibility to investigate these. The Special Counsel has been at work for two years but Congress is only beginning its oversight and investigative work because it was in Republican hands and they refused to do it. We have a lot of work to do. We have to corroborate evidence, we have to bring in witnesses. We have to subpoena documents. We have a lot of work to do."
"I think everyone wants to be careful. We recognize you have one occasion to proceed with impeachment. We ought to do it when we have gathered all of the evidence that would support it. I think people want to be sure they don't appear as if they have prejudged it I some way. If you are asking me today if it seems likely the President could be removed from office based on what we know, is it more likely today than it was on Tuesday, I think the answer is yes. This is the beginning of the Congressional investigative work. We ought to be clear about it. If the facts and the evidence warrant removal of the President from office, we have a constitutionality responsibility to do it. If they do not, then we cannot do it. It shouldn't be done for a political reason and it shouldn't be avoided for a political reason. We have a duty, we have taken on oath. We have to gather the evidence, we have to conduct a full investigation, bring in the witnesses, gather the documentary evidence, and then make a determination as to whether it is appropriate to move forward with impeachment."
"I was struck by Mr. Cohen's testimony about how he was really -- the line where he said to the Republican members of the Committee, I'm doing what you did for ten years. I did for ten years what you are doing today. I defended the President at all costs. I understand how dangerous and wrong it is. His willingness to share in a very honest way many things we didn't know about, with really no expectation that he's going to get anything. He has everything to lose by in any way being dishonest to Congress. I think he was a very compelling witness and a broken man, but also someone who recognized he had to look his children in the eye and could control the future, but maybe not the past."
"I think he is credible. He acknowledged he was untruthful and lied for the President. The prisons are filled with people who are convicted because someone from inside the organization came forward and told the truth and is really the only way to penetrate large criminal organizations. Prisons are filled with people like that. It happens all the time. It's up to the American people and members of Congress to assess his credibility to look at the other evidence to support it. I thought he was credible. I thought he was honest with the Committee and acknowledged his past misdeeds and his past failings of being honest to Congress. I think he brought in documentary evidence that supported many things he said."