The White House News

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik are accusing former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen of committing perjury and “knowingly” making false statements while testifying before Congress in 2019, Fox News Digital has learned.

Turner, R-Ohio, and Stefanik, R-N.Y., who also sits on the Intelligence Committee, penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday calling for an investigation into the matter.

TRUMP FACES OFF IN COURT WITH COHEN AS EX-LAWYER TESTIFIES AGAINST HIM IN TRUMP ORGANIZATION CIVIL TRIAL

Turner and Stefanik pointed to Cohen’s testimony last month in New York City as part of the non-jury civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against former President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization. The lawsuit accuses Trump of defrauding banks and inflating the value of his assets.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said his assets were actually undervalued. Trump has repeatedly said his financial statements had disclaimers, requesting that the numbers be evaluated by the banks.

“We write to refer compelling evidence that Michael D. Cohen appears to have committed perjury and knowingly made false statements while testifying under oath during his deposition before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on February 28, 2019,” they wrote.

TRUMP SUES FORMER ATTORNEY MICHAEL COHEN FOR $500 MILLION

“Specifically on October 25, 2023, while testifying in the trial People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump et al.,….Mr. Cohen admitted that the testimony he gave before the Committee in 2019 was knowingly and intentionally false,” they wrote.

Turner and Stefanik referenced Cohen’s February 2019 testimony, in which he was asked whether Trump directed him or former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weiselberg to “inflate the numbers for his personal statement.” 

TRUMP DROPS LAWSUIT AGAINST MICHAEL COHEN, VOWS TO RE-FILE AFTER HE HAS ‘PREVAILED’ IN OTHER CASES

“I’m sorry. Did he ask me to inflate the numbers? Not that I recall, no,” Cohen testified to the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019.

While on the stand in New York City last month, Cohen was presented with the transcript of his February 2019 testimony.

When asked if he was being “honest” in front of the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019, Cohen testified: “No.”

“So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” Trump attorney Alina Habba asked him.

“Yes,” Cohen replied.

Turner and Stefanik said Cohen’s statement “raises significant questions about his testimony before the committee,” and said his testimony in New York is “inconsistent with his testimony before the committee.”

JUDGE DENIES TRUMP TEAM’S REQUESTS FOR IMMEDIATE VERDICT IN FRAUD TRIAL AFTER COHEN TESTIMONY

“That Mr. Cohen was willing to openly and brazenly state at trial that he lied to Congress on this specific issue is startling,” they wrote to Garland. “His willingness to make such a statement alone should necessitate an investigation.” 

“In sum, Mr. Cohen’s testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on February 28, 2019 is contradicted by his reported recent testimony on October 25, 2023,” they continued. “Mr. Cohen’s prior conviction for lying to Congress merits a heightened suspicion that he has yet again testified falsely before Congress.”

Turner and Stefanik requested the Justice Department investigate whether any of Cohen’s testimony “warrants another charge” of making a false statement before Congress.

Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Neither the Justice Department nor Mr. Cohen immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Mere months after drivers in Oregon got the green light to pump their own gas, one of the state’s biggest labor unions is trying to ban self-service again.

“For decades, Oregon stood shoulder to shoulder with New Jersey as the last bastions of resistance to self-serve gas,” reads the petition promoted by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. “The Beaver State should restore its historic alliance with the Garden State in defense of jobs and accessibility.”

SAN FRANCISCO AREA PUSH TO BAN GAS APPLIANCES AMID BLACKOUTS IS ‘PURE EXTREMIST POLITICS,’ CEO SAYS

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill in July allowing drivers across the state to choose between filling their own gas tank or having an attendant do it for them. Gas stations are still required to staff at least half their pumps under the new law for drivers who want an attendant to fill their tank.

The law took effect immediately and left New Jersey as the only state prohibiting drivers from pumping their own gas.

PROMINENT CRITIC OF BLUE STATE HOMELESS POLICIES ARRESTED ON THEFT CHARGES IN OREGON

But UFCW Local 555 recently launched a state initiative petition that would repeal the law and ban all self-serve gas, including in rural Oregon counties where drivers have been allowed to fuel up on their own at night for nearly a decade.

Motorcyclists would still be allowed to pump their own gas under the proposed measure, but an attendant would have to hand them the nozzle.

BLUE STATE SUSPENDS BASIC SKILLS GRADUATION REQUIREMENT AGAIN, CITING HARM TO STUDENTS OF COLOR

UFCW Local 555 represents more than 30,000 workers in retail, manufacturing and healthcare. It claims allowing people to pump their own gas has resulted in safety issues, layoffs and less accessible pumps. 

“This bill is clear favoritism for big oil companies over the interests of workers,” UFCW Local 555 President Dan Clay said in a statement after the law passed. “While some Oregonians may experience marginal convenience, the underlying motivation is just a corporate giveaway that adds a burden to disabled drivers and undermines the safety and welfare of workers.”

Clay is one of the chief petitioners of the new proposed ballot measure.

The union has to collect at least 117,173 valid signatures to get the measure on the November 2024 ballot, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

The rule change fiercely divided Oregonians, with some complaining in testimony to legislators that people would now have to “get out in the rain and cold to pump their gas.”

Others said it was time for Oregon to join the other 48 states and “get rid of the arbitrary bottlenecking of the process of fueling our cars.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has been accused of shoving a Republican congressman who helped oust him as House speaker. 

In an on-camera interview from the Capitol Hill outdoor steps after the alleged incident, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., alleged McCarthy came up and took a “cheap shot from behind.” 

“You don’t expect that sort of thing from an adult, certainly not one who was once third in line for the White House,” Burchett said. 

Burchett told reporters that McCarthy’s actions seemed “deliberate.” 

“I’ll take a polygraph test. And have Kevin take a polygraph test,” he said. “It was deliberate. It was just a cheap shot by a bully.”

Burchett said he didn’t plan on taking action against McCarthy, including any House ethics complaint, adding of the former House Speaker, “He’s going to be out by Christmas.” 

The alleged physical altercation occurred when Burchett was being interviewed by NPR correspondent Claudia Grisales, who recounted the ordeal in a thread on X. 

Fox News has reached out to McCarthy’s office for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Fox News’ Brianna O’Neil and Kelly Phares contributed to this report.

House Democrats, with the help of a eight Republicans, voted down an effort led by GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House of Representatives to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a straight up or down vote.

The eight Republicans who joined Democrats in the 209-201 vote killing the effort included Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo., Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., John Duarte, R-Calif., Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio. 

Additionally, 11 Democrats and 12 Republicans did not vote on the measure.

Greene voiced her displeasure in a video posted on X, saying that the eight Republicans voted to “protect” Mayorkas from impeachment, which she called, “unbelievable.”

HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY GOP REPORT ACCUSES MAYORKAS OF CEDING BORDER CONTROL TO CARTELS

“We had eight Republicans vote with the Democrats to send my articles of impeachment back to committee where articles of impeachment go to die,” Greene said. 

Rep. McClintock’s office directed Fox News Digital to a press release explaining that the “grounds for impeachment are explicitly laid out in the Constitution” and that the allegations against Mayorkas do not meet the threshold even though Mayorkas is “the worst cabinet secretary in American history.”

“Yes, Alejandro Mayorkas must be held accountable for his egregious failures – there’s no doubt about that. By giving the Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Jordan, the opportunity to conduct a full-scale impeachment inquiry the right way, House Republicans are fulfilling the commitments we made to the American people and rising to a level that Democrats could never do,” Rep. Foxx said in a press release after her vote.

“Secretary Mayorkas has not committed an impeachable offense,” Rep. Buck told CNN on Monday night. “I disagree strongly with how he’s handling the border, I think the border is porous, I think it’s a threat to this country, but it’s not a high crime or misdemeanor, it’s not treason, it’s not bribery, it’s not the crimes or issues our founders set forth in the Constitution.” 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Rep. Turner denied that Republicans voted to “kill” an impeachment and that the motion was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security for proper fact finding.

“No one voted to kill an impeachment inquiry – there is currently an ongoing investigation into Secretary Mayorkas in the House of Representatives. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resolution was referred to the ongoing Homeland Security Committee’s investigation under Chairman Mark Green,” Turner said. “When his investigation is complete, he can at any time refer fully documented Articles of Impeachment to the House, which will pass overwhelmingly.”

Rep. Issa released a statement saying that Mayorkas “deserves to face an impeachment trial” and posted on social media that he “can’t wait to testify.”

“I will be requesting my opportunity to testify before the committee and make my case why Sec. Mayorkas is the worst to ever hold his job and why impeachment would be a fitting punishment,” Issa said.

Greene introduced the resolution to impeach Mayorkas on Thursday, which would have forced a vote on impeachment without a hearing or a committee markup. If voted on and passed, it would have sent his impeachment straight to the Senate for trial.

JOSH HAWLEY CALLS OUT MAYORKAS FOR HAVING ‘NO ANSWERS’ ON DHS EMPLOYEE PRAISING HAMAS: ‘TOTALLY INEXCUSABLE’

The Department of Homeland Security responded to the vote with a statement accusing Congress of “wasting time,” and calling on it to “do its job by funding the government, reforming our broken immigration system, reauthorizing vital tools for DHS, and passing the Administration’s supplemental request to properly resource the Department’s critical work to stop fentanyl and further secure our borders.”

Mayorkas has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans over his record, which includes presiding over record levels of illegal immigration that includes more than 600,000 “gotaways” at the southern border in fiscal year 2023 and over 900,000 illegal immigrants released into the interior of the United States by the Border Patrol in FY 2023.

“The fact is he’s just not living up to his oath,” GOP Rep. Anthony D’Esposito told Fox News Digital in June. “Not only is he failing the administration, he is failing the American people. And that’s my biggest concern.” 

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and Chad Pergram contributed to this report

The House Freedom Caucus came out against Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avert a government shutdown on Tuesday, which he must now pass with Democratic support. 

“The House Freedom Caucus opposes the proposed ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution as it contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American People,” the hardline conservatives said in a statement released Tuesday morning. “Republicans must stop negotiating against ourselves over fears of what the Senate may do with the promise ‘roll over today and we’ll fight tomorrow.'” 

“While we remain committed to working with Speaker Johnson, we need bold change,” the group added.

The Nov. 17 deadline to fund the government is Johnson’s first major legislative test as speaker. 

DEMOCRAT SUPPORT CRITICAL FOR JOHNSON’S PLAN TO AVOID SHUTDOWN AMID GROWING GOP OPPOSITION

The Louisiana Republican on Sunday proposed a short-term government funding extension known as a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government open. But the bill has no spending cuts, and GOP hardliners say they will not vote to keep spending at current levels – which were set by the previous, Democratic-controlled Congress. 

With their narrow House majority, Republican leadership can only afford four defections to pass something on party lines. 

But at least five GOP lawmakers were publicly opposed to Johnson’s plan as of Monday morning, and now dozens more have joined them with the Freedom Caucus’ official position declared.

Even if the House were to pass a funding bill with conservative policy riders and significant spending cuts, the bill would go nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

SPEAKER JOHNSON DRAWS BATTLE LINES AHEAD OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING SHOWDOWN

“Speaker Johnson and the House GOP should learn from the fiasco of a month ago: Hard right proposals, hard right cuts, hard right poison pills that have zero support from Democrats will only make a MAGA government shutdown more likely,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned last week.

Johnson’s plan would create two separate deadlines for funding different parts of the government to set up more targeted goals to work toward.

It first forces lawmakers to reckon with some of the traditionally less controversial appropriations bills – those concerning military construction and Veterans Affairs; Agriculture; Energy and Water; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The remaining eight appropriations bills must be worked out by Feb. 2.

An official position from the Freedom Caucus requires 80% support from the group’s roughly three dozen members, but it does not mean every one of them opposed Johnson’s plan. 

REPUBLICANS TALKING WITH DEMOCRATS TO GAUGE WHERE VOTES MAY LIE TO PASS SPENDING BILL, AVOID SHUTDOWN

Some Freedom Caucus members have voiced support for the two-step approach, including Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who called it “a way to get the broken appropriations process back on track without resulting in a massive omnibus spending bill.” 

Fox News Digital is told that the Democratic leadership team is trying to determine where its members stand.

The endorsement of the bill by Schumer helped ease some fears of many Democrats, Fox News Digital was told.

The House is expected to hold at least a procedural vote to advance the bill on Tuesday. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind, Stepheny Price and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

The House of Representatives is gearing up to vote Tuesday afternoon on Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avoid a government shutdown – the Louisiana Republican’s first big test just three weeks after taking the top leadership role. 

With government funding set to expire on Friday, congressional leaders have acknowledged the need for a short-term extension of last year’s priorities, known as a continuing resolution (CR). Johnson’s new “laddered” approach would set two different funding deadlines for Congress’ 12 individual appropriations bills – a Jan. 19 date for four of the less traditionally controversial bills, and Feb. 2 for the others, including defense spending. 

But the bill’s lack of any spending cuts or conservative policy riders – not usually the norm for a CR – has generated significant pushback from the right wing of the House Republican Conference. 

SPEAKER JOHNSON DRAWS BATTLE LINES AHEAD OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING SHOWDOWN

The hardline-right House Freedom Caucus released a statement Tuesday morning formally opposing the bill, explaining “it contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American People.”

“Republicans must stop negotiating against ourselves over fears of what the Senate may do with the promise ‘roll over today and we’ll fight tomorrow,’” the statement said. “While we remain committed to working with Speaker Johnson, we need bold change.”

Johnson himself defended the bill on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning, “It’s a paradigm shift, because what it will do… it will prevent the dreaded Christmas omnibus spending bill where thousands of pages are hoisted upon the members at the last moment.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON ROLLS OUT PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, PREVENT ‘SPENDING MONSTROSITY’

But the growing GOP opposition spurred concerns of the bill failing in a preliminary rule vote before the measure could even get to the House floor. 

It forced leadership to switch tactics instead to pass the CR “under suspension,” forgoing the initial rule vote to bring the bill straight to the floor. However, passing a bill under suspension requires two-thirds of House support rather than the standard simple majority. 

Democrats had been wary of the “laddered” deadlines in the CR, but their leaders in both the House and Senate suggested their party could support Johnson’s plan since it’s only an extension of last year’s funding.

HOUSE ENDS WEEK BEHIND SCHEDULE WITH DAYS UNTIL POSSIBLE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“For now, I am pleased that Speaker Johnson seems to be moving in our direction by advancing a CR that does not include the highly partisan cuts that Democrats have warned against,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Monday. 

“The speaker’s proposal is far from perfect, but the most important thing is that it refrains from making steep cuts, while also extending funding for defense in the second tranche of bills in February, not the first in January.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told NPR on Tuesday morning, “Our current evaluation of the continuing resolution presented by Speaker Johnson is that it does not include extraneous and extreme right wing policy provisions.”

Jeffries told reporters on his way into a closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting that he and other members of his leadership team were “open-minded” about the proposal.

The House and Senate must agree on some way to fund the government past Nov. 17, or risk a partial shutdown.