The ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Tuesday that emails published earlier in the day by Donald Trump Jr. appeared to show “direct coordination between the Trump campaign and possibly the Russian government itself.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) also urged the committee’s chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to bring Donald Trump Jr. before the committee to answer questions about the emails.
Trump Jr.’s emails showed him responding enthusiastically in June 2016 to a family acquaintance who asked him to meet with a Russian lawyer promising damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to aide Donald Trump’s campaign.
Republicans on the Judiciary Committee also thought Trump Jr. should answer questions following his publishing of the emails Tuesday.
“I know Donald Trump Jr. is new to politics, I know that Jared Kushner is new to politics, but this is going to require a lot of questions to be asked and answered,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Tuesday morning. And Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a member of both the Judiciary Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, later told reporters that Trump Jr. “will” testify in front of the latter committee.
A spokesperson for Cornyn later told TPM in an email that the senator meant Trump Jr. “should” testify, not necessarily that he will.
Read Feinstein’s full statement below:
What we know so far about these emails is deeply disturbing. They appear to show direct coordination between the Trump campaign and possibly the Russian government itself.
There are still many questions that must be answered. That’s why I’ve urged Chairman Grassley to move quickly—this issue is squarely within the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee and I believe we need to have Donald Trump, Jr., and other individuals come before the committee, in open session, as soon as possible.”
