Michael Cohen, Trump’s Former Lawyer, Agrees to Testify to Congress – The New York Times

“I want to make clear that we have no interest in inappropriately interfering with any ongoing criminal investigations,” Mr. Cummings said.

Lawmakers of both parties have sought to protect Mr. Mueller since he was appointed. That is likely to be a key theme of the Senate confirmation hearing next week for Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William P. Barr, who could soon oversee the Mueller investigation. Democratic lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee sought assurances from Mr. Barr on Thursday that he would not interfere with the investigation as it wraps up. But they left private meetings with him saying that they would need a public pledge during his hearing.

Mr. Cummings said in a brief interview on Thursday that he had known Mr. Cohen would testify for some time and had spoken with him when arranging the hearing.

“He’ll have a chance to tell his side of the story, and we’ll have a chance to question him,” he said. “The American people deserve that.”

In a CNN interview in December, Mr. Cummings compared Mr. Cohen’s appearance to that of John Dean, President Richard M. Nixon’s White House counsel, in 1973 before a special Senate committee investigating the Watergate scandal. Mr. Dean implicated himself, top administration officials and the president in a cover-up of the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

“This is a watershed moment,” Mr. Cummings said, invoking Mr. Dean, who he said “changed the course of America” with his testimony.

It was unclear whether Mr. Cohen’s agreement to testify before the Oversight Committee would preclude appearances, in public or private, before other House panels.