A powerful Senate committee has subpoenaed Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump’s campaign, to testify amid the growing investigation into the president’s campaign and possible ties with Russia.
The Senate Judiciary Committee issued Manafort a subpoena after they were unable to reach an agreement on a voluntary interview, CNN reports. The former chairman of Trump’s campaign also met in private with the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday morning.
BREAKING: Spokesman for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort says he met with Senate investigators Tuesday morning.
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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top members of the Judiciary Committee, issued a joint statement about Manafort’s subpoena.
“[A] subpoena was issued to compel Mr. Manafort’s participation in Wednesday’s hearing,” the two senators said in their statement. “As with other witnesses, we may be willing to excuse him from Wednesday’s hearing if he would be willing to agree to production of documents and a transcribed interview, with the understanding that the interview would not constitute a waiver of his rights or prejudice the committee’s right to compel his testimony in the future.”
During his meeting with the Intelligence Committee, Manafort has agreed to provide notes of the now infamous meeting he had—along with son Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner, a White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law—with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information on then-candidate Hillary Clinton last June.
Kushner met with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Mondy before making brief remarks to reporters. In the statement, Kushner said he “did not collude with Russia.”
According to Grassley and Feinstein, Manafort would only agree to a “single transcribed interview” to Congress, which would not be available to the Judiciary Committee, according to reports.
Manafort left Trump’s campaign last August after it was discovered that he had not disclosed his work for foreign governments.