The White House blasted President Trump's former 'fixer' as a 'disgraced felon' ahead of his evidence at a Congressional hearing
DONALD Trump’s former "fixer" Michael Cohen has branded the President a "conman, racist and cheat" in bombshell evidence to Congress today.
The disgraced lawyer spilled the beans on business dealings with Russia and alleged racist remarks about black voters - as well as "untrue" claims Trump hit his wife.
And he sensationally claimed Mr Trump had advance knowledge when Hillary Clinton's emails were leaked.
Cohen - who faces jail for paying hush money to Stormy Daniels and lying to Congress - was this week banned from practising law by the New York state Supreme Court.
The White House blasted him as a "disgraced felon" ahead of his evidence at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.
Press secretary Sarah Sanders said: "It's laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word and pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies."
Mr Trump also laid into him on Twitter, saying: "Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also.
"He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time."
Michael Cohen's Congress testimony so far:
Cohen's hotly anticipated evidence in Congress overshadowed Mr Trump's historic nuclear summit with North Korea's Kim Jon-un in Hanoi.
Cohen lifted the lid on his time working for Mr Trump for a decade - including when he was running for election and his "criminal conduct" after he entered the White House.
He also claimed the president acted "like a mobster" by threatening him and his family when he decided to reveal the truth.
Cohen told the oversight committee: “I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience.
"I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty - of the things I did for Mr Trump in an effort to protect and promote him.
"I am ashamed because I know what Mr Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat."
He also told the hearing that Trump threatened to sue his old university if his grades were ever revealed - at the same time he was criticising Barack Obama for not revealing his.
Cohen said the president had given public backing for neo-nazis - and was "even worse in private".
He claimed he and Mr Trump were once "driving through a struggling neighbourhood in Chicago" when Mr Trump remarked: "Only black people could live that way".
He added: “[Trump] once asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a s***thole.
"This was when Barack Obama was President of the United States.”
He said the Apprentice host told him black people would not vote for him because they were "too stupid".
Cohen claimed Mr Trump implicitly ordered him to lie to Congress about a property deal in Moscow.
He says negotiations continued into the summer of 2016 when he was running for President - months longer than previously claimed.
It is a crucial detail because Trump's presidency has been dogged by claims his team colluded with Russia to help get him elected.
Cohen said: “Mr Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how he operates.
“I was actively negotiating in Russia for him.
"He would look me in the eye and tell me there’s no business in Russia and then go out and lie to the American people by saying the same thing.
“In his way, he was telling me to lie.”
He added: “Mr Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it.
“He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project.”
Cohen claimed Mr Trump knew in advance about hacked Democrat party emails that hurt his rival Hillary Clinton's campaign.
His "dirty trickster" adviser Roger Stone was allegedly a middle man speaking to Wikileaks chief Julian Assange.
Cohen says he was in Mr Trump's office when Stone called to say he had "just got off the phone" with Assange, who said that "within a couple of days, there would be a massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign."
Cohen claimed: "Mr Trump responded by stating to the effect of ‘wouldn’t that be great.’”
Cohen also referenced a conversation he claims to have observed between the Mr Trump and his eldest son Donald Jr around the time of a planned meeting with a Russian lawyer promising “dirt” on Mrs Clinton.
He said: “I recalled Don Jr leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which I could clearly hear, and saying, ‘The meeting is all set.’
"I remember Mr Trump saying, 'OK good... let me know’.”
Cohen said Mr Trump told him Donald Jr has "the worst judgement of anyone in the world" and nothing in his campaign happened without his approval.
Cohen has previously admitted paying $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels days before the November 2016 election, and arranging another large payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The president has denied having sex with the women and denied that he instructed Cohen to arrange what he called "private transactions".
But his long-time personal lawyer handed over a copy of a $35,000 personal cheque he says Mr Trump wrote to reimburse him for part of the hush money in August 2017 - while he was president.
He said it was one of 11 instalments.
Another cheque was signed by Donald Jr and a senior finance boss at the Trump Organisation.
The former lawyer revealed he hunted for a rumoured tape of President Trump hitting wife Melania - but he clarified that he doesn't think the video exists.
Speaking under oath, Cohen said: "The story goes that he struck Melania while in that elevator, because there's a camera inside.
"I'm not so sure – actually, I'm certain it's not true.
"I don't believe Mr Trump ever struck Mrs Trump, ever," Cohen said, adding he did not believe his former boss would "ever do something like that."
Cohen also said he lied to Melania Trump about his role in covering up her husband's alleged affairs.
He said: “Lying to the first lady is one of my biggest regrets.
"She is a kind, good person. I respect her greatly — and she did not deserve that.”
Cohen also made public some of Trump’s private financial statements and claimed the president either exaggerated his assets when pitching for loan but understated them to avoiding taxes.
He also claimed Mr Trump paid a "fake bidder" to ensure a portrait of him went for the highest price at an auction.
Cohen was challenged by Republican committee members who said his credibility was destroyed because he lied to Congress before.
He addressed that himself, saying: “I have lied, but I am not a liar. I have done bad things, but I am not a bad man.
"I have fixed things, but I am no longer your ‘fixer’, Mr Trump.”
Cohen also disclosed documents revealing Trumps wealth as being around £3.38 billion in 2011, £3.76 billion in 2012 and £6.46 billion in 2013.
He explained in his written submission they were given to Deutsche Bank to inquire about a loan to buy the Buffalo Bills and to financial magazine Forbes.
"It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed among the wealthiest people in Forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes.
"I am sharing with you two newspaper articles, side by side, that are examples of Mr Trump inflating and deflating his assets, as I said, to suit his financial interests."
Last year Cohen pleaded guilty to a string of felonies including lying to Congress and campaign finance violations.
He is expected to begin his three-year jail sentence in May.
He has turned against his former boss and is cooperating with the Mueller probe into Russian election meddling.
Cohen paid $130,000 hush money to Stormy Daniels who said she had sex with his boss Donald Trump
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