The opening statement Michael Cohen gave at his congressional hearing on Feb. 27 silenced the nation when he said, “I regret the day I said ‘yes’ to Mr. Trump. I regret all the help and support I gave him along the way.” As he began with such harsh words about the president, he set the tone of conflict that would last for roughly seven hours.
The Cohen testimony was one of the largest political events so far this year and it revealed information not only about the president, but about the congressmen and women who asked or failed to ask questions. Cohen acknowledged that some people in the chamber would doubt his credibility and Rep. Jim Jordan was one of them. Jordan began after Chairman Elijah Cummings, insinuating that the only purpose for having Cohen testify was for Democrats to find evidence to impeach Trump, which was a sentiment shared and stated many times during the testimony.
Throughout the testimony, House Republicans, led by Jordan, repeatedly rejected Cohen’s responses because of his past experiences lying under oath. Cohen himself admitted that his actions were unjust, and that he will be paying the price with his coming years in prison. He brought himself to Congress and voluntarily shared his knowledge and credible evidence, which could mean what he is saying is true. Much of the time Republicans spent asking Cohen questions were spent questioning his character and assuming that he was lying. Meanwhile, Democrats gave him a chance to share what is assumed to be the truth about President Trump and his family.
One of the most talked about representatives in the past few months, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, had perhaps one of the most efficient uses of time as she asked about the existence of incriminating documents, tax fraud and the misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to build Trump links in the city of New York. She also asked if he knew of others who could corroborate these allegations. Rep. Stephen Lynch continued this line of questioning and asked about the involvement of the Trump family in the Moscow negotiations, which revealed the potential involvement of Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. He also told Cohen that Republicans were afraid that he was going to tell the truth.
I find the lack of caring shown from the Republican party during the testimony extremely disturbing. To me it showed that they are apathetic to the possible illegal actions taken by the president. It demonstrated that their allegiance was not to their constituents, but to Trump. America was founded on the idea that there should be checks and balances to ensure representation and fairness on the political plain, but with their seemingly blind faith to the president, it seems that the checks and balances are falling away.
Elanor Skees is a freshman studying political science at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to reach the College Democrats? Send them a tweet @OUCollegeDems.
