House Minority Whip Steve Scalise slammed Democrats Friday for subpoenaing Donald Trump Jr., though the president’s son is being compelled to testify before Congress by the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee.
“You can’t make this stuff up: Democrats are subpoenaing @DonaldJTrumpJr based on the testimony of Michael Cohen—a man who lied to Congress multiple times,” Scalise wrote in a now deleted tweet. “This is how low they are willing to sink to harass @realDonaldTrump & his entire family. The #MuellerReport is done. Move on!”
The Senate Intelligence Committee this week issued a congressional subpoena to Trump Jr. seeking additional information about his contacts with foreign officials during his father’s 2016 campaign. Trump Jr. has provided about 30 hours of testimony to lawmakers so far, but the Senate panel is still investigating Russia interference in the 2016 election, including his attendance at a meeting in Trump Tower with a Kremlin-linked lawyer.
The subpoena comes as Democrats on Capitol Hill continue to clash with the White House over its oversight prerogative. The House Judiciary Committee this week voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to provide an unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report outlining the findings from his Russia probe.
Reports emerged after the subpoena that Trump Jr. would likely invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate should he face the committee. President Trump, however, has been full-throated in his defense of his son, saying he was “a good person.”
“My son was totally exonerated by Mueller, who frankly does not like Donald Trump,” the president told reporters at the White House.
Scalise told reporters earlier Friday that he was not against Mueller sitting down with congressional investigators for an interview.
“If Mueller wants to go testify, that’s between him and the chair. But the chairman should go read the report before he’s voting to hold people in contempt of Congress and continuing to go down this rabbit hole of witch hunts on Russia,” Scalise said. He was also pressed on whether House Intelligence ranking member Devin Nunes should have read the report before joining his panel in subpoenaing in the same document.
“I mean, he’s free to go read it,” he said, referring to a special viewing service provided by the Department of Justice for select lawmakers. “Well, he hasn’t been supportive of impeachment and, ultimately, that’s where you’re seeing the Democrats going.”
