WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s oldest son is scheduled to make his first appearance on Capitol Hill Thursday as part of a Senate investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and a meeting he had with Russians during his father’s campaign last year.
Donald Trump Jr. will be interviewed by staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is one of three congressional committees investigating the meddling and possible Russian links to his Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump Jr. released a series of emails in July that detailed preparations for the June 2016 meeting. The emails show he took the meeting expecting that he would be receiving damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton as part of what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid the Trump campaign.
Special counsel Robert Mueller and the House and Senate intelligence committees are also investigating the meeting, which was attended by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. A grand jury has heard testimony about it.
Staffers are expected to focus on the 2016 meeting but could also probe any other possible connections Trump’s family had with Russia. Trump Jr. agreed to the interview in July after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, subpoenaed him and Manafort. The committee withdrew the subpoenas after the two agreed to be interviewed privately by staff, and Grassley said they both would eventually be questioned by senators in a public hearing.
Senators on the Judiciary panel are allowed to attend Thursday’s staff interview, but according to tradition they aren’t allowed to ask questions. On Wednesday, Democratic senators were split as to whether they would go and watch the proceedings.
Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said they would be there. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., was considering it. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat, said she would not attend because she thinks staff should be allowed to conduct the interview without interference. She said the staff interviews are intended to prepare their bosses for the public hearing, and “senators put a dent in it.”
Feinstein said that she and Grassley have agreed that they will again subpoena Trump Jr. and Manafort if they don’t agree to attend a public hearing. That hearing hasn’t been scheduled.
Trump Jr. is also expected to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own investigation. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the committee, said Wednesday that the panel wants to speak with others who attended the June 2016 meeting before they interview Trump Jr.
“We want to do this in a thorough way that gets the most information possible,” Warner said.
Manafort met privately with staff on the Senate intelligence panel in July, and Kushner met with Senate intelligence staff and members of the House Intelligence Committee.
The House intelligence panel has also sought to talk to Trump Jr., but Rep. Eric Swallwell, a Democrat on that committee, said Wednesday that the panel is still negotiating the interview and a date hasn’t yet been set.
I’m really interested in how he’s gonna try to weasel out of the quotes below and attempt to claim little/no business or personal contact with or interest in Russia:
“I really prefer Moscow over all cities in the world…”
“We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia,” he said of T***rump Organization properties***.
“…in terms of high-end product influx into the US, ***Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,***” … at the 2008 real estate conference
Understanding links to Russian leadership starts with the questioner’s understanding of the Russian mindset, or as the Russian’s say, “one hand washes the other.” Putin is doubtless far more wealthy than Trump, and he did it using the principle of gifting the leader with no strings attached in the hope of admission to the inner circle of power or at least the big tent. Putin gets crazy gifts: tigers, yachts, mansions, planes, etc. that he may never step foot upon or otherwise spend time with. How could he if his estimated wealth is more than Gates and Bezos combined, somewhere north of $200 billion? When that financial power radiates back on gifters, they have to continue to show gratitude. Trump, for example, in exchange for the US government was funded to maintain his appearance of billionairishness – and that’s where the rubber meets the road. Take a legit operation like Deutsche Bank, which does extensive business in Russia and globally. Say Trump needs $400 million (chump change for Putin), but Trump is radioactive with most legit US lenders, especially after his fourth large bankruptcy. He has to have a project to put his name on and he needs some sort of backing from a legitimate source to show the local bankers that some legitimate banks still trust him. So he needs collateral for that legitimate bank from a third-party source to guarantee the loan. And so he has a guarantee from some, say, Singapore-based investment company or bank. And so on, guarantee after guarantee back through six shell legal names until you get to Russian money guaranteeing the loan. The beauty of this arrangement is that not a penny leaves Putin’s bank account, and Jared or Donald Jr. waltz into their local Deutsche Bank branch to pick up the cash, for dad or even themselves. When challenged, Putin’s guarantee to some bank in Asia or Europe simply gets torn up and Trump is ejected from the tent. And even then he can’t blab.
If he doesn’t have a lawyer at this side stopping him from answering i think he could get caught up and reveal too much, the guy doesn’t strike me as being very bright.
It’ll be interesting if he accidentally spills something juicy
“First of all, Mr. Secretary, thanks for your service. Were our Russian allies able to provide any further information that would be useful to us in our investigations of Benghazi and the murder of Vince Foster?”
This morning’s WaPo:
How I wish there was some doubt about this.
(Shakes head)