November 29, 2018

Castro Statement on Cohen Guilty Plea

WASHINGTON—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and First Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, today released the following statement:

“Today’s guilty plea from Michael Cohen for lying to Congress about Moscow Trump Tower shows that his plea arrangement struck in August has indeed turned into cooperation. This news comes on top of Paul Manafort, former Trump Campaign Chairman, being caught lying to federal prosecutors as well as Roger Stone’s key tipster Jerome Corsi also admitting to lying to Congress. Altogether, these developments demonstrate the great lengths Trump allies were willing to go to protect the President.

“It’s critical we bring back Michael Cohen, and others who have potentially lied like Roger Stone before the Committee, in addition to accelerating the pace for Republican colleagues to release transcripts from our interviews. The House Intelligence Committee must also zero-in on whether the Russians have any financial leverage over President Trump, and we must build pressure across the board for Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to recuse himself from this investigation immediately.

“In just one week, we’ve see Michael Cohen plead guilty to lying to Congress, Jerome Corsi publically admit to lying to Congress, Paul Manafort caught for lying to Mueller, reports that Roger Stone and Julian Assange may have met right before a Wikileaks dump, the President provide written statements on the July 2016 Trump Tower meeting and Roger Stone’s Wikileaks knowledge, and Mueller zeroing in on late-night phone calls between Roger Stone and the President. Now more than ever, we need to protect Mueller from any potential firing. I urge House and Senate Republican leaders to bring legislation to protect Mueller to the floor immediately. We shouldn’t have to wait until January for Congress to protect U.S. national security, our democracy, and the rule of law.”

# # #