Michael Cohen Testifies

President Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified last week before the House Oversight Committee about his relationship with the president. Cohen has pleaded guilty to several federal crimes including tax evasion, lying to Congress, and violating campaign finance laws.

Instructors, click the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt and a debate question as well as other assessment questions.

Download the PowerPoint Lecture Spark for Michael Cohen Testifies

Links

“Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, ends 3 days of ‘excruciating’ testimony with another one scheduled”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/28/house-sets-new-hearings-trump-associates-michael-cohen-felix-sater/2989967002/

“Lawmakers to grill Cohen again next week after ‘productive’ closed-door session”
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/28/michael-cohen-returns-1197043

“Republican lawmakers ask Justice Department to investigate Michael Cohen for perjury”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/politics/house-criminal-referral-michael-cohen/index.html

“Michael Cohen explains the ‘real reason’ Trump is hiding his tax returns”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/02/28/michael-cohen-explains-the-real-reason-trump-is-hiding-his-tax-returns/#2956581ead85

“Why one simple lie by Michael Cohen could invalidate his entire testimony”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/politics/michael-cohen-donald-trump-white-house/index.html

“Top takeaways from Michael Cohen’s testimony before Congress”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-testimony-top-moments-from-ex-trump-attorneys-hearing-before-congress-today-2019-02-27/

“Republicans can’t defend Trump against the substance of Cohen’s attacks”
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/27/18243233/michael-cohen-testimony-live-republicans

“Michael Cohen’s shocking picture of Trump’s mob-like world”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/politics/donald-trump-michael-cohen-world/index.html

“The real significance of Michael Cohen’s testimony”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/democrats-and-republicans-response-michael-cohen/583819/

Assessment

• Writing: Why was Michael Cohen testifying before a congressional committee?
• Debate: Because he has previously lied to Congress, Cohen should not have been invited to testify.
• Poll: Do you believe the Cohen testimony will have little impact on the public’s opinion of President Trump?
• Short Answer: What is the role of the House Oversight Committee?

Current events quiz:

1) Michael Cohen testified before this congressional committee:

a. House Investigative Committee
b. House Oversight Committee
c. House Armed Services Committee
d. House Judiciary Committee

2) Michael Cohen previously served as President Trump’s __________.

a. personal attorney
b. personal assistant
c. financial advisor
d. business advisor

3) Cohen testified that Trump asked him to make threats on his behalf this many times:

a. about 100 times
b. about 300 times
c. about 500 times
d. over 1,000 times

4) Michael Cohen testified that Trump knew about the Hillary Clinton WikiLeaks emails being released prior to it happening. (T/F)

5) Cohen testified that Trump did not know about any meetings that his son had with Russian officials. (T/F)

6) Michael Cohen made threats to Trump’s high school, colleges, and the College Board to never disclose Trump’s SAT scores. (T/F)

Answers:

1) B

2) A

3) C

4) True

5) False

6) True

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