LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Senate investigators called off an expected closed-door interview Tuesday [9-19-17] with Michael Cohen, saying they were upset that the longtime lawyer to President Donald Trump released a statement denying any role in Russian meddling in the 2016 election after the committee asked him not to comment publicly.
The Senate Intelligence Committee now expects to schedule a public hearing with Cohen, as opposed to what was supposed to be a private interview on Tuesday, committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and top Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia said in a joint statement…
Cohen has come under increased scrutiny since it became public that he communicated with Russian officials about a proposal to build a Trump building in Moscow at the same time that Trump was campaigning in the GOP primaries.
On Tuesday morning, Cohen released what was intended as his prepared opening remarks, saying he had no involvement in any Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election. The statement was released shortly after Cohen arrived on Capitol Hill for his scheduled interview. He spent over an hour with committee staffers in a classified committee room before emerging to announce that his testimony had been postponed.
‘I’ll be back, and I look forward to giving all the information that they’re looking for,’ Cohen told reporters.
His lawyer, Stephen Ryan, said the postponement came at the request of the intelligence panel, which is probing Russia and the 2016 election.”
-Austin Wright, “Trump lawyer’s planned Russia testimony called off,” Politico, Sept. 19, 2017 12:29pm