Markey: We know more about Trump’s talks with Cohen than with Putin

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey (D) on Wednesday slammed President Trump over the secrecy of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, remarking that the American public knows more about the president’s conversations surrounding an ex-Playboy model.

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Markey told CNN on Wednesday before attending the testimony of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that too little is known about Trump’s conversation with Putin, which was attended only by translators.

“We know more about the substance of the conversation between Donald Trump and Michael Cohen than we do about the substance of the conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin,” he said.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) just now on CNN: “We know more about the substance of the conversation between Donald Trump and Michael Cohen than we do about the substance of the conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.”

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) July 25, 2018

His reference to the conversation between Trump and his former longtime attorney comes after CNN obtained a tape of the two men discussing payments tied to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claims to have had an affair with Trump. The payments, which the White House previously denied knowledge of, came weeks before the 2016 election.

Meanwhile, Democrats have called on Congress to subpoena translator Marina Gross, who was the only American besides Trump in the room with Putin during their meeting earlier this month. The lawmakers want her to reveal what was said during the meeting.

“Given the public concessions President Trump made to Russian President Vladimir Putin by siding against the U.S. intelligence community, law enforcement, and our military officials about Russia’s attack on our democracy, Congress and the American public deserve to know the details of their private conversation,” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) wrote to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who also sits on the committee with Markey, called on the panel to compel Gross to appear and testify.

“I believe the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should hold a hearing with the American translator who was present during President Trump and President Putin’s private meeting to determine what was specifically discussed and agreed to on the United States’s behalf,” Shaheen said.