REP. JEFF COOPER: Mr. Cohen, several times in your testimony, you state the bad things you did for Mr. Trump, and at some point, you apparently changed your course of action. There is will recurring refrain in your testimony that says, and yet, I continued to work for him, but at some point, you changed. What was the breaking point at which you decided to start telling the truth?
MICHAEL COHEN: There are several factors. Helsinki, Charlottesville, watching the daily destruction of our civility to one another. Putting up silly things like this. Really unbecoming of Congress. It's that sort of behavior that I'm responsible for. I'm responsible for your silliness because I did the same thing that you are doing now for ten years. I protected Mr. Trump for ten years, and the fact that you pull up a news article that has no value to it and you want to use that as the premise for discrediting me that I'm not the person that people called at 3:00 in the morning would make you inaccurate. In actuality, it would make a liar which would put you into the same position that I am in, and I can only warn people the more people that follow Mr. Trump as I did blindly are going to suffer the same consequences that I'm suffering.
REP. JEFF COOPER: What warning would you give young people who are tempted as you were -- would you encourage them not to wait ten years to see the light? What advice would you give young people, in particular, young lawyers so they do not abuse their bar license as you did?
MICHAEL COHEN: Look at what's happened to me. I had a wonderful life. I have a beautiful wife. I have two amazing children. I achieved financial success by the age of 39. I didn't go to work for Mr. Trump because I had to. I went to work for him because I wanted to, and I have lost it all. So if I'm not picture perfect, that's the picture that should be up there. If I'm not a picture perfect example of whatnot not to do, that's the example that I'm trying to set for my children. You make mistakes in life and I have owned them and I have taken responsibility for them, and I'm paying a huge price as is my family. So if that in and of itself isn't enough to dissuade someone from acting in the callous manner that I did, I'm not sure that that person has any -- any chance, very much like I'm in right now.
REP. JEFF COOPER: The recurring theme in your testimony is concern for your family's safety. What specifically are you most concerned about?
MICHAEL COHEN: Well, the president unlike my "Cohen for Trump" that has 1,000 followers, he has got over 60 million people, and when Mr. Trump turned around early in the campaign and said, "I can shoot somebody on 5th Avenue and get away with it." I want to be very clear. He's not joking. He's telling you the truth.
You don't know him. I do.
I sat next to this man for ten years, and I watched his back. I'm the one who started the campaign and I'm the one who continued in 2015 to promote him. So many things I thought that he can do that are just great, and he can and he is doing things that are great, but this destruction of our civility to one another is just -- it's out of control, and when he goes on Twitter and he starts bringing in my in-laws, my parents, my wife, what does he think is going to happen? He's causing -- he's sending out the same message that he can do whatever he wants. This is his country. He's becoming an autocrat and hopefully something bad won't happen to me or my children or my wife so I will not be here and testify. That's what his hope was, to intimidate me, and again, I thanked everybody who joined said that this is just not right.
REP. JEFF COOPER: Have you ever seen Mr. Trump personally threaten people with physical harm?
MICHAEL COHEN: No. He would use others.
REP. JEFF COOPER: He would hire other people to do that?
MICHAEL COHEN: I'm not sure that he had to hire them. They were already working there. Everybody's job at the Trump organization is to protect Mr. Trump. Every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him on something, and that became the norm, and that's exactly what's happening right now in this country, and it's exactly what's happening here in government, sir...
