Schumer: Trump Jr. should testify before Senate Intel

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) supports Donald Trump Jr. testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee over his meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised comprising information on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.
“This revelation should be the end of the idea pushed by the administration and the president that there is absolutely no evidence of an intent by the Trump campaign to coordinate or collude. It is certainly not proof positive … but these reports in the press at least demand further investigation,” Schumer said from the Senate floor on Monday.
He added that Trump Jr., who said earlier Monday he would work with the committee, should testify and explain “why three of the highest-level members of the Trump administration thought it was appropriate to meet with a Russian source to receive information about a political opponent.”
{mosads}The New York Times reported over the weekend that President Trump’s eldest son met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after she promised to provide damaging information on Clinton.
Then-candidate Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner also attended the meeting, which took place in June 2016 at Trump Tower.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, as well as any potential contacts between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
Schumer added the June meeting and “background behind it” should be included in the committee’s document requests.
Schumer, as the top Democrat in the Senate, is an ex officio member of the Intelligence Committee and has previously attended closed-door briefings on the panel’s investigation.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), who is also a member of the committee, backed Trump Jr. being interviewed over his meeting earlier on Monday.
Trump Jr. and the White House have said there was nothing wrong with the president’s son taking the meeting. Trump Jr. also said he did not receive any compromising information about Clinton, saying the agenda quickly turned to American adoptions of Russian children — an issue with which Veselnitskaya has long been involved.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.