When Michael Cohen appears before the House Oversight Committee next month, his public testimony will be severely limited thanks to his ongoing cooperation with multiple federal investigations.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Cohen will be prevented from discussing matters he divulged to both special counsel Robert Mueller and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office.
That means the public may learn less than they hoped about matters involving Cohen’s contacts with Russia, hush-money payments Cohen made to women on Trump’s behalf, and the Trump Organization’s finances. But the Feb. 7 open hearing is still highly anticipated given Cohen’s dramatic public break with President Trump over the past year after nearly a decade in Trump’s service.
“He’s going to tell the story of what it’s like to work for a madman, and why he did it for so long,” a person close to Cohen told the Journal. “He’s going to say things that will give you chills.”
The newspaper reported that the committee is still working with Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York to define the limits of Cohen’s testimony.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) has said he plans to call Cohen in for a closed-door hearing to answer additional questions related to the Russia probe, though Cohen’s testimony would likely still be somewhat limited in that setting.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in December for committing a host of financial crimes.
