House Democratic committee leaders have consulted with the chamber’s general counsel to discuss legal options of forcing President Trump to reveal details of his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a report Saturday.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the Intelligence Committee chairman, and Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said they have asked House General Counsel Douglas Letter about how to compel the Trump administration to provide documents or other information related to the meetings. The Democrats, Politico reported, are considering all options, including issuing subpoenas.
“I had a meeting with the general counsel to discuss this and determine the best way to find out what took place in those private meetings — whether it’s by seeking the interpreter’s testimony, the interpreter’s notes, or other means,” Schiff said.
Schiff is referring to Marina Gross, the State Department translator who was the only other American present for a Trump-Putin meeting last July in Helsinki.
Democrats are particularly interested in that meeting, after which the two leaders held a chummy joint press conference where Trump cast doubt that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election. Republicans in Congress condemned Trump’s performance. He mostly blamed the U.S. for Washington’s troubled relationship with Russia.
Trump has previously said he “couldn’t care less” if the details of his conversation with Putin in Helsinki were made public.
