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Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is testifying publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as the Democrat-led panel continues to gather evidence toward a possible push to impeach President Donald Trump.

Their fact-finding efforts may be stymied by the White House, however, which told the committee late Monday that it had directed Lewandowski not to discuss any post-election interactions with Trump beyond those already detailed in former special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election meddling.

"To the best of my recollection, I don't recall ever having any conversations with foreign entities [as the Trump campaign chief] — let alone, any who were offering help to manipulate the outcome of the election," Lewandowski said in an opening statement provided by his spokeswoman to CNBC.

"As I have said publicly many times, anyone who attempted to illegally impact the outcome of the election should spend the rest of their life in jail," Lewandowski said.

Lewandowski, 45, managed Trump's campaign from January 2015 until his firing in June 2016, and remained his close confidant after the 2016 presidential election. As he publicly considers launching a Senate challenge against New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, Lewandowski has welcomed the opportunity to testify publicly before Congress.

"I am an open book," Lewandowski reportedly said in a Fox News Radio interview in August. "I want to go and remind the American people that these guys are on a witch hunt."

But in the opening moments of Lewandowski's cross-examination, the hearing ground to a halt.

Lewandowski refused to answer Democratic Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler's first question — about whether he met with Trump in the Oval Office in June 2017 — without being able to reference the specific text of the Mueller report, which he did not have in front of him.

Nadler continued speaking after his time expired, prompting ranking Republican Doug Collins of Georgia to call a procedural vote.

The delays clearly frustrated Democrats, who accused Lewandowski of filibustering. But Trump quickly applauded his former aide, tweeting that Lewandowski's opening statement, which recounted Trump's 2016 election victory, was "beautiful."

Trump TWEET

In a letter sent Monday night to Nadler, D-N.Y., White House counsel Pat Cipollone claimed that Lewandowski's conversations with Trump and his aides "are protected from disclosure by long-settled principles protecting Executive Branch confidentiality interests."

"As a result, the White House has directed Mr. Lewandowski not to provide information about such communications beyond the information provided in the portions of the [Mueller Report] that have already been disclosed to the Committee," Cipollone wrote.