The Latest: Trump confidant to appear before House committee

WASHINGTON – The Latest on the investigations into possible co-ordination between the Trump campaign and Russia (all times local):

8:45 p.m.

A longtime confidant of President Donald Trump is set to appear before the House intelligence committee next month.

In a statement, Roger Stone’s lawyer says the political operative has been “much maligned by innuendo and misinformation” regarding the investigations into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Stone has denied co-ordinating with Russia during the election. Lawyer Robert Buschel says Stone looks forward to providing “a timeline based only on the facts.”

Stone’s appearance before the House committee will be behind closed doors.

___

8:40 p.m.

Hillary Clinton’s former campaign chairman has met with a House committee investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

John Podesta spoke with members of the House intelligence committee behind closed doors Tuesday. He told reporters afterward that he was “happy to co-operate” but couldn’t say what questions he’d been asked or detail his answers.

The hacking of Podesta’s personal email account and the release of those emails by WikiLeaks during the late stages of the campaign is one focus of the committee’s investigation.

While President Donald Trump has previously declined to name Russia as responsible for election meddling, in recent days he has referred to Russia in criticizing the Obama administration’s response to the hack. Podesta says the Obama administration was “trying to make the best judgment they could.”