-First, my colleague from Vermont had asked
you several questions about AMI, the parent comp--
the parent company of the "National Enquirer."
And in that, you mentioned a treasure trove --
a "treasure trove" of documents in David Pecker's office
relating to information assembled from all these
catch-and-kill operations against people
who potentially had damaging information on the President.
You also mentioned that the President was very concerned
about the whereabouts of these documents
and who possessed them.
Does that treasure trove of documents still exist?
-I don't know.
I had asked David Pecker for them.
-So you would say the person who knows the whereabouts
of these documents would be David Pecker.
-David Pecker, Barry Levine, or Dylan Howard.
-Okay, thank you.
Secondly, I want to ask a little bit about your conversation
with my colleague from Missouri about acid inflation.
To your knowledge, did the President ever provide inflated
assets to an insurance company? -Yes.
-Who else knows that the President did this?
-Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman, and Matthew Calamari.
-And where would the committee find more information on this?
Do you think we need to review his financial statements
and his tax returns in order to compare them?
-Yes, and you'd find it at the Trump Org.
-Thank you very much. The last -- last thing here,
the Trump Golf organization currently has a golf course
in my home borough of the Bronx, Trump Links.
I drive past it every day going between Bronx and --
going between the Bronx and Queens.
In fact, "The Washington Post" reported on the Trump Links
Bronx course in an article entitled
"Taxpayers Built This New York Golf Course,
and Trump Reaps the Rewards."
Where many -- That article is where many New Yorkers
and people in the country learned that taxpayers
spent $127 million to build Trump Links
in a "generous deal" allowing
President Trump to keep almost every dollar
that flows in on a golf course built with public funds.
And this doesn't seem to be the only time
the President has benefited at the expense of the public.
Mr. Cohen,
I want to ask you about your assertion
that the President may have improperly devalued his assets
to avoid paying taxes.
According to an August 24th --
August 21, 2016 report by "The Washington Post,"
while the President claimed in financial disclosure forms
that Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida,
was worth more than $50 million,
he had reported otherwise to local tax authorities
that the course was worth "no more than $5 million."
Mr. Cohen, do you know
whether this specific report is accurate?
-It's identical to what he did
at Trump National Golf Club at Briarcliff Manor.
-Do you kn-- To your knowledge, was the President interested
in reducing his local real-estate bills, tax bills?
-Yes. -And how did he do that?
-What you do is you deflate the value of the asset,
and then you put in your request
to the tax department for a deduction.
-Thank you.
Now, in October 2018, "The New York Times"
revealed that, "President Trump participated
in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s,
including instances of outright fraud,
that greatly increased the fortune
he received from his parents."
It further stated for Mr. Trump,
"He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue
his parents' real-estate holdings
by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns,
sharply reducing his tax bill when those properties
were transferred to him and his siblings."
Mr. Cohen, do you know
whether that specific report is accurate?
-I don't. I wasn't there in 1990s.
-Who would know the answer to those questions?
-Allen Weisselberg.
-And would it help for the committee
to obtain federal and state tax returns from the President
and his company to address that discrepancy?
-I believe so. -Thank you very much.
I yield the rest of my time to the chair.