Several Republican senators are calling on Donald Trump Jr. to testify before Congress in the wake of the news that the president’s oldest son met with a Russian lawyer with the intent of obtaining official documents from the Russian government that would incriminate Hillary Clinton.
“I believe that the committee should interview Donald Trump Jr. as well as everyone else who was involved in attending the meeting or setting up the meeting,” said Maine senator Susan Collins. “Until we have a fuller picture, it would be premature to reach any judgment.”
“I think that the most appropriate next step here is to have him come before the committee, as he’s expressed a willingness to do, and get a better understanding of the context behind all of this,” said Florida senator Marco Rubio.
“Yep,” said Arizona senator John McCain when asked if Trump Jr. needed to testify. “We’ve got a lot more to learn about the whole issue. … Another shoe drops from the centipede every few days.”
“We’ll know a lot more after Mr. Trump Jr. speaks to the members of the committee. He’s said that he would do that,” said Mississippi senator Roger Wicker, who added that he wanted to see Trump Jr. testify.
“I’m confident we’ll get to the bottom of it, but so far there’s been no evidence of collusion, but certainly we’ll be interviewing all the witnesses and hearing more from everybody while we get to the bottom of it,” Texas senator John Cornyn said. Asked if Trump Jr. would be called to testify, the Senate GOP whip added: “I haven’t had that conversation with the chairman and the vice chairman, but I can’t imagine a world in which that doesn’t happen.”
Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, didn’t say if he’d call on Trump Jr. to testify, but he did suggest that calling on Trump Jr. to testify before Senate would not impede special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “I don’t see a deconfliction issue,” Burr said. “I don’t see anything criminal here. Do you?”
Burr declined to say if White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who attended the meeting with the Russian lawyer along with Trump Jr. and campaign manager Paul Manafort, should retain his security clearance. “You’ll have to take that up with the White House,” Burr said.
When John McCain was asked how his presidential campaign would have dealt with an offer like the one Donald Trump Jr. received, the 2008 GOP nominee replied: “I can assure you the people around me would not be inclined to do that kind of thing, especially not one of my sons. ‘Cause my sons—they’re in the military. You know, they’d probably be court-martialed.”
What laws, if any, a civilian like Trump Jr. might have violated in this situation? “I don’t know,” McCain replied. “It’s a matter of public opinion more than anything else.”
In the email, former British tabloid reporter Rob Goldstone told Trump Jr. that the “Crown prosecutor of Russia,” a Putin appointee, “offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary [Clinton] and her dealings with and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”
Goldstone, who said he was trying to set up a meeting between Trump Jr. and a “Russian government attorney” who could provide the information, added that this “is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump.”
“[I]f it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” Donald Trump Jr. replied.
