Michael Cohen will testify behind closed doors to House panel on Feb. 8

Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, will testify privately in front of the House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 8.

In a statement released Monday, the committee's chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), thanked Cohen for "agreeing to appear voluntarily" before the panel. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in December to lying to Congress about how long discussions went on regarding a Trump Tower project in Moscow, had agreed to publicly testify on Feb. 7 in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. After President Trump appeared on Fox News earlier this month and disparaged Cohen's father-in-law, Cohen said he would not testify, citing safety concerns for his family.

Schiff said in his statement that "efforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family members, or prevent them from testifying before Congress are tactics we expect from organized crime, not the White House," and demanded the "attacks" on Cohen's family cease immediately.

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Cohen's legal adviser, Lanny Davis, also announced Monday that two new lawyers have joined Cohen's team: Barry Spevack and Michael Monico, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Cohen is still in talks with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, prosecutors with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and authorities with New York state.