Cohen says Charlottesville, Helsinki were ‘breaking point’ that led him to turn on Trump

Michael Cohen testified Wednesday before Congress that events in Helsinki, Finland, and Charlottesville, Virginia, were his “breaking point” with President Donald Trump.

Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, said his view of the president began to change after 10 years of working for him when he realized that Trump’s rhetoric had damaged civility in the U.S.

“I’m responsible for your silliness because I did the same thing for Donald Trump for 10 years,” Cohen said to Republicans in Congress.

Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July, when he drew criticism for casting doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 election, despite findings from U.S. intelligence agencies, The Associated Press reported.

“They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin,” Trump said during the meeting, which also included a private conversation between he and Putin. “He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this — I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

In August 2017, violence broke out at a “Unite the Right” rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. A neo-Nazi who drove a vehicle into a crowd of counter-protesters has been convicted of killing Heather Heyer, 32, CNN reported.

Cohen has pleaded guilty to tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and campaign fraud while working for Trump, The Washington Post reported. He faces a three-year prison sentence.

Cohen has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into allegations of campaign fraud and Russian influence in the 2016 election, according to USA Today.

Cohen began testifying before Congress on Tuesday in a closed session, CNN reported. Following his public testimony before Congress on Wednesday, he is set for another closed session on Thursday.

He’s expected to accuse Trump of “racist language, lies about his wealth and possible criminal conduct,” The New York Times reported.

This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Cohen says Charlottesville, Helsinki were ‘breaking point’ that led him to turn on Trump."