Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff said testimony from President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen was delayed on Wednesday, according to CNBC.
“In the interests of the investigation, Michael Cohen’s testimony has been postponed until February 28th,” Schiff (D-CA) said in a brief statement.
Cohen was scheduled to testify behind closed doors on Friday after previously admitting he lied to House and Senate intelligence committees during their investigations into Russian interference and collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
It's the second time a House committee has postponed an appearance from Cohen, who was also scheduled to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.
Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings announced last month that the hearing was postponed and has not announced a new date.
Cohen was also subpoenaed to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee next week.
The House Intelligence Committee also voted on Wednesday to send more than four dozen unredacted transcripts from its Russia investigation to special counsel Robert Mueller, according to Republican Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas.
This is the first action of the committee under Chairman Schiff after they already sent one transcript to Mueller after the probe requested Roger Stone's interview.
Stone was arrested last month and accused of lying to the committee during his testimony.
Schiff had already tried to send the unredacted transcripts to Mueller last month but with Republicans still in control, the GOP Representatives blocked his attempt claiming Mueller did not request them.
The interviews that will be sent over include Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and senior campaign aides Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon and Hope Hicks.
The list also includes several Obama administration officials and other Trump associates.
Trump's former lawyer is scheduled to begin his three-year prison sentence on March 6 after he was sentenced in December for tax and campaign finance crimes and lying to Congress during his previous testimony in 2017.
Several other congressional committees have also expressed interest in speaking with Cohen but it's uncertain if they will be able to before his prison term begins.
Cohen's legal advisor Lanny Davis declined to comment Wednesday, but Cohen's previously-scheduled appearance before the House Oversight Committee was delayed by "ongoing threats" from Trump and his current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Trump had tweeted for his supporters to "watch" Cohen's father-in-law who was placed on probation decades ago after pleading guilty in a case where he was charged with conspiring to defraud the IRS.
Giuliani baselessly claimed Cohen's father-in-law could have ties to organized crime and was involved in criminal activity with Cohen.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Julie Jacobson
