Politics

Here Is When Michael Cohen Will Appear Before Congress

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Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, will testify before Congress next month, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee announced Thursday.

“I thank Michael Cohen for agreeing to testify before the Oversight Committee voluntarily,” Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings said in a statement announcing Cohen’s highly-anticipated testimony.

“I want to make clear that we have no interest in inappropriately interfering with any ongoing criminal investigations, and to that end, we are in the process of consulting with Special Counsel Mueller’s office. The Committee will announce additional information in the coming weeks.”

Cohen said in a statement that he had accepted Cummings’ invitation and “look[s] forward to having the privilege of being afforded a platform with which to give a full and credible account of the events which have transpired.”

Asked about the development, President Trump said that he is not concerned about what Cohen might tell Congress.

“No, I’m not worried about it at all,” Trump told reporters during a visit to Mission, Tex.

Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison on Dec. 12, 2018, has said that he would be willing to speak to Congress about his work for Trump after the conclusion of the special counsel’s investigation. It is not clear whether Mueller has indicated that his investigation will be wrapped up by the time Cohen appears on Capitol Hill.

Cohen pleaded guilty on Aug. 21, 2018 to a series of bank fraud and tax evasion charges. He also pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions in the form of a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claims she had an affair with Trump.

Cohen has claimed that Trump instructed him to make the payment.

Cohen pleaded guilty on Nov. 29, 2018 in the special counsel’s probe to lying to Congress about the extent of his attempts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

The longtime Trump fixer will likely face questions on all of those matters, as well as about whether he colluded with Russian government officials to influence the 2016 election. Cohen is accused in the infamous Steele dossier of traveling to Prague in August or September 2016 to meet with Kremlin operatives in Prague to arrange payments to Russian hackers.

That allegation resurfaced in a recent McClatchy article which claimed that Mueller has been provided with electronic evidence showing that Cohen’s cell phone pinged off of a tower near Prague.

Cohen and his adviser, Lanny Davis, have vigorously denied the report. Notably, Cohen was not charged with lying to Congress about the dossier, even though he denied the allegations made in that report.

Cohen’s hearing date is subject to change, Cummings noted.

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