The subpoena issued by the Senate Judiciary Committee for President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, could trigger a full Senate vote on enforcing the summons.
That could prove uncomfortable for Senate Republicans, who have tried to avoid antagonizing Trump, and have done their best to avoid getting in the middle of the investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election that could implicate the president, his campaign, or both. Probes are underway in the Senate and House intelligence committees and via a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department.
The Senate Judiciary Committee also is looking into matters related to meddling in the 2016 contest, and Monday evening the panel subpoenaed Manafort after he declined to honor the panel’s terms for testifying about his role in the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump fired him three months before the election.
Enforcing the subpoena would require a vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee for referral to the full Senate — a vote that would surely pass, if it was held, because it would be driven by panel Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. But the whole episode could get tricky for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his conference if, although unlikely, Manfort were to ignore the subpoena and dare the Senate to enforce it.
Ignoring the subpoena could get Manafort in more legal hot water, so the thinking is that he would never let it get this far. But if he did, McConnell could be in the position of having to call a vote that might be interpreted as Senate Republicans rebuking Trump on the issue of the Russia investigation, which the president refers to as a sham and a witch hunt.
Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, also had threatened to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son. But he is so far cooperating with the panel according to its terms. Manafort and Trump Jr., participated in a meeting with Russian individuals in June of last year that has drawn the scrutiny of investigators.
Enforcing the subpoena would require a vote of 60 senators. A former Senate Judiciary Committee aide was doubtful in an interview with the Washington Examiner that the situation would get to that point. But if it did, this Republican attorney predicted that McConnell would call the vote, in part because he wouldn’t want to be dismissive of Grassley.
“I don’t think it gets that far,” this individual said, before adding that if it did “McConnell is going to say: ‘My hands are tied.'”
Here’s the joint statement from Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, announcing their issuance of the subpoena:
“While we were willing to accommodate Mr. Manafort’s request to cooperate with the committee’s investigation without appearing at Wednesday’s hearing, we were unable to reach an agreement for a voluntary transcribed interview with the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Manafort, through his attorney, said that he would be willing to provide only a single transcribed interview to Congress, which would not be available to the Judiciary Committee members or staff. While the Judiciary Committee was willing to cooperate on equal terms with any other committee to accommodate Mr. Manafort’s request, ultimately that was not possible. Therefore, yesterday evening, a subpoena was issued to compel Mr. Manafort’s participation in Wednesday’s hearing. As with other witnesses, we may be willing to excuse him from Wednesday’s hearing if he would be willing to agree to production of documents and a transcribed interview, with the understanding that the interview would not constitute a waiver of his rights or prejudice the committee’s right to compel his testimony in the future.”
