During his opening statement at former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s testimony on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) stated that it is “legitimate” to ask why we should believe Cohen when he has lied before. Cummings added that there is “corroborating evidence for some of Mr. Cohen’s statements.”

Cummings said, “Some will certainly ask, if Mr. Cohen was lying then, why should we believe him now? This is a legitimate question. As a trial lawyer for many years, I have faced this situation over and over again, and I asked the same question.”

He continued, “Here is how I view our role. Every one of us in this room has a duty to serve as an independent check on the executive branch. Ladies and gentleman, we are in search of the truth. The president has made many statements of his own, and now the American people have a right to hear the other side. They can watch Mr. Cohen’s testimony and make their own judgment. We received a copy of Mr. Cohen’s written statement late last night. It includes not only personal eyewitness accounts of meetings with Donald Trump as president inside the Oval Office, but it also includes documents, and other corroborating evidence for some of Mr. Cohen’s statements.”

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