President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen testifies before lawmakers on Capitol Hill

Cohen’s testimony comes as Washington prepares for the final report from the special counsel’s nearly two-year investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

The irony of Cohen’s testimony two months before he reports to federal prison for lying to Congress was not lost on lawmakers. “I’ve made it abundantly clear to Mr. Cohen if he comes here today, and he does not tell the truth, I will be the first to refer those untruthful statements to the DOJ,” Chairman Elijah Cummings said when opening the hearing.

Cohen’s high-profile hearing got underway with Republican and Democratic lawmakers sniping at each other before he even began speaking. Cohen faced intensive questioning by members of the committee about the lies he told to congressional investigators in 2017.

Follow along below for live updates on the hearing:

Cohen calls out lawmakers for not asking about Trump

12:30 p.m.: “Between yourself and your colleagues, no question since I have been here has been asked about President Trump, that’s actually why I was coming today, not to confess the mistakes I’ve made, I’ve already done that,” Cohen told Jordan.

He added, “The American people don’t care about my taxes, they want to know what I know [about Trump].”

Hearing resumes with questions on Cohen book deal

12:25 p.m.: Cohen told Rep. Virginia Foxx that he could not commit under oath that he would not follow through on any potential book and movie deals based on his work and experiences with the president.

Committee takes a break

More than two hours into the hearing, Cohen requested a break. The chairman agreed. The break lasts 10 minutes.

Cohen and Meadows have testy exchange

11:59 a.m.: Cohen and Trump ally Rep. Mark Meadows got into a heated exchange, in which Cohen said he is a nice guy, and Meadows said the record speaks differently.

Cohen: “Shame on you, Mr. Jordan”

11:30 a.m. Jordan claimed Cohen is showing no remorse for his actions.

Cohen took issue with that claim.

“Shame on you, Mr. Jordan,” the president’s former lawyer said, a highly unusual statement from a witness to a member of Congress.

Cohen says he’s spoken to the special counsel seven times

During his testimony, Cohen said he has spoken with the special counsel seven times.

Trump sons weigh in on Cohen claims

11:17 a.m.: President Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric, weighed in on Cohen’s claims that he never wanted to work in the White House, slamming his testimony as untrue.

“Michael was lobbying EVERYONE to be ‘Chief of Staff.’ It was the biggest joke in the campaign and around the office. Did he just perjure himself again?” Eric wondered on Twitter.

Trump Jr. echoed his brother, tweeting, “Michael Cohen begged to work at the White House and everyone knows it.” He added that it was the “biggest joke of the entire transition. The beginning of his bitterness was when he realized that was never going to happen.”

Cohen suggests Trump family conflicted by foreign adversaries before campaign

11:13 a.m: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz asked Cohen if there was reason to believe that the entire Trump family was conflicted by or compromised with a foreign adversary months before the 2016 election, Cohen replied, “Yes.”

Wasserman Schultz, who was head of the DNC at the time of its hacking, pressed Cohen on the WikiLeaks email dumps. Cohen testified that the president had “advanced notice” about the dump of emails.

Wasserman Schultz later said that the Trump campaign appeared to be “filthy with Russian contact” throughout the majority of the race. Asked if Mr. Trump was “fully aware and had every intent of working with Russia to help make sure he could win the presidency at all costs,” Cohen replied that “Mr. Trump’s desire to win would have him work with anyone.”

Jordan presses Cohen on pattern of lies

11:05 a.m.: “Did you lie to protect the president or did you lie to protect yourself?” Rep. Jim Jordan pressed Cohen, suggesting he had a history of lying repeatedly, bringing up his past financial crimes against him.

Jordan brought up a “Women for Michael Cohen” Twitter account that said Cohen is “handsome” and “sexy” as an example.

“That was not done to protect the president,” Cohen said, claiming he didn’t create the account.

“We were having fun during a stressful time.”

Cohen compares Trump to “mobster” for attacks

10:57 a.m.:“I never imagined that he would engage in vicious, false attacks on my family — and unleash his TV-lawyer to do the same. I hope this committee and all members of Congress on both sides of the aisle will make it clear: As a nation, we should not tolerate attempts to intimidate witnesses before Congress and attacks on family are out of bounds and not acceptable,” said Cohen.

Cohen made those remarks as Rep. Mat Gaetz, R-Florida, stood on the side of the hearing room watching as Cohen delivered his remarks. Gaetz, who isn’t on the House Oversight Committee, deleted his controversial tweet about Cohen last night — which many saw as threatening — and apologized.

Cohen says he wouldn’t accept a pardon

10:51 a.m.: “I have lied but I am not a liar … I have fixed things, but I am no longer your fixer, Mr. Trump,” Cohen testified.

He went on to say he is going to jail, but is not trying to get a pardon and wouldn’t accept one from the president even if offered.

Cohen says he has “suspicions” Trump campaign colluded with Russia

10:49 a.m.: “Questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia. I do not. I want to be clear. But I have my suspicions,” Cohen said.

Cohen told lawmakers he remembered Donald Trump Jr. informing his father that a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower had been arranged involving members of the Trump campaign and a representative of the Russian government to potentially discuss “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. He said the interaction between son and father struck him as odd as Mr. Trump had “frequently told me and others that his son Don Jr. had the worst judgement of anyone in the world.”

Cohen added that “nothing went on in Trump world, especially the campaign, without Mr. Trump’s knowledge and approval.”

Cohen says Trump lied about bone spur medical deferment from draft

10:48 a.m.: Cohen said that when asked for medical records to back up the president’s claims on the campaign trail that he suffered from a bone spur, leading to a medical deferment from the Vietnam draft, “he gave me non and said there was no surgery.”

Cohen said Mr. Trump had told him not to answer any specific questions from reporters. “He finished the conversation with the following comment. ‘You think I’m stupid? I’m not going to Vietnam,'” Cohen recalled.

The former attorney said it was “ironic” that Mr. Trump now finds himself in Vietnam conducting a summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Cohen details Trump’s disparaging comments about African Americans

10:39 a.m.: Cohen notes the president has been accused of courting white supremacists, but he claims the reality is “worse.”

“He once asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a ‘sh**hole.’ This was when Barack Obama was president of the United States,” Cohen said. “While we were once driving through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago, he commented that only black people could live that way. And, he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid.”

Roger Stone says Cohen’s statements are “not true”

10:33 a.m.: In response to Cohen’s claim that he witnessed a call between then-candidate Trump and Roger Stone in which Stone disclosed there would be “a massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton,” Stone said in a statement to CBS News, “Mr. Cohen’s statement is not true.”

The statement, however, appears to be a clear violation of Stone’s newly imposed gag order.

Reporting by Julia Kimani Burnham and Paula Reid

Cohen says he lied to Congress because he was “protecting” Trump

10:30 a.m.: Cohen testified he lied to Congress about Mr. Trump’s involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations, saying the president was aware of them well into the 2016 presidential campaign, and directed negotiations.

“Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it,” Cohen said. “He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project. And so I lied about it, too — because Mr. Trump had made clear to me, through his personal statements to me that we both knew were false and through his lies to the country, that he wanted me to lie.”

Cohen said that Mr. Trump’s lawyers “reviewed and edited” his testimony to Congress about the timing of the project before he gave it.

Cohen says Trump bought portrait at auction with funds from charity

10:29 a.m.: Cohen said the president had arranged for a straw bidder to purchase a portrait of Mr. Trump in advance of an auction and later reimbursed the bidder from the account of his non-profit charitable foundation. The picture now hands in one of his Trump International golf clubs.

The president at the time tweeted he had “just found out” the portrait of himself had been sold for $60,000.

Cohen submits payment for Stormy Daniels cover-up to Congress

10:28 a.m.: Cohen provided Congress documents showing a copy of $35,000 check Mr. Trump made out to Cohen from his personal bank account to pay off adult film star Stormy Daniels, to avoid any money being traced back to the president and the campaign. Mr. Trump previously denied having any knowledge of such payments when asked by reporters.

Here is a copy of that check:

Cohen says he knows the real Trump

10:26 a.m.: “He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat,” Cohen said of the president in his opening remarks.

Cohen details in his remarks that Mr. Trump knew his confidant Roger Stone was coordinating with Julian Assange about a WikiLeaks dump of DNC emails and that Mr. Trump not only knew about Trump Tower Moscow negotiations well into the 2016 presidential campaign, but directed them.

While Cohen is not expected to answer any specific questions about Mueller’s Russia probe, CBS News’ Paula Reid reports that Cohen is not talking about collusion in the WikiLeaks case — he is implying the president may have lied to the special counsel about these events.

Reid reports that Cohen’s testimony doesn’t prove anything but raises questions about whether Mr. Trump’s answers to written questions from the special counsel’s office match what other witnesses and evidence indicate happened.

Cohen expresses shame and regret for working for Trump

10:25 a.m.: Cohen repeatedly testifies that he’s “ashamed” of his actions, namely for saying “yes” to Mr. Trump.”

“I regret the day I said “yes” to Mr. Trump. I regret all the help and support I gave him along the way.”

Cohen says that he’s accepted responsibility for his own failings, pointing to his violation of campaign finance laws for his role in accepting hush money to conceal the president’s alleged affair. “I am ashamed that I chose to take park in concealing Mr. Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience,” he said.

Cohen sworn in

10:25 a.m.: Cohen is formally sworn-in before the hearing and prepares to give his testimony.

Jim Jordan says Lanny Davis “arranged” the Cohen hearing

10:19 a.m.: “Lanny Davis put this all together,” ranking member Jordan said. He marveled at the choice of Cohen to testify as the first witness before the committee since it fell under Democratic control. It’s the first time a “convicted perjurer has been brought back to be a star witness in a hearing…no other committee would do it,” Jordan said.

Cummings: “The American people have a right to hear the other side”

10:15 a.m.: “Every one of us in this room has a duty to serve as an independent check on the executive branch. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in search of the truth,” said Cummings in his opening remarks.

“The testimony Mr. Cohen will provide is deeply disturbing and should be troubling for all Americans,” he added. Cummings said he will be the first one to refer Cohen’s “untruthful statements” to the Department of Justice if he attempts to lie once again to members of Congress.

Hearing resumes

10:08 a.m.: “The American people have a right to hear him so we’re going to proceed, the American people can judge his credibility for themselves,” Cummings said after a roll call was held to resume the hearing.

Mark Meadows attempts to stop testimony

10:02 a.m.: House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Mark Meadows attempted to postpone the hearing saying it was an “intentional effort” by Cohen to “show his disdain” for the congressional body by not providing his testimony more than 24 hours in advance.

“We should not stand for it as a body,” Meadows exclaimed. Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Jordan later chimed in, claiming that CNN had Cohen’s testimony before a majority of the committee members.

Committee members then held a vote to resume the hearing.

Cohen enters the hearing chamber for testimony

10:00 a.m.: Promptly at 10:00 a.m., Cohen sits down at the witness table in the House hearing chamber.

Cohen “feeling good” ahead of hearing

9:11 a.m.: Cohen’s attorney Michael Monico told CBS News that his client is feeling good” this morning ahead of his congressional testimony.

Monico added that the hearing is “stressful, but he’ll do good.” Asked what Cohen thinks about this hearing coinciding with the Trump-Kim summit: “It’s ironic isn’t it? He find that ironic. He is going to talk about that,” a nod to Cohen’s prepared remarks talking about Trump’s history with the Vietnam War.

Crowds line hallways to catch a glimpse of Cohen hearing

9:08 a.m.: With over an hour before the hearing is set to commence, well over 100 people are in a line snaking through two hallways of the Rayburn House Office building to see Cohen testify.

Reporting by Rebecca Kaplan

Cummings says Congress needs to “listen” to Cohen

9:04 a.m.: In an interview ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings told CBS News that despite Cohen’s past lies to Congress, lawmakers “have to listen” to what Cohen has to say.

“We have to keep in mind that he comes in with a possible perjury charge hanging over his head if the does lie again, and I have to, and it is not a question of whether I trust him, it is a matter of listening to him very carefully and making a judgement,” said Cummings.

He added, “One person’s judgement maybe different than mine but one thing we do know is that we’ve had, again, the president has given his side, we’ve heard his side almost on a daily basis and now we will have an opportunity to hear from Mr. Cohen.”

Cohen arrives early for testimony

8:40 a.m.: Cohen, flanked by three members of Capitol Hill police, arrived to the House hearing room at 8:40 a.m. His legal team was escorted in shortly after.

Cohen “looks forward” to telling the truth

8:13 a.m.: “I really appreciate the opportunity that was given to me to clear the record and to tell the truth.

“And I look forward to tomorrow to being able to in my voice to tell the American people my story and I’m going to let the American people decide exactly who is telling the truth,” Cohen told reporters shortly after his closed-door Senate testimony wrapped up on Tuesday.

Trump claims Cohen did “bad things” unrelated to him

8:53 a.m.: In an early morning tweet while overseas in Vietnam for his summit with Kim Jong Un, Mr. Trump attempted to distance himself from Cohen, tweeting that he was”one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also.”

The president goes on reference Cohen’s disbarment from the New York State Bar, adding that he did “bad things unrelated to Trump.”

“He is lying in order to reduce his prison time. Using Crooked’s lawyer!” said Mr. Trump. The president later ignored questions shouted to him by reporters in Hanoi on his reaction to Cohen’s testimony.

This comes after White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that it was “laughable” anyone would take Cohen at his word. Sanders added that it was “pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies.”

What will Cohen say?

Cohen will publicly accuse the president of criminal conduct for the first time during his public hearing on Wednesday, CBS News has confirmed.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Cohen will provide documents, prepared by Mr. Trump’s accountant, that will show the president may have engaged in tax fraud, CBS News correspondent Paula Reid reports. In Cohen’s prepared testimony, he says that these documents are financial statements sent to Deutsche Bank between 2011 and 2013. This could be the basis for lawmakers or investigators to pursue Trump’s tax returns. The source confirms that Cohen will also accuse the president of using racist language. His comments are described as “chilling” – this language was allegedly used in a series of personal conversations between Mr. Trump and Cohen.

Cohen is set to serve time in prison for lying to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees in 2017. Some Republican lawmakers will likely use that fact to blunt the impact the allegations Cohen will be making against the president during Wednesday’s appearance before the House Oversight Committee.

What has Cohen been charged with?

In December, Cohen was given a 3-year sentence for violating campaign finance laws “in coordination with and at the direction” of the president by paying two women to remain silent during the 2016 campaign about their alleged affairs with Mr. Trump. The president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

In a separate case, Cohen was also sentenced to two months in prison after pleading guilty in November to lying to Congress about his involvement in an effort to build a “Trump Tower” in Moscow during the 2016 campaign.

In the plea agreement, Cohen admitted to lying to the Senate and House intelligence committees about the project and the extent to which then-candidate Trump and his family were involved.

Cohen’s appearance delayed after alleged threats

Cohen is appearing before the House Oversight Committee after delaying his initial testimony citing “threats” to his family by Mr. Trump and the president’s attorney.

Mr. Trump referred to Cohen’s family in a tweet in January, saying that Cohen was “lying to reduce his jail time” and ended the tweet with “watch father-in-law!” Cohen was sentenced in December to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, stemming from his guilty plea to campaign finance violations related to payments to women who claimed to have had affairs with Mr. Trump.

House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff, D-California, said in a statement that lawmakers would work with law enforcement to protect Cohen and his family from any potential threats.

“As I’ve previously stated with my colleagues, Chairmen Elijah Cummings and Jerrold Nadler, efforts 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. Federal law prohibits efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress,” said Schiff.

Trump weighs in on Cohen

Asked if he had any concerns about Cohen’s testimony before Congress, Mr. Trump told reporters “no,” suggesting he’d respect attorney-client confidentiality. “You know, he’s taking his own chances,” he said last week.

Cohen now cooperating with Manhattan prosecutors on alleged financial crimes and questions about the Trump inaugural committee.