Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer who went viral last year for a terse CNN interview, has been contacted by congressional investigators probing Russian meddling in the presidential election, he told media.
Cohen first told ABC News that House and Senate investigators have asked him “to provide information and testimony" about contacts he has had with people connected to the Kremlin, but he had declined to comply.
"I declined the invitation to participate as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad, and not capable of being answered,” Cohen told BuzzFeed News via text message.
Cohen told CNN's Jim Acosta: "They have yet to produce one single piece of credible evidence that would corroborate the Russia narrative."
Senate Intelligence Committee members voted unanimously on Thursday to give Republican Chairman Richard Burr and Democratic Vice Chairman Mark Warner "blanket authority" to issue subpoenas in their probe, Burr told reporters.
Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, has refused to comply with a Senate subpoena, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Cohen's name appeared in the unverified dossier on Trump compiled by a former British intelligence agent and published by BuzzFeed News in January. The document alleged Cohen had traveled to Prague for a secret meeting with Russians, which he has repeatedly said is false.
After first tweeting a photograph of his passport cover as evidence he had never visited the Czech Republic, Cohen allowed BuzzFeed News to photograph the inside of his passport earlier this month. The passport shows Cohen has traveled the globe since 2009, the year the document was issued. However, there is no stamp showing Cohen visited the Czech Republic.
Cohen is also a familiar face to many because of the gruff and instantly viral interview he had with CNN's Brianna Keilar in August last year when Trump was low in the polls.
"Says who?" he repeatedly asked Keilar in response to her assertion that Trump's campaign was down.
"Polls. Most of them. All of them?" she answered.
"Says who?" Cohen repeated.
"Polls. I just told you. I answered your question."
"OK. Which polls?" he asked.
"All of them?" she said.
"OK," he replied.