USA TODAY

President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday morning and, according to his opening statement, will call his former boss a "cheat" and "conman."

In Cohen's statement, obtained by USA TODAY, it appears he will tell lawmakers that Trump knew in advance that WikiLeaks planned to release stolen emails damaging to a political rival.

Cohen, who pleaded guilty to crimes including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress was sentenced in December to three years in prison. Cohen was disbarred in New York on Tuesday as a result of those convictions.

One of Cohen's felony convictions centers on payments he made to buy the silence of two women who claim to have had past sexual affairs with Trump. Prosecutors say the payments, which were made in the weeks before the 2016 election, constituted an illegal campaign contribution.

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In addition to claiming that Trump directed him to commit that crime, Cohen will introduce as evidence a personal check for $35,000 Trump wrote him, which Cohen said was part of his reimbursement for the hush money payments.

Read Cohen's opening statement to Congress in full: