Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) ran away from reporters who tried questioning him about his subpoena of Donald Trump Jr., one of the sons of President Donald Trump.
Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was roundly criticized by fellow Republicans for issuing the subpoena after Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no conspiracy or cooperation between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Burr himself said in February after a lengthy investigation that there was no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.
Reporters tried questioning Burr on May 9 but the Senator dodged them.
Burr declines to address criticism of his Don Jr. subpoena, telling reporters (literally as he walked by Sen. Paul criticizing the subpeona): “Maybe you didn’t hear what I said, I’m not going to talk about it right now.”
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) May 9, 2019
Burr on criticism from conservatives from Don Jr. subpoena; “maybe you didn’t hear me when I said I’m not going to talk to you guys right now.”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) May 9, 2019
Burr’s decline to give insight into his thinking came as some Republicans publicly defended his subpoena of Trump Jr., including all Republican members of the committee, and as a growing number slammed the move.
“Serving a subpoena to Don Trump Jr.—a private citizen who voluntarily testified before 3 Congressional committees for 25+ hours—is beyond inappropriate,” said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). “He answered questions and was cleared in the Mueller report after a 2 year, unlimited investigation. It’s over. Let it go.”
“Donald Trump Jr. has already spent dozens of hours testifying in front of Congressional committees. Endless investigations—by either party—won’t change the fact that there was NO collusion,” added House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). “It’s time to move on. It’s time to focus on ISSUES, not investigations.”
President Donald Trump also expressed surprise at the move when speaking to reporters on Thursday.
“I saw Burr saying there was no collusion two or three weeks ago. I was very surprised to see my son—my son is a good person, he works hard. The last thing he needs is Washington, D.C. He’d rather not be involved,” Trump said.
“My son is a good person. He testified for hours and hours. My son was totally exonerated by Mueller who doesn’t like Trump, me. And for my son, after being exonerated to now get a subpoena to speak again after telling everyone about a nothing meeting, I’m pretty surprised.”
Democrats, trying to find some wrongdoing on Trump’s part after the Mueller report found no collusion and couldn’t establish obstruction, lauded the subpoena.
“I’m very proud of the fact that we’re the only committee that’s kept bipartisan through this whole investigation,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the committee, told Politico. “The chairman’s had pressure to shut this down this down for a long time. I’ve had pressure to reach a conclusion before we’re finished. We’re going to do our job.”
