Michael Cohen, the former US president´s attorney, revealed on Wednesday his truth story when he appeared before a parliamentary committee at a public hearing in which he would answer questions about Donald Trump´s private business and his ties to Russia, Elections.
Trump tried Wednesday to distance himself from Michael Cohen, saying in a tweet that he was "one of the many lawyers who unfortunately represent me."
"He is lying to reduce his prison term," Trump said from Hanoi, where he is holding a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, adding that Cohen was barred from practicing law in New York State because he lied to Congress.
According to a prepared statement distributed to the New York Times and other American media, Cohen Trump will be accused of being "racist" and "fraudulent" and will confirm that he was aware that WikiLeaks intends to publish e-mails that were stolen following the hacking campaign accounts of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Cohen will also explain how Trump gave him instructions to lie about a lucrative construction project that was being negotiated in Russia during the presidential campaign.
After a closed Tuesday hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the first of three congressional hearings expected this week, Trump´s former lawyer said: "I am eagerly waiting to convey to the Americans my story, and let them decide who is telling the truth."
Wednesday´s session before the House Oversight Committee, which was dominated by the Democrats in the last election, will be public and broadcast directly on television.
CNN said Trump would continue the session during breaks during his negotiations with Kim.
The Post quoted sources familiar with the file as saying that Cohen would speak during his testimony about Trump about his "lies, racism and deceit" as a businessman and president of the republic.
The committee, which includes Democrats from the left of the Democratic Party, Alexandra Okazio-Cortez and Rachida Tlaib, is expected to question the Trump´s finances for 10 years, the Trump tax data, suspicious financial accounts of his company and the construction of a tower in Moscow in 2016.
The committee will also raise the $ 280,000 issue in which Cohen bought the silence of Sturmie Daniels and Karen McDougain during the election campaign so as not to reveal a relationship they had linked to Trump.
In the 52nd year, Cohen turned the Trump family´s secrets into a dangerous witness after agreeing to cooperate with justice.
He was convicted in December of three years´ imprisonment for tax fraud, false testimony under oath and violation of the electoral law. He will enter prison on 6 May.
Trump´s supporters are concerned.
"Tonight´s evening may be the right time for this talk," Florida Attorney Matt Gates wrote on Twitter, referring to Cohen: "Did your wife and father know about your mistresses?" Before denying to the media that he was trying to intimidate the witness.
Cohen made clear Tuesday his position on his brief testimony during the first hearing before the Senate Committee in 2017, especially about his contacts with Russian officials on a project to build a tower in Moscow in 2016.
"During the talks we had during the campaign, while I was negotiating in Russia on his behalf, (Trump) was looking into my eyes and saying that there was no project in Russia, and then came out and lied to," Cohen said Wednesday. American people repeat the same phrase. "
"In his own way, he was asking me to lie," Cohen said, explaining that Trump was lying because he did not expect to win the election and was betting on making hundreds of millions of dollars from the project.
"I feel shame because I know who Trump is - he is racist, fraudulent and deceitful," Cohen said.
And about Trump´s racism, Cohen says it is "far worse" than it appears to the public. Trump "once asked me if I could name one country led by a black man and not a scumbag country." At that time Barack Obama was the president of the United States.
"We used to pass through one of Chicago´s sensitive neighborhoods," Trump said, "only black people can live this way." Black told me that blacks will never vote because they are more stupid than that, but I have continued to work with him, "he said.
From Hanoi, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders questioned Cohen´s credibility, calling him "a disgraceful criminal."
"It is absurd to believe a guilty liar like Cohen and it is pathetic to give him a new opportunity to spread his lies," she said.
Cohen is on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss the most sensitive issue as Trump continues with the Russians during the 2016 election campaign and the possibility of two-way collusion to defeat Hillary Clinton, which Trump and Moscow strongly deny.
But Cohen will not address the investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller about suspicions of complicity and the attempt to obstruct the work of the magistrate´s court. "The former president´s lawyers have cooperated with the investigation, which appears to be coming to an end.
The hearings were postponed several times, with Cohen confirming that he had received "threats" against his family after publicly expressing his remorse for covering up the "crimes" of his former client.
He also confirmed that he had paid for Trump´s supposed "request".
He also admitted in January that he had paid money to manipulate opinion polls to show results for the billionaire at the start of his campaign in 2016.
