Former Trump campaign manager to testify at congressional panel

Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for U.S. President Donald Trump, is expected to testify before Congress on Tuesday on alleged presidential obstruction of justice and abuse of power.

Lewandowski, who's mulling a run for the U.S. Senate, tweeted early Tuesday that he wants to "remind American people today there was no collusion no obstruction."

Former Trump Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a rally at Total Sports Park in Washington, Michigan on April 28, 2018. [File Photo: AFP]

The White House has tried to limit the scope of Lewandowski's testimony to the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers are set to grill him about events described in a report by former special counsel Robert Mueller.

In a letter to the panel on Monday, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said that Lewandowski could not testify about conversations with Trump after he became president or with his senior advisers.

"The White House has directed Mr. Lewandowski not to provide information about such communications beyond the information provided in the portions of the Report that have already been disclosed to the Committee," according to the letter.

Mueller testified before Congress in July about his 22-month probe of alleged Russian election interference and whether Trump had tried to obstruct justice.

A public version of the Mueller report stated that there was no evidence that Trump's campaign conspired with Moscow during the 2016 election but didn't offer any conclusions about the obstruction case.

Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler, who's leading an effort to move forward impeachment proceedings against Trump, denounced in a statement on Monday night that the White House instruction to Lewandowski as a "shocking and dangerous assertion of executive privilege and absolute immunity."

The White House also ordered two other witnesses, former Trump White House aides Rob Porter and Rick Dearborn, not to testify at Tuesday's hearing.

Lewandowski, 45, served as campaign manager for Trump's 2016 campaign from Jan. 2015 to June 2016.