In the wake of her pointed questioning of Donald Trump‘s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was on the receiving end of widespread praise after observers suggested that she may have laid the groundwork for a formal request of Trump’s financial records.
The Cohen hearing was AOC’s first as a freshman lawmaker, and she asked Cohen about reports that Trump lied to insurance companies and the IRS in an alleged scheme to bilk private businesses and the government.
“Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?” Ocasio-Cortez asked Cohen at one point during the hearing.
“Yes, and you would find it at the Trump Org,” Cohen replied.
AOC received a particular point of praise of scientist and writer Matt Blaze, who took to Twitter on Tuesday to marvel at what he described as her prosecutorial-like skills.
Are we sure @AOC is a former bartender and not a former prosecutor? That was a pretty amazing line of questions today.
— matt blaze (@mattblaze) February 28, 2019
“Are we sure @AOC is a former bartender and not a former prosecutor?,” Blaze tweeted. “That was a pretty amazing line of questions today.”
The tweet caught the eye of AOC, who took a moment to thank him and explain that her savviness came from working as a bartender in New York City.
Thanks!
Bartending + waitressing (especially in NYC) means you talk to 1000s of people over the years. Forces you to get great at reading people + hones a razor-sharp BS detector.
Just goes to show that what some consider to be “unskilled labor” can actually be anything but 😉 https://t.co/pcVKe5XKdm
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2019
“Thanks!” AOC replied. “Bartending + waitressing (especially in NYC) means you talk to 1000s of people over the years. Forces you to get great at reading people + hones a razor-sharp BS detector.”
“Just goes to show that what some consider to be ‘unskilled labor’ can actually be anything but,” she added with a winking emoji.
In a glowing piece for The New York Times, Caroline Fredrickson echoed Blaze’s observation, saying that AOC peppered Cohen with questions “like a good prosecutor” and established the “factual basis for further committee investigation.”
“She asked one question at a time, avoided long-winded speeches on why she was asking the question, and listened carefully to his answer, which gave her the basis for a follow-up inquiry,” Fredrickson wrote. “As a result, Mr. Cohen gave specific answers about Mr. Trump’s shady practices, along with a road map for how to find out more. Mr. Cohen began his testimony calling Mr. Trump a ‘con man and a cheat’; In just five minutes, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez actually helped him lay out the facts to substantiate those charges.”
Watch AOC’s exchange with Cohen in the video below:
Featured image via screen grab/Washington Post
