The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee said Michael Cohen’s appearance before the panel next week will be 'Phase One of the Democrats’ coordinated campaign' to impeach President Donald Trump, accusing Democrats of orchestrating a 'charade' meant to embarrass the president.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee

Iran Press/America: Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement on Thursday: “Giving a platform to Cohen is beneath the dignity of the Congress and I am saddened that Democrats have sunk so low as to promote an admitted liar just to satisfy Tom Steyer and the political forces on the left who will settle for nothing less than impeachment,” according to POLITICO.

The statement referred to the billionaire liberal donor Tom Steyer who is pushing House Democrats to start impeachment proceedings.

“This charade is an affront to our committee's constitutional obligations,” Jordan added.

The Trump ally came out swinging a day after Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) announced that Cohen, the president’s former attorney and fixer, would testify publicly before the panel next Wednesday. Jordan and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) have written letters to Cummings in recent weeks saying that Cohen would not be a credible witness because he admitted to having lied to Congress, and they’ve asserted that such a hearing does not serve the committee’s investigative interests.

“Yet, Chairman Cummings is providing a Congressional forum for Mr. Cohen to avenge his grudge with the president and further feed his insatiable desire for celebrity while being a patsy for political aims of the far left,” Jordan said.

Cummings said the hearing’s scope would be limited to a few topics so that the Oversight Committee does not interfere with the House Intelligence Committee’s separate investigation. Democrats are expected to ask Cohen about the president’s payments to women who claimed to have had affairs with Donald Trump, among other issues. 211/103

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Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee