Michael Cohen’s legal team added a few new players to its roster just in time for his upcoming - and rescheduled - testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee.
As President Trump’s former personal attorney prepares to testify behind closed doors next month and readies for a prison term, Cohen’s own lawyer, Lanny Davis, announced on Monday that two more attorneys have joined Cohen’s representation. Davis' announcement came just hours before House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., announced that Cohen agreed to testify on Feb. 8.
"I want to thank Michael Cohen for agreeing to appear voluntarily before the Committee for closed testimony on February 8, 2019," Schiff said in a statement. "Mr. Cohen has relayed to the Committee his legitimate concerns for his own safety as well as that of his family, which have been fueled by improper comments made by the President and his lawyer."
Schiff added: "[E]fforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family members, or prevent them from testifying before Congress are tactics we expect from organized crime, not the White House. These attacks on Mr. Cohen’s family must stop."
Joining Cohen's legal team are Michael Monico, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney from the Northern District of Illinois, and longtime criminal defense attorney Barry Spevack to help Cohen navigate his cooperation in the investigations being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the New York Attorney General’s Office and the congressional committees seeking his testimony.
“We look forward to helping Mr. Cohen fulfill what he has told us is his only mission - to tell the truth as he knows it and to turn the corner on his past life and taking ownership for his past mistakes by cooperating as best as he can with all governmental authorities in search of the truth,” Monico and Spevack said in a joint statement.
MICHAEL COHEN SUBPOENAED TO TESTIFY BEFORE SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
The announcement of Cohen beefing up his legal team came just days after the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed him for an interview. Davis said Cohen intends to comply with the interview demand next month.
Cohen earlier last week delayed his appearance before the House Oversight Committee on the advice of his legal team, citing ongoing cooperation in Mueller's Russia investigation and threats against his family. Trump, along with his attorney Rudy Giuliani, has urged the Justice Department to investigate Cohen's father-in-law, insinuating that Cohen's relative was part of some unspecified criminal activity.
MICHAEL COHEN POSTPONES CAPITOL HILL TESTIMONY, CLAIMING 'ONGOING THREATS' FROM TRUMP
The original decision to postpone the House interview pushed back the chance of a public airing on additional details of Cohen's relationship with Trump, including hush-money payments that Cohen has admitted helping arrange for two women who say they had sex with the president. Trump has denied the allegation.
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Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying to the Senate Intelligence Committee about his role in a Trump business proposal in Moscow, acknowledging he misled lawmakers by saying he had abandoned the project in January 2016 when he actually continued pursuing it for months after that and deep into the presidential campaign. He also has pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations for his involvement in payments to a former Playboy model and an adult-film actress over alleged affairs with Trump.
Cohen is set to begin a three-year prison sentence in March.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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