Don Jr. ‘not at all’ worried about perjury charges
Donald Trump Jr. said Wednesday after his closed-door meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee that he’s “not at all” worried about perjury charges and didn’t alter his previous testimony to the committee.
“There was nothing to change,” he told reporters. “If there needed to be clarification because Michael Cohen — who let’s not forget is serving time right now for lying to these very investigative bodies — I’m happy to do that.”
Trump Jr. added that he was “glad that this is finally over.”
In February, Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, testified that he briefed Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump about negotiations focused on the Trump Tower Moscow project. Cohen also said he witnessed Trump Jr. and the president interact in ways that suggested the president knew about a meeting between his son, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort and a Russian lawyer promising damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
Cohen is currently serving a three year sentence for financial crimes and lying to Congress.
Trump Jr.’s second appearance before the committee comes after its chairman, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C), issued a subpoena to bring the president’s son back before the panel. Trump Jr. was interviewed for about three hours Wednesday.
Burr and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the Committee’s vice chair, did not comment further about Trump Jr.’s testimony.
Burr’s subpoena spurred a backlash from Republicans, who viewed Trump Jr.’s interview as unnecessary given the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
But members of the Senate Intelligence Committee have emphasized that their separate probe of Russian interference has a different focus from Mueller’s.