WASHINGTON _ Prospects for public congressional hearings featuring the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law Jared Kushner have grown increasingly uncertain.
Democrats have long sought open questioning of Trump Jr., Kushner and other top aides to President Donald Trump on their communications with Russians during last year's campaign, saying it's imperative for such major figures to account for their actions in public.
But Republicans who control both chambers of Congress have scheduled no such hearings and given no guarantees they'll take place. Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr said he's wary of turning the investigation into a "show trial."
Congressional committees investigating Russian meddling in the election have interviewed Trump's family members and others privately. Only a few key witnesses have testified in public, including former FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
That's not unusual _ at least at the start of congressional investigations _ because lawmakers want to make witnesses comfortable with testifying and prevent them from changing their stories after hearing what others are saying. Starting behind closed doors is a strategy endorsed by some Democrats, including Representative Adam Schiff of California, his party's top member on the House Intelligence Committee.
Depending on how the hearings are handled, lawmakers could gain partisan advantage ahead of next year's congressional elections. Democrats would benefit from a continuing public spectacle that would draw attention to potential collusion between Trump's family members and Russia. Republicans are eager to change the topic and focus hearings on Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic rival in the presidential race, and questions they have about the Obama administration's approval of the sale of U.S. uranium mines to a Russian-backed company.
Trump Tower Meeting
Among the reasons lawmakers are pursuing Trump Jr. and Kushner is a meeting they took with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower in 2016, after Trump secured the GOP nomination. Emails released by Trump Jr. show that he was expecting to receive compromising information about Clinton.
Separately, Trump Jr. revealed recently that he exchanged private Twitter messages during the campaign with WikiLeaks, which was distributing stolen emails from Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta and other Democrats. The WikiLeaks disclosure prompted Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, to renew calls for a public hearing with Trump Jr.
"I am very hopeful that we will be able to have him before the committee as soon as possible," Feinstein said. "Hopefully the chairman will do that."
Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said the committee continues to interview witnesses in private before considering any possible public hearings. Staff has interviewed Trump Jr., with some senators sitting in to watch.
Feinstein and Grassley started their investigation on good terms but have come to loggerheads about the direction of the probe. Feinstein is focused on Russia's meddling in the election and possible obstruction of justice in President Trump's dismissal of Comey. Grassley is pursuing questions about the uranium mines and the handling of last year's investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.
Requiring Agreement
Asked about the prospects for public hearings, Grassley said, "If we can work it out, and if we can get all the people we want plus the people she wants." But he said "we're going to have to have mutual agreement."
Months ago, both Feinstein and Grassley had indicated an interest in public hearings with Trump Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, a research firm that commissioned a dossier on Trump that included salacious allegations.
A public hearing was scheduled and Manafort and Simpson were subpoenaed, but that was put on hold in an effort to obtain information behind closed doors first. Manafort isn't expected to talk to the committee now that he's been indicted on charges that he hid his work as an agent of Ukraine, laundered millions of dollars, and concealed foreign accounts, Grassley said.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Judiciary subcommittee chairman, said he's willing to call Trump Jr. for a hearing but also wants to have public sessions with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who served under President Barack Obama, as well as Comey.
"There better be public hearings because if we don't call 'em back, given what I know, we're making a mistake," Graham said. "I mean, ask Don Jr., 'Why did you communicate with WikiLeaks?'"
But he said Democrats also have to agree to witnesses Republicans want. "They're not going to be able to just call the people they like," Graham said.
Senate Intelligence
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which has been the most bipartisan of the major congressional probes, also is struggling with the issue of public hearings.
Burr of North Carolina, the committee's chairman, has said he hopes to wrap up interviews by the end of the year and a report by the end of February. He has said he would support open hearings only if they help advance the investigation, not repeat what the committee already knows.
While Burr said he wants the committee to interview Trump Jr., he hasn't said whether that would be in public or private. The panel's top Democrat, Mark Warner of Virginia, said he's optimistic there will be a public session.
Democrat Ron Wyden, a member of the Intelligence panel, said Kushner had "played the committee" by agreeing to closed-door talks and then handing out public statements as a way to control the narrative.
"I strongly favor a public hearing with Don Jr.," Wyden said. "People like me can't hold him accountable" without a public hearing, he said.
In the House, where a partisan divide on the Intelligence Committee is more pronounced than on any other panel looking into the Russia matter, there's no indication Republicans have any interest in public hearings with Trump Jr or Kushner.
Emily Hytha, a spokeswoman for Republicans who control the House panel, didn't respond to a question about whether the committee will hold public hearings with Trump Jr. or Kushner. The committee already has received private testimony from Kushner.
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