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Lawmakers Are Demanding Trump Jr. Testify Before Congress

by Katherine Speller
John Moore/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Ahead of an explosive New York Times report about a series of emails between Donald Trump Jr. and Rob Goldstone on Tuesday that mentioned Russian government intel on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump Jr. tweeted out screenshots of his emails and threw the internet and political world into a bit of a frenzy. Later, calls for transparency were abundant as lawmakers demanded Trump Jr. testify about the emails before congress.

USA Today reported that, early on, Texas Sen. John Cornyn said he wanted "to know the whole story" and was fairly certain that Trump Jr. would have to testify in the near future. "I can't imagine a world in which that [testimony] doesn't happen," he said.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer was quick to push for a swift testimony under oath from the president's son and insisted that the Trump campaign "turn over any and all documents" requested by the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee and Special Counsel Robert Mueller:

We need public testimony under oath of Donald Trump Jr. who has changed his story repeatedly.

While there is no set date for a testimony from Trump Jr., Reuters reported late on Tuesday that the Senate Intelligence Committee has every intention of calling for it.

Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake told USA Today that they were allowing the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation to "get to the bottom" of the situation before anything else.

However, Flake didn't shy away from the problematic appearance of the situation. When asked what he would do if offered some damaging information from the Russian government, Flake responded, "From the Russian government? I'd go the other way."

The president has, so far, stood by his son, praised his "transparency," and called him a "high quality person" in a statement read by Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday. He later promoted his appearance on Fox News via his Twitter account, once again praising him as a "great person."

The testimony would be of particular interest to investigators looking into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 election. Already, many are questioning whether the meeting (which also involved Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump Jr.'s brother-in-law/presidential adviser Jared Kushner) broke any campaign finance laws, confirmed the alleged collusion, or even crossed the line into treason.

As more details emerge about Trump Jr.'s meeting, it's clear that many politicians won't rest until he testifies before the various groups involved in the investigation.