Rep. Adam Schiff's staff prepared former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for 10 hours, but he still came before Congress and lied several times, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Friday.
"We should have had a deposition, which we asked for," Rep. Jordan told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "They did 10 hours of preparation with this witness and he came in front of Congress and still lied to us, we think now a total of eight lies."
There is always some interaction with a witness before a hearing, but in Cohen's case, that took 10 hours and several trips to New York, Jordan said, "which is very unusual, particularly when we asked for a deposition and weren't given that opportunity."
Jordan was not able to name all eight instances of lies during the interview, but the "big ones" were Cohen said he never wanted to work at the White House, never sought a pardon, and now there is a discrepancy in what he said he and Schiff had talked about.
"There are a number of situations where a number of instances where we think Mr. Cohen gave us false statements, and that's why we sent a criminal referral letter to the Justice Department – and frankly we are going to send another one because we have learned a few more things since his testimony last week," Jordan said.
Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., had told Cohen at the beginning of the public hearing he would be held accountable if he lied, but "we have yet to see anything from him" Jordan said.