Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won praise for her pointed questioning of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer and "fixer" on Wednesday. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Feb 27, 2019
In under five minutes of pointed questioning late Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) put Congress a significant step closer to getting to the bottom of President Donald Trump's long history of alleged fraud and financial crimes.
The New York congresswoman elicited some of the most concrete information that was extracted from Michael Cohen during his testimony before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday.
After Republicans on the committee used the seven-hour hearing to defend Trump--with one attempting to prove that Trump is not racist by presenting a black woman who has been employed by him--Ocasio-Cortez zeroed in on how Democrats could subpoena Trump's tax returns.
Watch:
Ocasio-Cortez focused her questioning on allegations that Trump has undervalued his assets to avoid paying taxes; where Congress would be able to find a "treasure trove" of documents held by the National Enquirer which contain damaging information about the president; and where the committee should look for evidence that Trump has committed tax fraud.
"Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns to compare them?" Ocasio-Cortez asked.
"Yes, and you'd find it at the Trump [Organization]," Cohen replied.
Cohen said he did not know whether last October's New York Times report detailing Trump's alleged "outright fraud" to increase his inheritance from his parents, but told her Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, would know the answer.
"And would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?" she asked. Cohen answered affirmatively.
Unlike many of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle, wrote Daniel Politi at Slate, "Ocasio-Cortez appeared to be giving at least an attempt at what Democrats could say to justify demanding to see Trump's tax returns."
"In five minutes, this freshman congresswoman just laid out a whole investigative plan for three more topics into Donald Trump's potentially criminal activities," Marcy Wheeler said on Democracy Now! on Thursday.
Others on social media also praised Ocasio-Cortez for her pointed, constructive questioning.
\u201cUnder questioning from @AOC, Michael Cohen just provided the names of three people who he says can testify that Trump gamed his assets for insurance purposes. \n\nOne of them has already been granted immunity.\u201d— Greg Sargent (@Greg Sargent) 1551304007
\u201cThis is stellar. Notice how @AOC asks who else can verify every statement Cohen makes, and where corroborating evidence can be found. This is how you build a case and make it stick. This is a shining example of a politician actually doing their job, and doing it well.\u201d— mor10@mastodon.social (@mor10@mastodon.social) 1551305968
\u201cAre we sure @AOC is a former bartender and not a former prosecutor? That was a pretty amazing line of questions today.\u201d— matt blaze (@matt blaze) 1551315214
In response to the praise on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez credited her years of experience as a bartender with affording her the opportunity to "talk to thousands of people over the years."
"Forces you to get great at reading people and hones a razor-sharp BS detector," the congresswoman wrote.
\u201cThanks!\n\nBartending + waitressing (especially in NYC) means you talk to 1000s of people over the years. Forces you to get great at reading people + hones a razor-sharp BS detector.\n\nJust goes to show that what some consider to be \u201cunskilled labor\u201d can actually be anything but \ud83d\ude09\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1551315853
The congresswoman also gave credit to her staff and those of the committee for their assistance:
\u201cThanks! I really appreciate that. We need to acknowledge the people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen.\n\n@OversightDems staff w/ my staff were double-checking info requests I had just minutes before my turn.\n\nI\u2019m truly inspired by their selfless commitment. https://t.co/Trg5na0lHn\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1551317363
And on Thursday morning, she tweeted, "I wonder if after yesterday's hearing conservatives still think my staff is 'overpaid.'"
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In under five minutes of pointed questioning late Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) put Congress a significant step closer to getting to the bottom of President Donald Trump's long history of alleged fraud and financial crimes.
The New York congresswoman elicited some of the most concrete information that was extracted from Michael Cohen during his testimony before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday.
After Republicans on the committee used the seven-hour hearing to defend Trump--with one attempting to prove that Trump is not racist by presenting a black woman who has been employed by him--Ocasio-Cortez zeroed in on how Democrats could subpoena Trump's tax returns.
Watch:
Ocasio-Cortez focused her questioning on allegations that Trump has undervalued his assets to avoid paying taxes; where Congress would be able to find a "treasure trove" of documents held by the National Enquirer which contain damaging information about the president; and where the committee should look for evidence that Trump has committed tax fraud.
"Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns to compare them?" Ocasio-Cortez asked.
"Yes, and you'd find it at the Trump [Organization]," Cohen replied.
Cohen said he did not know whether last October's New York Times report detailing Trump's alleged "outright fraud" to increase his inheritance from his parents, but told her Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, would know the answer.
"And would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?" she asked. Cohen answered affirmatively.
Unlike many of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle, wrote Daniel Politi at Slate, "Ocasio-Cortez appeared to be giving at least an attempt at what Democrats could say to justify demanding to see Trump's tax returns."
"In five minutes, this freshman congresswoman just laid out a whole investigative plan for three more topics into Donald Trump's potentially criminal activities," Marcy Wheeler said on Democracy Now! on Thursday.
Others on social media also praised Ocasio-Cortez for her pointed, constructive questioning.
\u201cUnder questioning from @AOC, Michael Cohen just provided the names of three people who he says can testify that Trump gamed his assets for insurance purposes. \n\nOne of them has already been granted immunity.\u201d— Greg Sargent (@Greg Sargent) 1551304007
\u201cThis is stellar. Notice how @AOC asks who else can verify every statement Cohen makes, and where corroborating evidence can be found. This is how you build a case and make it stick. This is a shining example of a politician actually doing their job, and doing it well.\u201d— mor10@mastodon.social (@mor10@mastodon.social) 1551305968
\u201cAre we sure @AOC is a former bartender and not a former prosecutor? That was a pretty amazing line of questions today.\u201d— matt blaze (@matt blaze) 1551315214
In response to the praise on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez credited her years of experience as a bartender with affording her the opportunity to "talk to thousands of people over the years."
"Forces you to get great at reading people and hones a razor-sharp BS detector," the congresswoman wrote.
\u201cThanks!\n\nBartending + waitressing (especially in NYC) means you talk to 1000s of people over the years. Forces you to get great at reading people + hones a razor-sharp BS detector.\n\nJust goes to show that what some consider to be \u201cunskilled labor\u201d can actually be anything but \ud83d\ude09\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1551315853
The congresswoman also gave credit to her staff and those of the committee for their assistance:
\u201cThanks! I really appreciate that. We need to acknowledge the people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen.\n\n@OversightDems staff w/ my staff were double-checking info requests I had just minutes before my turn.\n\nI\u2019m truly inspired by their selfless commitment. https://t.co/Trg5na0lHn\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1551317363
And on Thursday morning, she tweeted, "I wonder if after yesterday's hearing conservatives still think my staff is 'overpaid.'"
In under five minutes of pointed questioning late Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) put Congress a significant step closer to getting to the bottom of President Donald Trump's long history of alleged fraud and financial crimes.
The New York congresswoman elicited some of the most concrete information that was extracted from Michael Cohen during his testimony before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday.
After Republicans on the committee used the seven-hour hearing to defend Trump--with one attempting to prove that Trump is not racist by presenting a black woman who has been employed by him--Ocasio-Cortez zeroed in on how Democrats could subpoena Trump's tax returns.
Watch:
Ocasio-Cortez focused her questioning on allegations that Trump has undervalued his assets to avoid paying taxes; where Congress would be able to find a "treasure trove" of documents held by the National Enquirer which contain damaging information about the president; and where the committee should look for evidence that Trump has committed tax fraud.
"Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns to compare them?" Ocasio-Cortez asked.
"Yes, and you'd find it at the Trump [Organization]," Cohen replied.
Cohen said he did not know whether last October's New York Times report detailing Trump's alleged "outright fraud" to increase his inheritance from his parents, but told her Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, would know the answer.
"And would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?" she asked. Cohen answered affirmatively.
Unlike many of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle, wrote Daniel Politi at Slate, "Ocasio-Cortez appeared to be giving at least an attempt at what Democrats could say to justify demanding to see Trump's tax returns."
"In five minutes, this freshman congresswoman just laid out a whole investigative plan for three more topics into Donald Trump's potentially criminal activities," Marcy Wheeler said on Democracy Now! on Thursday.
Others on social media also praised Ocasio-Cortez for her pointed, constructive questioning.
\u201cUnder questioning from @AOC, Michael Cohen just provided the names of three people who he says can testify that Trump gamed his assets for insurance purposes. \n\nOne of them has already been granted immunity.\u201d— Greg Sargent (@Greg Sargent) 1551304007
\u201cThis is stellar. Notice how @AOC asks who else can verify every statement Cohen makes, and where corroborating evidence can be found. This is how you build a case and make it stick. This is a shining example of a politician actually doing their job, and doing it well.\u201d— mor10@mastodon.social (@mor10@mastodon.social) 1551305968
\u201cAre we sure @AOC is a former bartender and not a former prosecutor? That was a pretty amazing line of questions today.\u201d— matt blaze (@matt blaze) 1551315214
In response to the praise on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez credited her years of experience as a bartender with affording her the opportunity to "talk to thousands of people over the years."
"Forces you to get great at reading people and hones a razor-sharp BS detector," the congresswoman wrote.
\u201cThanks!\n\nBartending + waitressing (especially in NYC) means you talk to 1000s of people over the years. Forces you to get great at reading people + hones a razor-sharp BS detector.\n\nJust goes to show that what some consider to be \u201cunskilled labor\u201d can actually be anything but \ud83d\ude09\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1551315853
The congresswoman also gave credit to her staff and those of the committee for their assistance:
\u201cThanks! I really appreciate that. We need to acknowledge the people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen.\n\n@OversightDems staff w/ my staff were double-checking info requests I had just minutes before my turn.\n\nI\u2019m truly inspired by their selfless commitment. https://t.co/Trg5na0lHn\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1551317363
And on Thursday morning, she tweeted, "I wonder if after yesterday's hearing conservatives still think my staff is 'overpaid.'"
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