BREAKING NEWS

Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen to testify publicly before U.S. Congress

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen said on Thursday he had agreed to testify publicly before a congressional panel on Feb. 7, as US House of Representatives Democrats began kicking off numerous investigations of Trump, his business interests and his administration.
Cohen said in a statement he had accepted an invitation to testify from Representative Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
"I look 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," Cohen said.
Cummings said the committee has no intention of interfering in ongoing criminal probes. He said, "To that end, we are in the process of consulting with Special Counsel Mueller’s office."
Special Counsel Robert Mueller for many months has been investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election, possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign and potential obstruction of justice.
Russia has denied US intelligence agencies' findings that it meddled in the 2016 campaign, while Trump has denied any collusion with Moscow and called Mueller's probe a "witch hunt." The investigation has clouded Trump's presidency.
Cohen was sentenced in December to three years in prison for his role in making illegal hush-money payments to two women to help Trump in 2016 in violation of campaign laws, and for lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower project in Russia.