Senate panel subpoenas Trump's son: source

US President Donald Trump's son, Donald Jr., has been subpoenaed by a US Senate committee investigating claims of meddling in the 2016 election, sources claim.

Donald Trump Jr.

Sources say a US Senate committee investigating election meddling has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. (AAP)

The US Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed the president's son Donald Trump Jr. to answer questions about his contacts with Russia, two congressional sources say.

The panel wants to question Trump Jr. about testimony he gave in September 2017 which was subsequently contradicted in public testimony by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, one of the sources said.

The committee is one of the few in the Senate that has been conducting serious investigations related to Russian meddling in the 2016 US election. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has appeared before the panel at least twice.

During his Judiciary Committee appearance in September, the source said, Trump Jr. was asked about the extent of his involvement in a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

"Like I said, I was peripherally aware of it, but most of my knowledge has been gained since as it relates to hearing about it over the last few weeks," Trump Jr. told the committee, according to an official transcript.

In testimony before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, however, Cohen, said he briefed Trump family members "approximately 10 times" about the Moscow Trump Tower project, and that Trump Jr. and his sister Ivanka were among the family members he briefed.

Cohen has also told Congress that some reimbursement cheques issued to him for hush money payments to an adult film star who said she had an affair with President Trump were signed by Trump Jr, as well as the Trump Organization's chief financial officer.

Cohen this week began serving a federal prison sentence for tax evasion and campaign finance violations.

In his report on Russian meddling in the US presidential election in 2016, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team of prosecutors reported that there was a "reasonable argument" that Trump Jr. violated campaign finance laws.

But Mueller's team concluded they did not believe they could obtain a conviction.

A lawyer for Trump Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

A Senate Intelligence Committee spokeswoman declined to discuss details of its own long-running investigation into Russia's election interference.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world