Jr. will testify at Senate panel
Strikes deal for second round of Russia questions
Donald Trump Jr. struck a last-minute deal Tuesday to come in for a second round of closed-door Russia testimony before the Republicancontrolled Senate Intelligence Committee next month, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The president’s son agreed to a limited grilling by mid-June, the source, who spoke anonymously because the deal is part of a confidential agreement, said.
Final interview topics have yet to be hammered out, the source said, but questions are expected to focus in part on a scuttled Trump Tower Moscow development and a June 2016 campaign meeting attended by a Kremlinlinked attorney.
Trump Jr. only agreed to between two and four hours of testimony, according to the source.
A spokeswoman for the committee declined to comment. An attorney for Trump Jr. did not respond to emailed questions.
The testimony deal came on the heels of a subpoena from Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (RN.C.) demanding Trump Jr.’s compliance.
Trump Jr. had faced a Monday deadline to respond to Burr’s subpoena, but the committee pushed it back a day to allow for negotiations to continue.
Burr faced intense backlash from his own party after lobbing the subpoena, and Trump-loyal Republicans accused him of succumbing to Democratic pressure.
Burr told fellow Republicans at a luncheon last week that he only moved to issue the subpoena after Trump Jr. twice backed out of a voluntary interview, said multiple people in attendance.
Trump Jr. had at first been open to the idea of testifying, Burr said.
But the Trump scion changed his mind after special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation without charges against him or his father.
Burr’s subpoena was the first high-stakes testimony demand targeting someone in the president’s immediate family.
Trump Jr. first testified before the intelligence committee in 2017 as part of the panel’s independent inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Democrats have long suggested Trump Jr. may have lied during that appearance about several topics pertaining to the president’s campaign and Russia, including whether his father knew of the June 2016 meeting and how long talks went on about the Moscow development.
The president on Tuesday said he believed his 41-yearold son was being treated poorly.
“It’s really a tough situation because my son spent, I guess, over 20 hours testifying about something that Mueller said was 100 percent OK and now they want him to testify again,” Trump told reporters at the White House before traveling to Louisiana. “I don’t know why. I have no idea why. But it seems very unfair to me.”