Conflicting reports have emerged about former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker's remarks following a closed-door meeting with Congress members.
Whitaker met privately with members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, as Democrats pressed their case that he was a political partisan while leading the Justice Department.
Republican aides and the committee's top Democrat relayed that Whitaker said in the meeting that, while acting AG, he had shared concerns with his staff about the Southern District of New York's campaign finance charge against Michael Cohen.
Committee chairman, New York Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler, said that Whitaker was 'involved in conversations' about the case against Cohen and whether it might have gone too far. Nadler did not give details on those conversations
According to the Republican aides, Whitaker said that those conversations were among other Justice Department staff and that Whitaker said he thought some of the claims in the campaign finance case were 'specious' from a legal standpoint.
Former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker arrives at Rayburn House Office Building on Wednesday for a private meeting with House Judiciary Committee members
Whitaker met with Judiciary Committee members behind closed doors, and Republicans and Democrats had differing accounts of what he said in the private meeting
The aides said that Whitaker denied interfering in the case or speaking with Southern District prosecutors, saying that he merely discussed his concerns with his own staff.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the committee suggested that Whitaker may have had conversations with President Donald Trump about Cohen's legal troubles, claiming that Whitaker 'did not deny' the conversations during a private meeting on Capitol Hill.
Nadler did not get into the specifics of what Whitaker said when he met with Nadler and the top Republican on the panel, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins.
Collins said he heard Whitaker's comments very differently and maintained that Whitaker said he 'had not talked with the president about Mr. Cohen at all.'
Two Republican staff members in the room backed up Collins' version. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential meeting.
There was no transcript taken at the meeting, according to the Republican aides, so it wasn't clear exactly what Whitaker said, and it may never be
