Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyer would “have to be an idiot” to permit the president’s eldest son to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee again, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Monday.
Graham said Trump Jr. should comply with the panel’s subpoena but encouraged him to skirt questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.
“You just show up and plead the Fifth and it’s over with,” the Senate Judiciary chairman told reporters.
“This whole thing is nuts,” Graham said. “To me, it’s over.”
The Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Trump Jr. last week for additional testimony as it wraps up its investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump Jr. has already given approximately 30 hours of testimony to lawmakers on matters related to Russia.
Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., has told colleagues in private that he resorted to a subpoena after Trump Jr. twice agreed to sit down for another interview, but then backed out, according to the New York Times.
Graham isn’t alone in suggesting Trump Jr. defy Burr’s subpoena. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., another ally of President Trump, said on Sunday another interview with Trump Jr. “can only lead to mischief.”
The subpoena came soon after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declared “case closed” after special counsel Robert Mueller was unable to find sufficient evidence of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The president has said he is “surprised” the intelligence panel subpoenaed his son, and Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., without going into specifics, said, “the committee has been very clear with every one that we reserve the right to bring witnesses back if we have additional questions or there’s inconsistencies.”
