Lawmakers discussed possible pardon talks with Cohen: report | TheHill – The Hill

Lawmakers with the House and Senate Intelligence committees reportedly questioned President TrumpDonald John TrumpDem lawmaker to introduce bill blaming Kim Jong Un for Otto Warmbier death Cindy McCain rips conservative commentator over CPAC address The Memo: Trump world faces sea of troubles MORE‘s former attorney Michael Cohen this week about whether he and high-level members of the Trump administration discussed a potential pardon.

Sources close to the closed-door discussions told The Washington Post that Cohen and lawmakers on the two panels talked with Cohen this week about whether he had discussed the possibility of accepting a pardon from Trump for the crimes he pleaded guilty to last year.

It wasn’t clear what Cohen told congressional investigators about potential discussions on pardons, according to the Post, but the newspaper noted that Cohen’s lawyer told MSNBC a day after his public testimony that “pretty explosive” information on potential obstruction of justice by Trump had been discussed with lawmakers.

The lawmakers and Cohen discussed “new information … that could be game changing,” in closed-door testimony related to “lying and obstruction evidence,” Lanny Davis told MSNBC.

Cohen is set to begin a three-year prison sentence for bank fraud and campaign finance violations, along with other financial crimes, later this year.

The former Trump confidant spoke to lawmakers this week on the House Oversight and Reform Committee in explosive testimony in which he referred to his former boss as a “racist,” a “cheat,” and a “con man.”

The White House and allies of the president sought to discredit Cohen amid his testimony this week, noting his previous admission to making false statements while under oath.