What did Michael Cohen say to Congress about Donald Trump's school transcripts?
Executive summary
Michael Cohen testified to Congress that, at Donald Trump’s direction, he sent letters threatening legal action to Trump’s high school, colleges and the College Board to prevent them from releasing Trump’s grades and SAT scores — producing at least one such letter to Fordham as evidence — a claim reported and corroborated by multiple outlets while also met with denials and attacks on Cohen’s credibility [1] [2] [3].
1. What Cohen said in plain terms
Cohen told the House Oversight Committee that President Trump “directed me to threaten his high school, his colleges and the College Board to never release his grades or SAT scores,” framing the instruction as part of a broader pattern of Trump portraying himself as academically brilliant while guarding the records that could prove otherwise [1] [3].
2. The tangible evidence Cohen produced to Congress
In support of his testimony, Cohen provided a May 2015 letter he said he had sent to the president of Fordham University warning of legal consequences if Trump’s records were disclosed; that letter and Cohen’s claim that he had written similar communications were described in contemporaneous reporting and incorporated into the congressional record [4] [2] [5].
3. How news organizations corroborated or qualified the claim
Major outlets — including The New York Times, AP, TIME, PBS, The Hill and others — reported Cohen’s statement and the letter to Fordham, noting that Fordham confirmed receiving at least one such warning and that some institutions either declined to comment or had no record of communications; for example, New York Military Academy told AP it had no record of contact but also noted staff turnover that could explain gaps [2] [4] [5].
4. The legal and practical backdrop Cohen invoked
Reporters pointed out that student records are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which generally limits public release of grades and standardized test results without consent; Cohen emphasized the contrast between Trump’s public criticism of Barack Obama for not releasing college records and his own private efforts to block release of his records [3] [5].
5. The counter-narrative: credibility and motive disputes
The Trump campaign and allies immediately attacked Cohen’s credibility, a line of defense repeatedly amplified in subsequent trials and cross-examinations where Cohen’s past false statements and convictions have been used to question his testimony; reporting on later courtroom proceedings also highlights the defense strategy of portraying Cohen as untrustworthy and motivated by revenge or publicity [2] [6] [7].
6. Broader context and why it mattered to Congress
Cohen placed the transcript threats within a larger portrait offered to lawmakers — that Trump presented himself as exceptionally capable while directing steps to hide inconvenient records — a narrative bolstered by Cohen’s description of Trump as a “con man” and a “cheat,” which reporters treated as part of Cohen’s overall attempt to explain behavior and motive during the 2016 campaign [3] [8].
7. Caveats and unresolved threads
While Cohen produced a Fordham letter and multiple news organizations reported on confirmations or denials from some schools, not every allegation had identical documentary corroboration in public reporting — for example, at least one school told reporters it had no record of receiving a Cohen communication — and readers should note that debates about Cohen’s credibility and the precise scope of the outreach to institutions continued in news coverage and later court cross-examination [4] [2] [6].