Trump Family Members May Have Lied During Russia Testimony, Bipartisan Senate Leaders Say

In a bipartisan letter to the Justice Department, the Senate Intelligence Committee raised concerns about testimony given by some of Donald Trump’s family members during the Russia investigation.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “[The letter] raised concerns about testimony provided by family members and confidants of President Trump that appeared to contradict information provided by a former deputy campaign chairman to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III.”

Among those family members and allies who may have given conflicting testimony were Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and Hope Hicks.

The committee also sought an investigation into former Trump adviser Steve Bannon for “potentially lying to lawmakers during its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.”

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

More from the LA Times:

The letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times, was signed by the panel’s then-chairman, Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr, and its ranking Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner.

It also raised concerns about testimony provided by family members and confidants of President Trump that appeared to contradict information provided by a former deputy campaign chairman to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Those it identified as providing such conflicting testimony were the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks.

The letter, which has not before been made public, was sent July 19, 2019, to Deborah Curtis, a top prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington. It is not clear what action the Justice Department has taken on the referral. Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment.

…

The letter then names Bannon, the chief executive of the 2016 Trump campaign and later a top White House strategist, and two other men — Erik Prince, a private security contractor, and Sam Clovis, who served as co-chairman of Trump’s campaign.

Criminal referrals from Capitol Hill have been somewhat common since Trump took office in 2017. But this one is rare because it involves the bipartisan leaders of a Senate panel that conducted its own probe without devolving into the partisan bickering that consumed its counterpart in the House of Representatives.

Trump’s political survival is built on lies

None of this comes as a surprise to those who have been paying attention to the Trump administration over the past four years.

Donald Trump’s political survival depends on those around him – including just about every Republican in Congress – lying or looking the other way to cover up his misconduct and incompetence.

Publicly, they cry witch hunt or claim that Democratic lawmakers’ attempts to hold the president accountable are partisan crusades, but privately they know the truth.

Donald Trump is a weak, corrupt and failed president – more so than any in American history.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.