WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee dropped a subpoena late Tuesday that would have compelled President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort to testify publicly before the committee in its ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
In a joint statement, committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley and ranking Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Manafort produced documents Tuesday after the subpoena was issued and agreed to meet with committee members in the future for an interview.
“It’s important that he and other witnesses continue to work with this committee as it fulfills its oversight responsibility,” the statement said. “Our investigation is still in its early stages, and we will continue to seek information from witnesses as necessary. … Cooperation from witnesses is always the preferred route, but this agreement does not prejudice the committee’s right to compel his testimony in the future.”
Grassley and Feinstein announced earlier Tuesday that the committee had subpoenaed Manafort, citing the inability to negotiate a private interview with the political consultant.
The panel was expected to question Manafort about his foreign political work on behalf of Ukrainian interests and a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer Natalie Veselnitskaya, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
An email exchange released by the younger Trump earlier this month showed he believed that he would be getting intelligence that would hurt his father’s political rival Hillary Clinton at the meeting. In the emails, Rob Goldstone indicated that the Russian government was connected to the intelligence.
The younger Trump said he believed Goldstone and his associates were providing political opposition research.
Manafort met with Senate Intelligence Committee staff on Tuesday. The group is one of multiple congressional panels, along with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, investigating Russian interference in last year’s election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign.
The meeting, which happened behind closed doors, focused on Manafort's recollection of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, according to Politico. He agreed to turn over his notes from the meeting and spokesman Jason Maloni told the news site that Manafort "answered their questions fully."
Manafort's team requested the meeting and committed to meeting with investigators again, Politico reported.
Kushner was also on Capitol Hill Tuesday, where he met with the House Intelligence Committee, The Washington Post reported. The meeting marked the second day of interviews for Kushner, who on Tuesday met with the Senate Intelligence Committee.
In a statement after the closed session, Kushner plainly denied allegations of collusion.
“I did not collude with Russians, nor do I know of anyone in the campaign who did so,” he said.
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