Franken: Trump Jr., Manafort need to testify under oath

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said on Sunday that Donald Trump Jr. and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort should testify under oath.

During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Franken was asked whether it was good enough for the two to testify behind closed doors and not under oath.

“No, that’s not good enough,” Franken said. “It should be under oath.”

{mosads}Franken said he would like to ask questions about whether they had any other meetings with the Russians.

The comments come after lawmakers announced last week that Trump Jr. and Manafort reached a deal with the Senate Judiciary Committee to avoid appearing at a public hearing.

Manafort and the president’s eldest son are the focus of new attention after reports that they attended a meeting, along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, with a Russian lawyer. An email setting up the meeting promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton that would be provided by the Russian government.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement that they would not immediately subpoena Trump Jr. or Manafort to testify at the Wednesday hearing.

“Both Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort, through their attorneys, have agreed to negotiate to provide the committee with documents and be interviewed by committee members and staff prior to a public hearing,” the lawmakers said.