Trump Jr. on Senate meeting: ‘I trust this interview fully satisfied their inquiry’

Donald Trump Jr. said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon that he believes the five-hour interview he gave the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier that day “satisfied” investigators’ inquiry into a now-infamous 2016 meeting he took with a Russian lawyer.

“I answered every question posed by the committee related to this topic as well as all of their questions on other topics, until both sides had exhausted their line of questioning,” he said.

“I trust this interview fully satisfied their inquiry,” he added.

{mosads}The president’s eldest son met behind closed doors with Senate staffers — and a handful of committee lawmakers who were there only to observe — for over five hours on Thursday. The interview was not under oath.

Committee Democrats have already signaled that they are not yet done with Trump Jr. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the committee, characterized the interview as “preliminary.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who filtered in and out of the interview several times, told reporters that the appearance had opened new avenues of questions for the committee to explore.

“There are a lot of areas that have been opened for future witnesses and questioning,” he said. “There will be a lot of areas to be pursued.”

“My being there gives me a sense of his demeanor, his willingness to answer questions, his pauses and reluctance on some questions and eagerness on others,” he said later.

Democrats are pushing for the unclassified transcript of the interview to be made public — a move that could require a committee vote — as well as a public, under-oath hearing with Trump Jr.

The committee’s chairman and ranking member, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), have previously said that they intend for Trump Jr. to appear before the panel publicly and would subpoena him if necessary.

Grassley was not present for the meeting and, following the interview, his spokesperson declined to say whether the chairman would be reaffirming his intention for a public airing.

The panel is investigating a number of issues linked to the Russian interference campaign, including “attempts to influence U.S. elections” and whether there have been any violations of foreign lobbying laws.

Trump Jr. in his statement characterized the interview as being related to potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. 

The White House and Trump Jr. have staunchly defended the June 2016 meeting as appropriate, but have offered evolving explanations of its purpose.

In a 10-minute opening statement on Thursday, Trump Jr. said that he accepted the meeting with the Russian lawyer, who was promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, because he wanted to assess the Democratic presidential candidate’s “fitness” for office.

He insisted that he always intended to speak to his lawyers before using any of the information — the clearest indication yet that he was aware the offer could be legally problematic.

According to emails released by Trump Jr. days after the story first broke in July, an intermediary offered to set up a meeting between him and a “Russian government lawyer” offering information that “would incriminate Hillary [Clinton] and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”

“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” the intermediary wrote.

“If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” Trump Jr. responded.

President Trump reportedly personally dictated the White House’s original statement after the meeting became public, claiming that Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children.”

The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was at the time lobbying for the removal of U.S. sanctions on Russia; those sanctions had prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to ban all American adoptions of Russian children in retaliation.

In an interview when news of the meeting first emerged, Trump Jr. echoed the White House’s official statement and claimed that the talk with Veselnitskaya had been a waste of time.

Democrats say that Trump Jr.’s willingness to accept opposition research portrayed as part of Russia’s support for the president shows a clear intent to collude with the Russian government. The president has fiercely defended his son, insisting that the meeting was mere “politics.”

“Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That’s politics!” the president tweeted in July.

– Robin Eberhardt contributed