The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday abruptly canceled an interview with Michael Cohen, President Trump’s confidant and ex-lawyer, after he blabbed to the media prior to his testimony in violation of an agreement with the panel.
The session was part of the committee’s probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion with Team Trump, and Cohen was expected to deny any involvement with the Russians.
Cohen left the closed-door meeting after an hour, but said his lawyer said he’d volunteer to come back at a later date.
“We will come back for a voluntary interview whenever we can to meet with them and we look forward to voluntarily cooperating with the House committee and with anyone else who has an inquiry in this area,” Cohen’s lawyer Steve Ryan said.
Ryan had said that Cohen stood by written testimony obtained by The Washington Post and that he had submitted it to the committee for its review.
“That statement was factual, it was accurate, it was respectful and we stand behind that statement,” Ryan said.
According to the written statement, Cohen was going to testify that he had “never engaged with, been paid by, paid for or conversed with any member of the Russian Federation or anyone else to hack or interfere with the election,” the paper reported.
“I emphatically state that I had nothing to do with any Russian involvement in our electoral process,” he said.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) later issued a statement castigating Cohen.
“We were disappointed that Mr. Cohen decided to pre-empt today’s interview by releasing a public statement prior to his engagement with Committee staff, in spite of the Committee’s requests that he refrain from public comment,” the said.
“As a result, we declined to move forward with today’s interview and will reschedule Mr. Cohen’s appearance before the Committee in open session at a date in the near future. The Committee expects witnesses in this investigation to work in good faith with the Senate.”