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11:07, 01-Mar-2019
House panel had 'productive' interview with Trump ex-lawyer Cohen
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U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was "fully cooperative" during closed-door testimony before a congressional committee investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. election, the panel's chairman said Thursday.
Democrat Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Cohen would return for further questioning next Wednesday to give lawmakers another chance to follow up on allegations of wrongdoing that Cohen leveled at his former boss this week.
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"I think we all feel it was a very productive interview today where he was able to shed light on a lot of issues that are very important to our investigation. We were able to drill down in great detail," Schiff told reporters.
"I am committed to telling the truth and I will be back on March 6 to finish up. There's more to discuss," said Cohen after testifying in a closed hearing before a congressional panel on Thursday.
According to Schiff, the panel also will talk to Felix Sater, a Russian-born property developer and former business associate of Trump, in a public session on March 14 to talk about efforts to build a Trump tower in Moscow.
Michael Cohen, former attorney of U.S. President Donald Trump, gets emotional during a closing statement by Republican Elijah Cummings (D-MD) after Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee in Washington, February 27, 2019. /VCG Photo
Michael Cohen, former attorney of U.S. President Donald Trump, gets emotional during a closing statement by Republican Elijah Cummings (D-MD) after Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee in Washington, February 27, 2019. /VCG Photo
Sater, who worked with Cohen on the project while Trump was running for president, has said he and Cohen at one point talked about giving a 50 million U.S. dollars penthouse to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a way to justify raising the prices of other units in the envisioned tower.
Cohen pleaded guilty last year to lying to Congress about the Moscow project, but Schiff said he answered all of the panel's questions. The testimony will eventually be made public, he said.
Cohen spoke before three congressional panels this week that are examining Russian election meddling and any collusion with the Trump campaign.
Committee chairman Republican Elijah Cummings (D-MD) addresses the press after Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee in Washington, February 27, 2019.
Committee chairman Republican Elijah Cummings (D-MD) addresses the press after Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee in Washington, February 27, 2019.
In dramatic public testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee, Trump's one-time "fixer" accused the president of breaking the law while in office and said for the first time that Trump knew in advance about a WikiLeaks dump of stolen emails that hurt his 2016 election opponent Hillary Clinton.
Democrat Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said his panel would further investigate issues raised by Cohen's testimony and may try to get the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and his former accountant, Allen Weisselberg, to testify.
(Cover: Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to media after testifying in a closed-door House Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington, February 28, 2019. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): Reuters