Little Adam Schiff Plays Cohen [OPINION]

There is emerging evidence that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-California) may have coached star witness Michael Cohen prior to last month's public hearing on Capitol Hill, during which Cohen tossed out a bunch of allegations against his former client Donald J. Trump.

Fox News is reporting that committee staffers traveled to New York at least four times to meet with Cohen for up to 10 hours just prior to Cohen's testimony before Schiff's committee. It seems to me that might be classified as coaching a witness or witness tampering. As you might expect, Republicans are howling and demanding answers.

In announcing a massive investigation into anything and everything Trump, Congressman Gerald "Fat Jerry" Nadler (D-New York) cited Cohen's testimony as the impetus for the probe. Never mind that Cohen is going to prison for lying to Congress in the first place.

The allegations against Schiff are serious. It's one thing to have a dog and pony show masquerade as a fair congressional hearing. It's another thing to tell the witness what to say during that hearing in order to predetermine the outcome.

Schiff is a weasel of a man and Cohen is a convicted liar who sold his soul to prosecutors in hopes of getting a better deal. The problem with Cohen is he thinks Schiff really cares about him, and he thought that by doing what Schiff asked him to do he might catch a break for seeming to cooperate with a congressional committee.

Cohen went so far as to lie to Schiff's committee while under oath and could face even more jail time should perjury charges be pursued. If I were Cohen, I wouldn't spend too many sleepless nights in the pen waiting for Little Adam Schiff to drop by and visit.

Schiff played Cohen like a fiddle in order to justify a new round of investigations into Trump. Cohen was only too willing to go along but will likely now pay the price.

Good enough.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.