WASHINGTON — Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), a key House Democrat who sits on the Judiciary Committee, says that Sean Hannity should testify under oath after countering Michael Cohen’s claim that Donald Trump directed him to make hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
On Thursday, Hannity said on Fox News that Cohen told him that he made decision to pay Daniels and did not tell Trump. Hannity made the remarks during an interview with the president.
Cicilline tweeted, “Sean Hannity is now volunteering himself as a witness. I look forward to his testimony.”
Cicilline’s spokesman, Francis Grubar, said in a statement, “Sean Hannity volunteered first-hand knowledge about Michael Cohen’s actions last night. If he was lying, it wouldn’t be the first time. This is the same guy who claimed inside knowledge that Russia didn’t hack the DNC until a federal judge ordered him to stop. Regardless, if he feels he has information that’s relevant to this investigation, he should share it under oath before Congress.”
Hannity said that he was “kind of dragged into” the Cohen legal morass. At a hearing in April, Cohen’s attorney said that Hannity was another of Cohen’s clients. But Hannity denied that.
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“He was never my attorney. He did apologize to me for his attorney saying that in court, but I can tell you personally he said to me, at a least a dozen times, that he made the decision on the payments and he didn’t tell you,” Hannity said during Thursday’s interview.
Trump responded that Cohen is “an attorney. Whatever decision he makes, you are supposed to be able to rely on your attorney to make a decision.”
Democrats are preparing to call additional witnesses following Cohen’s testimony, including those who Cohen mentioned during the hearing, according to CNN.
A Fox News spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment.
In his testimony, Cohen claimed that Trump directed him to use his personal funds from his Home Equity Line of Credit to say Daniels and to “avoid any money being traced back to him that could negatively impact his campaign.
“I did that too, without bothering to consider whether that was improper, much less whether it was the right thing to do or how it would impact me, my family or the public,” he said.
When The Wall Street Journal first reported that Cohen arranged for the payments in January, 2018, but it was not until August, when Cohen plead guilty in a New York federal court, that he implicated Trump in the hush money arrangements.