February 11, 2019
The Michael Cohen testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), headed by Chairman Richard Burr and Vice-Chair Mark Warner [A Sketchy Couple], has been cancelled citing the medical condition of Mr. Cohen:
WASHINGTON – Michael Cohen has postponed his third scheduled congressional testimony, his lawyer said Monday, casting further doubt on the prospect of the former fixer for President Trump returning to Capitol Hill before reporting to prison next month.
“The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has accepted Mr. Cohen’s request for postponement of tomorrow’s hearing due to post-surgery medical needs,” his lawyer, Lanny Davis, said in a statement on Monday. Details of Cohen’s surgery were not immediately clear.
The Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Cohen in January, according to Davis. He was requested to appear on Feb. 12, a source familiar with the matter said. “A future date will be announced by the Committee,” Davis added in his statement. (read more)
This is the third time Cohen’s testimony to congress has been cancelled and re-scheduled. The HPSCI (Adam Schiff) announced last week that Cohen’s closed-door testimony was postponed until later this month; and that followed Cohen pulling out of a previously scheduled open hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee (Elijah Cummings).
Following the prior cancellations Michael Cohen’s political handler, Lanny Davis, told MSNBC that Cohen “expects to appear on the 28th of February” to a closed session in front of the HPSCI (Chairman Schiff), and would “probably” testify in public before the House Oversight Committee sometime in late February. Cohen is scheduled to report to federal prison on March 6th.
According to prior communication, as relayed by Representative Jim Jordan, Cohen’s apolitical lawyer, Guy Petrillo, said Mr. Cohen would not be able to discuss anything concerning the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller. [Mueller continues to be the shield] Therefore it would appear the Cummings committee intent has always been to script an impeachment or obstruction narrative -against the President- without Cohen able to answer specific questions.
It is very likely Cohen’s cooperation with congress was part of the reason why the start of his prison sentence was deferred from December 2018 until March 6th, 2019. With that in mind, Chairman Cummings and Chairman Schiff previously let the cat out of the bag when they responded to Cohen and informed him they would not accept his refusal to comply:
“Nevertheless, when our Committees began discussions with Mr. Cohen’s attorney, not appearing before Congress was never an option. […] We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances.” [Link to Oversight]
Obviously there was some pre-planning to exploit Cohen’s appearance before the congressional session even began. The sequencing of the democrat plan seems to remain intact (Cohen, then Mueller). However, the timing of their strategy seems to have been upended.
If AG William Barr gets a full senate confirmation vote before the end of this week, the best laid plans of the democrats might be further disrupted….
“Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face” ~ Mike Tyson
Centinel2012 