(CNN) Michael Caputo, a former top adviser to Donald Trump's campaign with strong ties to Russia, firmly denied having knowledge of any alleged contacts between the campaign and Russia after testifying privately to the House intelligence committee Friday.

"I spent my time in front of the committee detailing the fact that I had no contact with Russians, that I never heard of anyone with the Trump campaign talking with Russians, that I was never asked questions about my time in Russia, that I never even spoke to anyone about Russia, that I never heard the word 'Russia,' and we did not use Russian dressing," Caputo told reporters in a press conference after the closed-door testimony. "There was absolutely no discussion of Russia on the Trump campaign 'til the day I left."

Caputo resigned from the campaign on June 20, 2016 after celebrating the dismissal of then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with a tweet that said, "Ding Dong the witch is dead." Paul Manafort, who brought Caputo into the national campaign in April 2016 after his success with the New York primary, replaced Lewandowski as chairman.

The session before the House intelligence committee on Friday lasted three and a half hours -- an hour and a half longer than expected, Caputo's lawyer told reporters at the start of the press briefing, citing repetitive questions from lawmakers as the reason for the length.

Caputo was strongly critical of California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, who in March said he was part of a "tarantula web" of links to Russia and called him Russian President Vladimir Putin's "image consultant."

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