Who is Lanny Davis? Republicans keep talking about him at Michael Cohen hearing

The name Lanny Davis came up first before Michael Cohen’s testimony even began as the president’s former lawyer appeared before Congress.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the ranking Republican on the committee questioning Cohen, asked if a man named Lanny Davis orchestrated the testimony Wednesday. Davis sat just behind Cohen during the testimony, the Washington Post reported.

“They’ve got to find somebody somewhere to say something to remove the president from office,” Jordan said in his opening remarks. “They didn’t find him. Lanny Davis found him.”

“So now Clinton loyalist, Clinton operative Lanny Davis has persuaded the chairman of the oversight committee to give a convicted felon a forum to tell stories and lie about the president of the United States,” Jordan said.

Asked why Davis was not getting paid now for representing Cohen, Cohen said, “I guess he thinks it’s important.”

Cohen was the president’s lawyer, and now Davis is Cohen’s lawyer, Rolling Stone reported. Davis was also President Bill Clinton’s special counsel, the magazine reported, and represented a Ukrainian oligarch with alleged mob connections, the magazine reported.

Politico described Davis as “as a Democratic strategist and attorney with close connections to Bill and Hillary Clinton.”

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 said he brokered a $130,000 payment in 2016 to adult film star Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement about an affair Clifford said she had with Trump in 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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 12:34 PM.