Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, testified to Congress that he is aware of investigations of illegal activities involving Trump beyond those which have been made public (Mandel Ngan)

Washington (AFP) – Donald Trump’s former personal attorney told Congress Wednesday US authorities are investigating illegal activities involving the president beyond those that have been made public.

Michael Cohen had spent hours addressing accusations that Trump paid hush money to two women shortly before the 2016 presidential election, directed his lawyer to lie about negotiations over a Moscow business deal and knew in advance that WikiLeaks was planning to reveal hacked Democratic National Committee emails.

When asked by House Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi if he was aware of other crimes involving Trump that had yet to be discussed in Wednesday’s contentious hearing, Cohen replied that he had.

But he could not discuss them because “those are part of the investigation that are currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York,” he said.

The testimony could provide new legal uncertainty for the White House, which is grappling with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election and its possible collusion with Trump or members of his campaign team.

The Southern District of New York sentenced Cohen in December to three years in prison for fraud and tax evasion and lying to Congress. It has been probing behavior by the Trump Organization regarding taxes, banking and possible campaign finance violations.

Citing the ongoing inquiry into unspecified crimes, Cohen also declined to answer Krishnamoorthi’s questions regarding the content of his final conversations with Trump or his representatives.

“Unfortunately, this topic is actually something that is being investigated right now by the Southern District of New York, and I’ve been asked by them not to discuss, and not to talk about these issues,” Cohen said.

Disclaimer: This story is published from a syndicated feed. Siliconeer does not assume any liability for the above story. Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Content copyright AFP.