Last week, Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings issued a public memo outlining the scope of the public hearing, including Trump's finances, his conflicts of interest, his foundation and his hotel as allowable topics. In his memo, Cummings said that he consulted with Mueller, the Justice Department and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, in deciding the parameters for the public hearing. Asked Tuesday about some Democratic members eager to ask Cohen about Russia, Cummings declined to discuss the matter or the scope of the hearing. On Tuesday, Schiff praised Cummings handling of the public hearing and defended the decision to split the topics between the committees. Asked about Schiff's role, Connolly said: "It's my understanding that he has staked out a role for the intelligence committee that largely subsumes questions about Russia."

Source: CNN February 27, 2019 01:58 UTC