President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., might have to go before the House Intelligence Committee and testify once again because he dodged questions in an interview about a meeting with Russians.
According to Representative Jim Himes, Trump Jr. avoided questions about the secret meeting in Trump Tower during the interview with the committee last week. Trump Jr. invoked attorney-client privilege as a pretext not to answer questions about a discussion he had with the president about the meeting. Trump Jr. invoked the privilege even though neither of them is a lawyer, Newsweek reports.
“We may need to sort of subpoena him or get him back under a compulsory process,” Himes said.
Congressional investigators have no obligation to acknowledge attorney-client privileges during an investigation. Yet, a House Committee rule states that it will not compel answers from people who testify voluntarily. Trump Jr. did testify voluntarily.
Himes told NBC News’ ‘’Meet the Press’’ that Trump Jr. was mostly forthcoming while testifying before the Congress. Trump Jr. invoked the privilege only when it came to the conversation he had with his father about the June 2016 meeting.
Trump’s son, together with Jared Kushner and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort met a Russian lawyer who promised them dirt on Hillary Clinton, but they all said the lawyer had no information about Trump’s rival in the presidential election. According to Himes, the committee now wants to know what happened after the Trump Tower meeting.
“Was there follow-up? Was dirt conveyed in any way, shape, or form and was it used? We’ve seen a lot of contact, we’ve seen desire to get dirt, desire to work with Russians, desire to contact the Russians. The question is, was there some form – and it is a question, I don’t want to prejudice the outcome – was there cooperation?” Himes asked, but did not say when the subpoena may come.
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