RNC Confirms Michael Cohen Remains Deputy Finance Director
President Trump’s personal attorney and long-time “fixer” Michael Cohen remains in his position as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee, even though he’s under criminal investigation related to the payment of $130,000 to the porn star, Stormy Daniels, RNC spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told Cheddar on Friday.
"There's ongoing litigation, and we'll take it step by step, but yes, he is still” in the position within the party, McEnany told Cheddar’s J.D. Durkin.
The Justice Department announced last month that Cohen had been under criminal investigation for months over his business dealings in New York City, and his office and home were raided by the FBI which seized records about Cohen’s clients and personal finances.
According to The Washington Post, among the records seized were those related to Cohen’s 2016 payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, which ensured that she would not discuss her claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump years before he became president.
Among the avenues of investigation are wire fraud and campaign finance violations related to the payment to Daniels.
In the interview with Cheddar, McEnany was asked if she had concerns with a person being investigated for campaign finance violations also being responsible for overseeing campaign finance at the RNC.
“I have concerns about the violation of attorney-client privilege when the Southern District of New York invaded his office, swept up material, violating the president’s privacy, his client’s privacy, Michael Cohen’s privacy,” she said. “That’s where my concerns lie.”
Only a few days ago, Evgeny Friedman, a business partner of Cohen, who was known as the Taxi King of New York, pleaded guilty to charges of criminal tax fraud and grand larceny and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in state and federal investigations.
The plea deal led to speculation that Friedman could provide the government leverage to pressure Cohen into working with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rnc-stands-by-michael-cohen-despite-ongoing-investigation).
Russian forces escalated their attacks on populated urban areas Tuesday, bombarding the central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city and Kyiv’s main TV tower.
A bipartisan group of 43 representatives joined forces in a letter to President Joe Biden to remind the executive branch that it must seek the approval of Congress before authorizing a war — whether or not its in Ukraine as Russia continues its invasion. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore. 4th District) led the effort and joined Cheddar News Wrap to explain. "It's time for Congress to get back the authority, which is vested to us in the constitution, not in the executive branch," he said. "The president. once we're at war, we speak with one voice with the commander in chief. But before that, it's up to the American people and Congress whether or not we're going to become engaged in a war."
Chris Konstantinos, Chief Investment Strategist at RiverFront Investment Group, explains why he remains encouraged about the S&P and the state of the market despite the major indexes closing mostly lower on Monday.
President Joe Biden will be delivering his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and with so many issues from Ukraine to inflation, everyone will be focused on what he might say. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y. 11th District) joined Cheddar News to discuss what she thinks the president should address. "I think what he hasn't done yet is go after the gas, the oil, the minerals, the mining industries, that is incredibly important," she said. "There's still some banks there that are not sanctioned. He needs to go after all the banks, but I also think that providing the equipment that Ukraine needs to continue to protect its capital and its country are incredibly important."
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, one of its few big allies remaining appears to be China. Gordon Chang, Asian affairs expert and author of "The Coming Collapse of China," joined Cheddar News to discuss what might be behind China's support for Putin's current strategy. “I think China is looking at what Putin did yesterday, which is to raise his nuclear forces on a higher alert level,” Chang stated, “If they see that Putin gets away with his nuclear threats, which he's been making over the last three or four days, then I'm sure that Beijing is going to ramp up its threats as well, and it could ramp them up against any number of different countries with which it perceives it has a problem with"
Joel Rubin, president of the Washington Strategy Group and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, joins Cheddar News to discuss the Russia-Ukraine tensions and the new sanctions President Biden placed on Russia.