The back-and-forth between Cohen and Durham occurred at the congressional hearing held to ask the special counsel about his recently published report, which concluded that the FBI should never have launched an investigation into alleged collusion between Trump and Russia ahead of the 2016 election.
In addition to the central claim, Durham’s report detailed inappropriate behavior among Democratic Party officials, U.S. intelligence agencies, and the media in order to get an investigation off the ground that proved to be a major distraction for the Trump administration throughout its term.
While questioning Durham, Cohen implied that his report was put forward to help Trump, and warned the special counsel that anyone who allies themselves with the former president has their reputation destroyed.
He began by slamming the report, saying, “I’ve tried to follow your report. Mr. Donald Trump, Jr. would’ve called it a nothingburger. You got no convictions, you got nothing! It was all set up to hurt the Mueller report — which was correct and was redacted — to hurt the Bidens and to help Trump.”
Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, allowed Durham to respond. The special counsel torpedoed Cohen’s lecture, saying, “Yeah, my concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect, my family, and my Lord, and I'm perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir!”