US House Intel Chair: Cohen Testimony to Advance Trump Probe 'Substantially'

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The closed-door testimony of US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen will significantly advance the ongoing investigation into the president’s alleged illegal activity, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said in a press release.

Earlier in the day, Cohen testified before a US congressional committee in a closed-door session a week after his public testimony which included allegations that Trump was involved in criminal conduct before and while in the Oval Office.

"Cohen cooperated fully with the Committee… and provided important testimony and materials relevant to the core of our probe and that will allow us to advance our investigation substantially," Schiff said on Wednesday.

In last week’s hearing, Cohen alleged that Trump played a role in hush money payments to women that may have violated campaign finance laws. Cohen said he had no direct evidence to confirm any collusion between Trump and the Russian government during the 2016 election.

READ MORE: Trump Blames Cohen Hearing for Failure of North Korea Summit

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the hush payments in addition to tax fraud. He remains out of prison to continue cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into alleged Trump-Moscow collusion during the 2016 US presidential election, which has been denied both by both parties on numerous occasions.