WILL TRUMP JUNIOR HAVE TO TAKE THE 5th AMENDMENT?

… Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, Richard Burr (R-N.C.)

After many weeks of negotiations with Trump Jr., he was subpoenaed for a second interview

It is amazing how the elected GOP officials have demonstrated no support for really finding out the truth about what the Russians did in messing with the 2016 US election.

It’s also misunderstood why the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) decided to subpoena Donald Trump Jr.

First it must be understood that the Senate committee’s focus is much different from the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller III’s investigation.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Senate intelligence panel, said the criticism of Burr was a misunderstanding of the focus of the committee’s investigation, which Rubio said is being inaccurately compared with the special counsel probe. 

“Mueller’s report is a criminal justice investigation,” Rubio said. “Ours [the US Senate’s] is an intelligence investigation about the Russia threat and about the way our agencies performed.” 

It is also to find out what is being done to prevent Russian interference in the 2020 election.

Some other Senate Republicans, on and off the Intelligence Committee, also defended Burr. 

“I’m not going to comment on what actions are being taken,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who sits on the committee. “But I support his leadership and think that he has done a good job.” 

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who is not on the committee, said: “I have confidence in Chairman Burr, and if he’s requesting testimony, I presume he has a reason for the Senate subpoena.”

All that sound pretty good, but it’s not what those Republican senators that are up for election in 2020 are saying, and it’s the opposite of what those close to the president are saying.

Here are some examples:

• “This would not go forward without Republican complicity,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), an ally of President Trump’s, told reporters on Capitol Hill. “So, I think it’s a mistake for Republicans to keep putting the Trump family through this, and I really think they ought to drop it.”

• “I sure wish Sen Richard Burr was as interested in Biden’s cushy deals w/Ukraine & China while VP than he is in the harassment of @DonaldJTrumpJr over a CLOSED witch hunt,” tweeted former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, the father of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

• In tweets, Charlie Kirk, the founder of the pro-Trump organization Turning Point USA and a friend of Trump Jr.’s, singled out Republican senators who are running for reelection in 2020 and taunted them to fall into line with the Trump family against Burr’s subpoena.  “Conservatives are watching closely how @SenThomTillis responds to his North Carolina colleague @SenatorBurr’s senseless targeting of @DonaldJTrumpJr,” Kirk said in one of this tweets. “Primaries will not be kind to Republicans who stand silent as government power is . . . abused to harass the President’s family.”

• “We have a 400-plus page report that was determined after about $30 million of money spent, dozens of investigators, hundreds of subpoenas and inquisitions that there was no underlying crime and no obstruction,” Tillis said. “I personally believe Democrats are just trying to keep this thing alive, and it’s their latest launch point to do it.” 

• Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), a member of Burr’s committee who is also up for reelection in 2020, said Thursday morning that he was not aware in advance that a subpoena had been issued for Trump Jr. but said, “At some point, this is not about finding facts.This smacks of politics,” Cornyn said, according to CBS News. “And I think we have an important job to do to try to keep the Intelligence Committee out of politics.”

• Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stressed that he would not second-guess Burr but said in his view, “Mueller’s the final word for me.  If I were Don Jr.’s lawyer, I’d be reluctant to jump back into this circus,” Graham added. “It’s just crazy.  Mueller spent two years and $25 million, and to me, he’s the final word.” 

The GOP tensions could increase further if the president’s eldest son decides to defy the subpoena and Burr triggers a showdown by insisting on enforcing the summons.  This would leave it in the hands of Senate leader McConnell to decide whether to hold the president’s son, Trump Jr. in contempt of Congress.  I’m sure McDonnell hopes that will not be the case.

“I think the good news is Chairman Burr has already indicated the committee will find no collusion,” McConnell said this in a friendly Fox News interview. “I think this is going to have a happy ending. … I understand the president’s frustration here, but I think this is just a blip.”

In addition, Burr has repeatedly declined to speak with reporters.

But in a closed-door lunch of GOP senators, Burr explained the reasoning behind the subpoena, according to people familiar with the discussion, he included the long timeline of the negotiations with Trump Jr. over his having a repeat testimony.

Also, during the lunch, McConnell told his colleagues he had faith in Burr’s leadership, encouraging them to stop their public attacks on Burr’s decision to issue a subpoena.  This was according to people familiar with the conversations.

In an interview this week conducted before the revelation of the Trump Jr. subpoena, Burr, who was elected to a third term in 2016, (and has said he will not run again), dismissed any notion that politics is influencing his investigation. 

It is important to understand why a Republican run committee would even consider subpoenaing the president eldest son.

The Senate panel issued the subpoena, only after many weeks of negotiations with Trump Jr. for a second interview.  The aides of both parties say Trump Jr. had to have known that a 2^nd interview was always part of the deal.  The committee had stated that they had always planned to bring back key witnesses for a second session in which all the senators would be included.

To date, the committee staffers have been conducting most of the interviews in the intelligence panel’s probe.  Even Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, appeared for a second closed-door session in late March.

Eventually, the committee lost its patience with Trump Jr., and they issued the subpoena more than a week ago. The summons became public only a day after McConnell delivered a speech declaring “case closed,” after the completion of the Mueller report.  However, McConnell also acknowledged an exception for the Intelligence Committee’s probe, which he said should continue.

“Hopefully Don Jr. and his lawyers will believe it’s important,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who also sits on the committee. “I think his brother-in-law came in, in a similar situation, to be sure that every question was clearly understood and clearly answered, and I think he should, too.” 

The point that should be made here is that even though the former Trump “Fixer” lawyer Michael Cohen is currently  in prison for lying to the Feds, Cohen has made statements in his testimonies that are counter to previous testimony of Trump Jr.

The president says that he is surprised that after 20 hours of testimony from his son, he doesn’t understand why his son is being subpoenaed again….?

But based on what Mr. Cohen and others have testified to the committees, and based on the false comments that were made regarding the infamous Trump Tower Meeting with the Russians, Trump Jr. could receive questions that would require for him to “take the 5^th Amendment” for self incrimination, and that would be another nail in the 2020 Trump election coffin.

We can only hope that will be the case.

Copyright G. Ater 2019