Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Sunday accused Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., of working with Democrats to lay a trap for Donald Trump Jr. by subpoenaing him to testify before the committee despite the federal investigation having concluded.
“I think it’s a real travesty of justice. I think it’s very unfair to the president and the president‘s family on this. Mueller spent $35 million and two years, and the president was cleared,” Paul told John Catsimatidis, radio host for AM 970 in New York, Sunday morning.
Paul said he doesn’t see any positive reason the Republican chairman could have brought in Trump Jr.
“It can only lead to mischief … This is not a friendly maneuver. This is an adversarial maneuver to bring him in under oath. And the Democrats will try to trip him up and get him to make some kind of mistake,” Paul said.
Paul said he expects Democratic senators to use Burr’s subpoena to “go after the Trump family” and “trick” President Trump’s eldest son into saying something that contradicts his previous statements. Then, lawmakers could go after prosecuting Trump Jr.
[Related: Trump declares ‘My son is a good person’ as Don Jr. is subpoenaed by Senate Intel panel]
The Senate Intelligence Committee is nearing completion in its own investigation into the Trump campaign’s relationship with the Russian government during the 2016 election. Burr issued a subpoena for Trump Jr. weeks ago, but the action was first reported last week.
Trump Jr. testified before the committee in September 2017 and said he was only “peripherally aware” of a proposal to build a skyscraper in Moscow.
Paul has been outspoken about policy disagreements with Trump, but is now worried Trump Jr.’s appearance before the Senate committee could go the same way as retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s. Flynn pleaded not guilty in December 2017 to misleading the FBI in an investigation. His lawyers said he spent more than 60 hours meeting with government officials.
“I’m just surprised that in the Senate, controlled by Republicans, that Republicans are letting this happen, this abuse of the president and his family,” said Paul. “Do they really think they’re going to find out something that the Mueller investigation didn’t find?”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said last Thursday he had “great confidence” in Burr’s handling of the situation. Similarly, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he thinks Burr is “just trying to be sure that everybody’s asked all the questions” before wrapping up the investigation.
