President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is reportedly unlikely to comply with a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee for his testimony about his communication with Russian officials.
Reuters, citing two congressional sources, reported Thursday afternoon that Trump Jr. would likely refuse to comply with the subpoena by invoking his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination.
Neither the White House nor a representative for Trump Jr. immediately responded to a request for comment.
{mosads}The report comes as the president defended his eldest son on Thursday, saying he was “surprised” to see the GOP-led panel had subpoenaed Trump Jr., who had testified behind closed doors before the House and Senate Intelligence committees in late 2017 as part of their probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Frankly, for my son, after being exonerated, to now get a subpoena to go again and speak again after close to 20 hours of telling everybody that would listen about a nothing meeting, yeah, I’m surprised,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The president said his son is a “good person” while declining to say whether he should fight the subpoena, news of which emerged on Wednesday.
Reuters, citing unnamed sources, said senators on the Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Trump Jr. because they want to question him themselves.
Trump Jr. reportedly answered questions from committee staff when he testified before the panel in December 2017.
The congressional sources reportedly added that the committee is seeking to question Trump Jr. about testimony he gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2017.
According to a transcript released by the Judiciary Committee, Trump Jr. said at the time that he was “peripherally aware” of plans to expand his father’s businesses into Russia. But Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress in February that Trump Jr. was far more involved in talks to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Cohen said that he briefed Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, about 10 times on the topic.
Cohen pleaded guilty last year to lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, would not comment on the subpoena on Thursday. But he said the panel has been clear that it reserves the “right to bring witnesses back if we have additional questions or there’s inconsistencies.”
The Intelligence Committee, chaired by GOP Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.), has been investigating Russian election interference for more than two years. Burr said he expects to conclude the probe in the coming months.
The decision to subpoena Trump Jr. was met with criticism from some GOP lawmakers.
“I believe Donald Trump Jr. has already testified for hours, more than 20 hours. I believe it’s time to move on,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said. “I think they have it wrong.”
Updated at 4 p.m.