President Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen will testify publicly on Capitol Hill Wednesday before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. According to prepared remarks released to the media, Cohen will call his former boss Donald Trump a cheat and a conman. Congressman Stephen Lynch, a senior member of the Oversight Committee, will be among those questioning Cohen. Lynch spoke to WGBH Morning Edition Host Joe Mathieu about Cohen's testimony. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.
Joe Mathieu: What does your committee want to learn from Cohen today?
Rep. Stephen Lynch: Well, there's a there's a whole menu of areas of interest that we haven't been able to talk to Mr. Cohen about publicly. But basically, his relationship with candidate Trump and President Trump and some of the the behind the scenes deal-making and motivations that have incentivized President Trump and some of his actions — dealings with the Saudis and the Russians and also some of the deal-making, with respect to paying off people in the run-up to the election. Perhaps the misuse of campaign finance laws, and trying to pay hush money to certain people to increase his chances of winning the election.
Mathieu: Congressman, the president tweeted last night that Cohen is "lying in order to reduce his prison time." This is a man who has lied to Congress before. Should we trust what Cohen says today?
Lynch: I think you can. Look, his sentence in the Southern District of New York, is set, he's going to do that time. What he is doing this morning is telling the truth, and cooperating with the investigation. He'll also be under oath. He'll be subject to greater penalties if he does not tell the truth. So he does have an incentive to tell the truth.
Mathieu: We're talking with Congressman Stephen Lynch on WGBH's Morning Edition ahead of today's testimony from Michael Cohen. I spoke last month, Congressman, with Cohen's now legal adviser Lanny Davis, who told me he does not think Cohen will be the smoking gun — that term he used — that will bring down Donald Trump. Do you agree with that?
Lynch: I think that's to be seen. I think that his his testimony is certainly important. I'm not sure. I'm not sure that there'll be that smoking gun moment. I tend to doubt it. You know, I think that Bob Muller's investigation talked to Mr. Cohen quite a while ago, so if there was that type of evidence, I think Mr. Muller would've acted sooner, right?
Mathieu: Well, you'd certainly think so, although we've we're no strangers to surprises in Washington politics lately. I wonder, Congressman, with your background in foreign policy, if you are worried like some Democrats that President Trump could make concessions today in his summit with Kim Jong Un in an effort to distract from Michael Cohen's testimony?
Lynch: That's always a possibility. He's been known to change the direction of the media with a single tweet. I worry about his overall approach. You know, we learned from a couple of, well, multiple whistleblowers last week that the White House is ... were in active conversations with the Saudis over the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology in violation of the Atomic Power Act. So, those are the things I worry about, you know, and the dealings with Russia, where he he throws our intelligence agencies under the bus in Helsinki and says he agrees with Putin that Russia did not hack our elections. It's those sort of warped and bizarre conclusions that he comes to, and I don't know what motivates that. I have suspicions, but that's what we're hopeful we'll get at today with Mr. Cohen.
Mathieu: Well, it's been suggested that the results of your questioning today, and of course, the testimony privately held this week on Capitol Hill could begin laying the foundation for impeachment proceedings in the House. Are you going there, Congressman, or are we not using that word this morning?
Lynch: We're going to take the facts where they lead us. And certainly, if there is justification for us to bring impeachment charges against the president, then we will do so.
Mathieu: Congressman Stephen Lynch, I wonder as well about security today. Michael Cohen has said that he and his family have been threatened over this, to the point where this testimony was at one time postponed. Are their extra security measures in place?
Lynch: Absolutely. Yeah. You know, it's not unusual that we would have people before this committee that would feel insecure otherwise. So the Capitol Police are fully prepared for this, and Mr. Cohen will be able to testify in safety. I am very disappointed with one of my colleagues, Mr. Gaetz' tweets last night that seemed to cross the line of witness intimidation with respect to Mr. Coleman's testimony this morning. But we'll have to deal with that internally within Congress, perhaps to censure him for doing that.
Mathieu: Wow. There's never a dull moment, Congressman. I'm curious in our final moment, what you plan to ask Michael Cohen, what's your first question today?
Lynch: Well, my subcommittee is on national security, so in a general sense my questions will go to that, about what I believe to be President Trump's actions that are contrary to our national security and that deals with Putin, and it deals with Mohammed bin Salman. The president has been very, very, very reluctant to criticize Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, over the execution Jamal Khashoggi at the consulate in Turkey.
