WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said the Senate Intelligence Committee’s subpoena of his son Donald Trump Jr. came as a surprise, one day after reports that the Republican-led panel had called on his son to again answer questions.
“I’m pretty surprised,” Trump said at an event at the White House, calling his son “a good person.”
Congressional sources on Wednesday said that the committee, which is among those investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, had issued a subpoena to Trump Jr. to appear again before the committee to discuss his previous testimony.
The sources said discussions have been under way for months between the panel and Trump Jr. regarding his possible testimony.
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Trump Jr. had appeared before the panel previously to answer questions from committee staff, according to a congressional source.
The subpoena was issued now because Senators want to question him themselves, the sources said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Phil Berlowitz)
