Donald Trump Jr., center, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, right, depart following the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 28, 2018.(Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP)
WASHINGTON – The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee is reviewing Donald Trump Jr.'s interviews with the panel last September, in light of a guilty plea from President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer.
On Thursday, Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the timeline related to plans for a Trump Tower in Moscow. He told lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence committees the plans ended in January 2016, when they actually lasted well into Trump's presidential campaign.
The plea, which is part of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, has triggered new scrutiny of other Trump allies who have spoken to Congress, including Trump's son, who is executive vice president of the Trump Organization.
“The chairman's oversight team has been reviewing the filings from yesterday, and the transcripts, to see what else might need to be done,” George Hartmann, a spokesman for Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley told USA TODAY.
A transcript of the September 2017 interview with the Judiciary Committee appears to show that Trump Jr. was asked about two separate attempts to build a Trump Tower in Russia.
The first appears to be the deal that Cohen pleaded guilty about Thursday.
When questioned about that failed attempt, Trump Jr. said he knew "very little" other than a letter of intent was signed by his father, Donald Trump. Trump Jr. said he "wasn't involved" in the attempted deal, other than being "peripherally aware of it."
The other effort was one related to Russian developer Aras Agalarov and his son Emin, a couple of years prior. Agalarov had explored building a Trump Tower in Moscow. (In a tweet directed at Aras in 2013, Trump wrote, "TRUMP TOWER-MOSCOW is next.")
But Trump Jr. said that deal "sort of faded away, I believe at the end of '14."
His lawyer declined to speak on the record.
Some Democrats say they aren't satisfied with Trump Jr.'s answers. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a committee member, told USA TODAY Friday he believed the Agalarovs were involved in the later project and that Trump Jr. was not being truthful in saying they were done in 2014.
"His testimony was evasive and potentially misleading or deceptive. In my view, his interview with our committee raises very serious issues of fact and credibility, These contradictions with the facts are deeply disturbing and he should be called back before the committee," Blumenthal said. He said hoped the current chairman would call for Trump Jr. to come back, and said he plans to talk with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is likely to take over the committee next year, if Grassley does not make Trump Jr. appear.
"I have no doubt that Robert Mueller is reviewing this transcript, just as he did Michael Cohen’s, and will be interested in the very significant and material areas where his statements seem to contradict the facts," Blumenthal said.
The Judiciary Committee wasn't the only panel that Trump Jr. spoke before. In December 2017, he also appeared in front of the Senate and House Intelligence committees.
Following the Cohen news Thursday, lawmakers on both sides fumed, saying they had been lied to and warned others they could fall into a similar path, though they did not speak specifically about Trump Jr.
“Michael Cohen’s indictment and guilty plea is once again an example that you cannot lie to Congress without consequences," Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr said Thursday.
Then on Friday, at a forum at the University of Texas, the North Carolina Republican said the committee had made multiple referrals to the special counsel.
"If we identify a crime in our investigation that has been committed, we refer it to the special prosecutor,” Burr said. “I won’t tell you the number of times, but we have made referrals to the special prosecutor.”
"I think Michael Cohen’s guilty plea also underscores the importance of something else, and that is we believe other witnesses were untruthful before our committee. We want to share those transcripts with Mr. Mueller," Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the incoming chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said Thursday.
Schiff did not address whether Trump Jr. was among those witnesses.
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, Kevin Johnson
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