President Donald Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, is set to testify Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee.
Cohen is expected to make his most public and wide-ranging statements detailing his inside knowledge of the president's business dealings, character, and flouting of campaign finance and tax laws.
Watch the hearing below, beginning at 10:00am EST.
The hearing will be Cohen's second of three on Capitol Hill this week. According to his opening testimony, which was released early Wednesday, the president's former "fixer" is expected to call Trump a "racist," a "conman," and a "cheat," and express regret for the "misplaced loyalty" he showed the president while employed by him for more than a decade.
In his testimony, Cohen will say that Trump—despite the president's repeated denials—was given advance notice in the summer of 2016 about Wikileaks' plan to release a trove of emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign.
"Donald Trump is a man who ran for office to make his brand great, not to make our country great," Cohen's prepared remarks read. "He had no desire or intention to lead this nation—only to market himself and to build his wealth and power. Mr. Trump would often say, this campaign was going to be the 'greatest infomercial in political history.'"
Cohen's highly anticipated testimony follows delays earlier this month due to alleged "threats" against Cohen and his family by Trump and his allies. The hearing also follows Cohen's sentencing to three years in prison, after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress, tax evasion, and bank fraud.
Cohen testified behind closed doors on Tuesday afternoon before the Senate Intelligence committee, which is investigating Trump's 2016 campaign and its alleged contacts with Russia. On Thursday he is also scheduled to testify publicly before the House Intelligence Committee on the same matter.
Read Cohen's full prepared testimony below:
- A copy of a check Mr. Trump wrote from his personal bank account -- after he became president - to reimburse me for the hush money payments I made to cover up his affair with an adult film star and prevent damage to his campaign;
- Copies of financial statements for 2011 -- 2013 that he gave to such institutions as Deutsche Bank;
- A copy of an article with Mr. Trump's handwriting on it that reported on the auction of a portrait of himself -- he arranged for the bidder ahead of time and then reimbursed the bidder from the account of his non-profit charitable foundation, with the picture now hanging in one of his country clubs; and
- Copies of letters I wrote at Mr. Trump's direction that threatened his high school, colleges, and the College Board not to release his grades or SAT scores.
Thank you for your attention. I am happy to answer the Committee's questions