Two of President Trump’s strongest House allies on Thursday urged the Department of Justice to investigate Michael Cohen for perjury, accusing the president’s former attorney of intentionally lying to Congress during his Wednesday appearance before the House Oversight Committee.

GOP Reps. Jim Jordan, Ohio, and Mark Meadows, North Carolina, sent the letter to Attorney General William P. Barr.

“In sum, Mr. Cohen’s testimony … was a spectacular and brazen attempt to knowing and willfully testify falsely and fictitiously to numerous material facts,” they wrote. “His testimony included intentionally false statements designed to make himself look better before a national stage.”

Last year, Cohen was sentenced to three years in a federal prison for lying to Congress in 2017.

Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, said in a statement Thursday that his client told the truth. He also called the referral “baseless” and a “sad misuse” of the criminal justice system.”

“He took full responsibility for his guilty pleas. He also backed up much of his testimony with documents,” Mr. Davis said in the statement.

Among the statements the lawmakers said were false was Cohen’s assertion that he “never defrauded any bank,” noting his guilty plea to five counts of income tax evasion and one count of making false statements to a banking institution.

They also seized upon Cohen’s claim he never sought a White House job, citing court documents filed by New York prosecutors signaling his desire for a Trump administration position.

Mr. Jordan and Mr. Mathews also noted text messages from people connected to Mr. Trump, who alleged that Cohen was lying when he said he didn’t want to join the White House.

“There are other instances in which Mr. Cohen’s statements to the Committee were immediately contradicted by witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the subject matter,” the letter continued.

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