Lewandowski says he’ll testify this week before Congress on Russia

Corey Lewandowski on Sunday said he plans to appear voluntarily before the House Intelligence Committee this week as part of the panel’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“The House Intelligence Committee sent me a letter asking me to voluntarily come in and have a conversation about what I know, and what I’ve responded to them is, ‘I’ll be happy to come in and sit down,'” the former Trump campaign manager told host Rita Cosby on WABC Radio. 

{mosads}

“I have nothing to hide. I didn’t collude or cooperate or coordinate with any Russian, Russian agency, Russian government or anybody else, to try and impact this election. So they asked me to come in, I said I would,” Lewandowski continued, adding that he would be able to “set the record straight.” {mosads}

He indicated that he expects the interview to take place on either Wednesday or Thursday, but noted that an exact date and time has not been finalized.

Throughout the interview, Lewandowski repeatedly emphasized he is not worried about appearing before the panel because he has no ties to the Kremlin.

“I’m not concerned at all because I have nothing to hide,” he told Cosby.

The Washington Post reported in November that George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser on the campaign, told Lewandowski several times that the Russians were interested in forming a relationship with the Trump campaign.

In early October, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about his contacts with Russian nationals.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort forced Lewandowski off the presidential campaign in June 2016. Manafort’s ties to Moscow have also caught the focus of Mueller and the congressional Russia probes.

In October, Mueller indicted Manafort and his longtime business partner Richard Gates, but none of the charges relate to work for Trump’s campaign, which took place from March of 2016 until his ouster in August. 

Lewandowski told Cosby that he wants any people who did collude with Russians to “spend the rest of their lives in jail.”

He also said special counsel Robert Mueller has not contacted him about an interview at this time.

Lewandowski said Trump has nothing to hide while also advising Trump should listen to his legal counsel on whether he should participate in an interview by Mueller. The president had initially stated he would talk to Mueller, but he recently appeared to waffle on whether he will meet with the special counsel.

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon is also reportedly slated to appear before the Intelligence panel this week.