Speed Reads

the investigation continues

Trump's personal lawyer is now a person of interest in the Russia probe

President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is now facing scrutiny in the ongoing investigation into the Trump team's ties to Russia, ABC News reports. Cohen was asked to "provide information and testimony" about any contact he has had with people connected to the Russian government, but he declined "as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad, and not capable of being answered," Cohen said.

That prompted the Senate Intelligence Committee to unanimously vote to allow chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and ranking Democrat Sen. Mark Warner (Va.) to issue subpoenas as they see fit. Trump's ousted national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who is at the heart of the investigations, earlier refused to comply with a subpoena issued by the committee. Other people of interest in the investigation, including Trump's informal adviser Roger Stone and his former foreign policy adviser Carter Page, are cooperating with the committee.

Cohen was identified by name in an unverified dossier prepared by former British spy Christopher Steele, which alleged he had worked with Russia to hack the Democratic Party during the campaign. Cohen has called the allegations "laughably false," and several details have been debunked by ABC News. Read the full report at ABC News here.