The Canadian Press Gerald Butts speaks on his phone as Trudeau holds a news conference in North Vancouver, B.C., on May 29, 2015.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former right-hand man has requested to testify at the House of Commons justice committee on the rapidly unfolding SNC-Lavalin affair. Gerald Butts sent a letter to the committee's chair, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, saying he believes his "evidence" will help the committee as it evaluates the explosive testimony it received Wednesday from former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould. He closed the message by saying he needs a "short period of time" to receive legal advice on that evidence.

I just made the following request of the Justice Committee Chair. pic.twitter.com/MUCJwnldui — Gerald Butts 🇨🇦 (@gmbutts) February 28, 2019

Housefather released a statement Thursday evening to say that Butts will get his time in the committee, along with Michael Wernick, the top civil servant, and Nathalie Drouin, the deputy attorney general. Wilson-Raybould told the committee Wednesday that Trudeau and several senior members of his office, including Butts, waged a campaign of "inappropriate" and sustained pressure on her over four months to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal trial. Wilson-Raybould says she even faced "veiled threats" after she made it clear she would not budge on the matter. Wilson-Raybould said in December her chief of staff Jessica Prince was called to an urgent meeting with Butts and Katie Telford, the PM's chief of staff. The two wanted Prince to hire an external legal expert to provide an opinion on whether SNC-Lavalin should be given a remediation agreement, which would have helped it avoid a criminal trial that could spark job losses. More from HuffPost Canada: A Handy Timeline Of The SNC-Lavalin Affair Dogging The Trudeau Government

Key Highlights From Jody Wilson-Raybould's Bombshell Testimony

And Now Trudeau's Ex-Adviser Says He Has 'Evidence' In SNC-Lavalin Affair 'Important' for Butts to speak at committee: chair After Prince said that would amount to interference in the case, Butts allegedly told her "there is no solution that does not involve some interference.'' "After reviewing Ms. Wilson-Raybould's testimony, we feel we need more clarification on the meeting of December 18 and the phone conversation of December 19," Housefather said in his statement explaining why Butts was invited to speak to the committee. "We believe that it is important that Mr. Butts respond to the account of the meeting of the 18th provided by Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould, in addition to the other allegations about him and PMO colleagues mentioned in her testimony."