Cohen Gets Senate Panel Subpoena After Dropping House Appearance

(Bloomberg) -- Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, received a subpoena Thursday to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to his lawyer Lanny Davis, one day after Cohen postponed his testimony to a separate House panel citing fears for his safety.

The Senate panel, which is conducing a bipartisan probe into Russian election meddling, has made clear it wants to hear more from Cohen, who admitted that he lied to Congress. His appearance would probably be held behind closed doors, which is how the committee has done most of its work. The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 12, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Cohen was scheduled to testify publicly on Feb. 7 before the House Oversight Committee, but asked for it be postponed after Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani began implying Cohen’s father-in-law should be investigated, Davis, Cohen’s lawyer and spokesman, said in an interview Wednesday.

House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings told reporters Wednesday that the committee hadn’t decided yet if it would issue a subpoena, but that the panel "will get the testimony as sure as night becomes day and day becomes night.”

Trump, who has called Cohen a liar and “rat,” said in a tweet on Jan. 18 that Cohen is “Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!"

In a Fox News interview last month, Trump said Cohen’s father-in-law “is a very rich guy, I hear.” Referring to Cohen, the president asked, “Did he make a deal to keep his father-in-law out? Did he make a deal to keep his wife, who supposedly, maybe I’m wrong, but you can check it, did he make keep -- make a deal to keep his wife out of trouble?"

Cohen has pleaded guilty to nine felonies and is due to turn himself in on March 6 to begin serving a three-year prison sentence. Cummings said Congress can get Cohen from prison to testify, if need be.

Cohen has said Trump directed him to break campaign finance laws by paying hush-money payoffs to two women and and that he lied to Congress to hide that negotiations to build a Trump tower in Moscow continued well into the 2016 presidential campaign.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shannon Pettypiece in Washington at spettypiece@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert

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