Call to interview Trump’s officials
WASHINGTON: The House Intelligence Committee plans to call hearings or interviews with several associates of President Donald Trump, including the chief financial officer of his business.
The panel intends to summon Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organisation, for a hearing, but a date has not been set, an official familiar with the decision said.
Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen told the House Oversight panel on Thursday Weisselberg was involved with Cohen in paying hush money to an adult film actress in the days before the election — with Trump’s blessing. Lawmakers said Cohen’s sevenhour private interview with the Intelligence Committee yesterday went even deeper into aspects of his testimony.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (Democrat, California) said the panel also was scheduling a March 14 public hearing with Felix Sater, an associate of Trump involved in negotiating a possible business deal in Moscow.
Sater once had an office near the future president’s in Trump Tower. He helped develop Trump Soho, a Manhattan hotel condominium, while working for Bayrock Group, and worked with Cohen to develop a Trump luxury tower in Moscow. Work on the project continued well into the presidential campaign in 2016, timing Cohen initially lied about to Congress.
Weisselberg has served the Trump family for more than 40 years. He started as a bookkeeper for Trump’s father, Fred, in the 1970s. Few know the workings of the family’s enterprise as well as Weisselberg, making him a soughtafter witness for investigators.
Weisselberg was granted limited immunity as part of his cooperation with the federal investigation into hushmoney payments to two women who threatened to go public with affairs with Trump. — TCA