Cohen apologises to Senate panel for lying to Congress

Washington, Feb 27 (IANS) US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has apologised to the Senate Intelligence Committee for lying to Congress during his 2017 testimony.

Cohen testified for roughly nine hours behind closed doors before the committee on Tuesday, the first of his three consecutive congressional appearances this week, with one public and two private sessions, CNN reported.

"At this time I really appreciate the opportunity that was given to me to clear the record, and to tell the truth," Cohen told the media following the meeting.

"And I look forward to tomorrow (Wednesday) to being able to have 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."

In his public testimony on Wednesday, Cohen is expected to discuss publicly for the first time Trump's role in some of the crimes his former lawyer pleaded guilty to last year, an informed source told CNN.

Cohen is expected to give behind-the-scenes details raising questions of Trump's conduct in business and when he was a presidential candidate, according to the source.

He may also provide documents to back up his claims, though the congressional committees have not confirmed they have received anything new from Cohen.

The three hearings this week will give Cohen the opportunity to tell his side of the story involving his interactions with Trump before the lawyer reports to prison on May 6 for a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to tax crimes, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress in his previous testimony.