Michael Cohen concluded his widely watched testimony on Wednesday by predicting that the United States would never see “a peaceful transition of power” if Donald Trump loses the presidency in the next election.
“Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020, that there will never be a peaceful transition of power,” Cohen told the House oversight committee at the end of his hourslong testimony.
The statement was especially dark considering Cohen was Trump’s former personal attorney for more than 10 years and admitted Wednesday to threatening hundreds of people on the president’s behalf.
Cohen was convicted in November of lying to Congress about his involvement in a Trump Tower Moscow deal during the president’s 2016 election campaign. He is expected to go to jail in the coming months.
“My loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost me everything,” Cohen said. “I will not sit back and say nothing and allow him to do the same to the country.”
Cohen also closed out his testimony by saying Trump’s lies and behavior “denigrates the office of the president.”
“To those who support the president and his rhetoric as I once did, pray the country doesn’t make the same mistakes that I have made,” he said.