Did you forget about Michael Cohen? Don’t worry, Congress hasn’t.
After citing “threats made against his family“ after President Donald Trump and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani made public remarks concerning Cohen’s father-in-law earlier this year, Cohen will testify publicly before Congress on February 27th. Cohen is expected to field questions on an array of topics next Wednesday, most of them directly linked to his time working for Trump, his longtime boss.
Cohen will also appear before Congress in a closed-door session the following day, according to NPR.
Cohen, who had also canceled his scheduled closed-door testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees, is expected to field questions concerning “debts and payments relating to efforts to influence the 2016 election” among other topics, according to a list released by Rep. Elijah Cummings.
“I am pleased to announce that Michael Cohen’s public testimony before the Oversight Committee is back on, despite efforts by some to intimidate his family members and prevent him from appearing,” Cummings said in a statement released Wednesday. Cummings told media the list of topics Cohen has agreed to discuss were developed after meeting with the Department of Justice.
Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer who secretly recorded conversations with his boss, is also expected to comment on the accuracy of a number of public statements made by Trump, as well as potentially fraudulent activity by the Trump Foundation. After pleading guilty to 9 counts in a pair of federal cases, Cohen has already pointed the finger at Trump in some of the cases to which his sentence will be tied. Last August, Cohen admitted that he acted “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office” while withholding or burying information that would have imperiled the Trump campaign.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Trump attempted to convince his personal friend, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, to oversee the investigation that netted Cohen a jail sentence. The Times also reported that Trump attempted to convince former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to un-recuse himself from the probe to appoint Berman to oversee the investigation.
Cohen, who is expected to testify at three congressional hearings, was scheduled to begin his three-year prison stint in early March. Cohen pled guilty to campaign finance law violations and other financial crimes, including tax evasion and falsifying documents.
Cohen, whose sentence will now begin on May 6th, tweeted his excitement.
“The schedule has been set,” Cohen wrote. “Looking forward to the American people hearing my story in my voice!”