“Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how he operates. In conversations we had during the campaign, at the same time I was actively negotiating in Russia for him, he would look me in the eye and tell me there’s no business in Russia and then go out and lie to the American people by saying the same thing,” Cohen will tell the House Oversight Committee in a public hearing, according to a copy of his prepared remarks first obtained by Politico, and confirmed by a source close to Cohen who added that his final testimony might not precisely mirror prepared remarks.

“In his way, he was telling me to lie,” Cohen will say…

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly and vehemently denied having any business interests in Russia. But BuzzFeed News reported in January that he in fact received at least 10 updates about the plans, and then directed Cohen to lie to Congress about when those negotiations ended in order to obscure his own involvement.