republicans quoted today, but were very careful to never quote the part where those same prosecutors accused the president of the united states of having committed crimes. the republicans on the committee told america, you cannot believe michael cohen now because he is a convicted criminal and one of his crimes was lying to congress. a guy who is going to prison in two months for lying to congress. lying to congress. lying convicted criminal who i saw testify to congress, and he was guilty of crimes much worse than lying. he was a murderer. he was a made man in the mafia. i was a little boy in 1963 watching joe valachi testify to congress about italian organized crime in america on black and white tv. though we knew he was a murderer, we also found him very believable. i don t mean just the kids. the senators thought his
really appreciate it. what do you think is the most important thing that we learned in that hearing room today? well, i think we certainly had confirmation that the trump organization headed by mr. trump is by any other name a criminal enterprise. and very much like, you know, the organizations transcribed by joe valachi. you mentioned it earlier in the report. i brought it up in the hearing reminding my republican colleagues that joe valachi revolutionized how congress dealt with organized crime and made a huge difference in law enforcement s dealing with organized crime. as you pointed out, he was a lot more than a convicted liar, he was a murderer. but his testimony nonetheless was pivotal to unlocking the keys to how the mafia was organized. mr. cohen is going to be, i believe, one of the pivotal figures in unlocking the key
testimony was believable and worth hearing. in testimony that i remember to this day, joe valachi described to the senate and america watching on tv the initiation ritual for the criminal organization we learned that day was called la cosa nostra. the ceremony was in italian and the new member had to take a piece of paper and burn it in his hands. i ll never forget the way he said the word burned . in his new york accent. demonstrate just what you did. what? this piece of paper is burned. yeah? and then you light it and in your hand you say then they give you words in italian, but i know what it meant. in other words, while you were repeating the words, you were burning the paper. this is the way i burn if i
flavor your testimony? sir, he s been saying that to me for many, many months, and at the end of the day i knew exactly what he wanted me to say. joining us now after a long day in that hearing room, congressman gerry connolly. congressman connolly, really appreciate you staying with us tonight after a long day of work in that hearing room. i know what those hearing rooms are like. really appreciate it. what do you think is the most important thing that we learned in that hearing room today? well, i think we certainly had confirmation that the trump organization headed by mr. trump is by any other name a criminal enterprise. and very much like, you know, the organizations transcribed by joe valachi.
expose this organization. and then he predicts your finger. who? the godfather. he pricks your finger? with a needle. in other words, the blood relation supposed to be like brothers. and the senate and america believed every word. six years later, mario puzo published his mafia novel the godfather and three years after that there were long lines to see marlon brando playing the godfather. america has known since then and probably before that the most hardened criminals in the world lie, cheat, steal and murder, but sometimes, sometimes some of them tell the truth. and when criminals like joe valachi tell the truth, their criminal friends turn on them and call them a rat. which is what donald trump now calls his former friend michael cohen.