Trump Jr. and Manafort reach deal with Senate panel to avoid public hearing

The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee have cut a deal with President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to avoid a high-profile public hearing next week, with the two men agreeing to provide records to the panel and to be privately interviewed ahead of any public session.

In a joint statement, panel Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dianne Feinstein said, “(W)e will not issue subpoenas for them tonight requiring their presence at Wednesday’s hearing but reserve the right to do so in the future.”

The committee has issued a subpoena for Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS, the political firm that compiled a dossier at the center of the federal Russia probe.

Attorneys for Simpson say he will not accept the committee’s invitation to testify Wednesday.

Grassley and Feinstein said in their statement: “Glenn Simpson, through his attorney, has declined to voluntarily attend Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing regarding compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Therefore, a subpoena has been issued to compel his attendance. Simpson’s attorney has asserted that his client will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in response to the subpoena.”

The subpoena was served by email Friday afternoon.

Also on Friday, the House intelligence committee announced it will interview Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on Tuesday as part of its probe into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. Kushner is being interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday.

Source: Trump Jr. and Manafort reach deal with Senate panel to avoid public hearing – CNNPolitics.com