Congressman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) announced today that he filed a criminal referral for former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, claiming he violated the law by not disclosing his foreign contacts.
On Twitter, Meadows wrote, “I just entered a referral for criminal investigation of Michael Cohen, who violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by illegally lobbying on behalf of foreign entities without registering. Cohen talks about ‘blind loyalty.’ His real blind loyalty? It’s to the almighty dollar.”
I just entered a referral for criminal investigation of Michael Cohen, who violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act by illegally lobbying on behalf of foreign entities without registering
Cohen talks about "blind loyalty." His real blind loyalty? It's to the almighty dollar.
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) February 27, 2019
Fox News reports that sources close to Meadows said “the referral specifically involves Cohen’s consulting on behalf of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank, as well as consulting for Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and South Korean aerospace.”
In today’s testimony, Meadows questioned Cohen on his failure to list his contracts with foreign companies.
“I’m going to back to the question I asked before with regards to your false statement that you submitted to Congress,” Meadows said.
“On here it was very clear that it asks for contracts with foreign entities over the last two years. Have you had any foreign contracts with foreign entities whether it’s Novartis or the Korean Airline or Kazakhstan BTA bank? Your testimony earlier said that you had contracts with them. In fact, you went into detail.”
Cohen: “I believe it talks about lobbying…I did no lobbying.”
Meadows: “I’m not asking about lobbying Mr. Cohen.”
Cohen: “They are not government agencies, they are privately and publicly traded companies.”
Meadows: “Did you have foreign contracts over the last two years?”
Cohen: “Foreign contracts?”
Meadows: “Contracts with foreign entities?”
Cohen: “Yes.”
Meadows: “Why didn’t you put them on the form it says its a criminal offense to not put them on this form for the last two years, why did you not do that?”
Shortly after this exchange, Meadows made his announcement on Twitter that he would file a criminal referral against Cohen.
