Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen‘s prepared testimony has been released ahead of his appearance before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, and it is explosive.

According to Cohen’s prepared opening remarks, he says that while Trump did not directly tell him to lie to Congress, Trump made it clear that he wanted Cohen to lie:

To be clear: Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it. He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project.

And so I lied about it, too – because Mr. Trump had made clear to me, through his personal statements to me that we both knew were false and through his lies to the country, that he wanted me to lie. And he made it clear to me because his personal attorneys reviewed my statement before I gave it to Congress.

Cohen’s testimony also includes documents that he will turn over to the committee, which will include:

•A copy of a check Mr. Trump wrote from his personal bankaccount – after he became president – to reimburse me for thehush money payments I made to cover up his affair with an adult film star and prevent damage to his campaign;

• Copies of financial statements for 2011 – 2013 that he gave to such institutions as Deutsche Bank;

• A copy of an article with Mr. Trump’s handwriting on it that reported on the auction of a portrait of himself – he arranged for the bidder ahead of time and then reimbursed the bidder from the account of his non-profit charitable foundation, with the picture now hanging in one of his country clubs; and

• Copies of letters I wrote at Mr. Trump’s direction that threatened his high school, colleges, and the College Board not to release his grades or SAT scores.

Cohen’s remarks also contain other explosive revelations, like the fact that Trump knew of the DNC hack ahead of time, as well as examples of racist statements Trump made in private. Cohen also says he has no direct knowledge of Trump collusion with the Russians, but says he had his “suspicions.”

You can read the full prepared testimony here.

[Image via Getty]

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