a narcissist, a bully who cannot tell the truth, whether it s about the president or his own personal life. liar, liar, pants on fire. reporter: they accused him of trying to cash in on his infamy, calling him a man scorned when the president didn t bring him to washington. you said all these bad things about the president there in that last 30 minutes, and yet you worked for him for ten years? mr. cohen, how long did you work in the white house? i never worked in the white house. that s the point, isn t it, mr. cohen? no, sir. yes, it is. no, it s not, sir. you wanted to work in the white house. no, sir. you didn t get brought to the dance. reporter: but as cohen himself pointed out, republicans did not spend much time defending the president s actions. all i wanted to say is i just find it interesting, sir, that between yourself and your colleagues that not one question so far since i m here has been asked about president trump. reporter: the disbarred l
you said, quote, mr. trump did not directly tell me to lie to congress. that s not how he operates, end quote. can you explain how he does this? he doesn t give you questions. he doesn t give you orders. he speaks in a code, and i understand the code, because i ve been around him for a decade. reporter: and he says the president s legal team knew exactly what he was going to say. you need to know that mr. trump s personal lawyers reviewed and edited my statement to congress about the timing of the moscow tower negotiations before i gave it. reporter: in granular detail, cohen told congress the president ordered him to pay off porn star stormy daniels just before the election. mr. trump directed me to use my own personal funds from a home equity line of credit to avoid any money being traced back to him that could negatively impact his campaign. reporter: he produced a check he says the president gave him to repay that money.
you don t have to take my word for it. i don t want you to. i want you to look at the documents. reporter: he insisted the president told him to lie about all of it. what did the president ask or suggest that you say about the payments or reimbursements? he was not knowledgeable of these reimbursements and he wasn t knowledgeable about my actions. he asked you to say that? yes, ma am. reporter: two months later, president trump told the american people he knew nothing about the hush money payments. did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? no, no. reporter: cohen claims the president even told him to lie to the first lady. i lied to the first lady. when the president called me and i was sitting in a car with a friend of mine and he had me speak to her and explain to the first lady. reporter: cohen says it s all typical in the world of donald trump, and that for ten years, he used lies and pressure tactics to protect the mogul. how many times d
hanoi, as well. michael cohen answering questions from members of congress, opening by calling the president a racist, a conman and a cheat. who allegedly said of his run for president, this will be the greatest infomercial in political history. and what cohen revealed about what the president knew and when. republicans asking, why should the american people believe you? and tonight, what cohen could not answer, and what that revealed, too. abc s mary bruce leading us off tonight from the hill. reporter: the hearing room chaotic and intense as michael cohen, the man once trusted to keep the president s secrets, took the oath and then delivered blow after blow. i know what mr. trump is. he is a racist, he is a conman, and he is a cheat. reporter: it was a high stakes do-over for cohen, who has pleaded guilty to lying to congress. the last time i appeared before congress, i came to protect mr. trump. today, i am here to tell the
the more people that follow mr. trump, as i did blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that i m suffering. mary bruce joins us live from the hill tonight. and mary, this evening, the president s team pushing back hard against michael cohen, no surprise there. reporter: david, the president s campaign says cohen is, quote, a felon, a disbarred lawyer and a convicted perjurer. and tonight, the president s lawyer says trump s legal team never edited or changed cohen s previous false testimony to congress. david? mary bruce leading us off from the hill tonight. mary, thank you. and there were some questions michael cohen could not answer. he said he wasn t able to because of ongoing investigations. and that made news, too. so, let s get right to our chief legal analyst dan abrams tonight. and dan, this is what michael cohen said. is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding donald trump that we haven t yet discussed today? yes. and agai