Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump tells Congress to ‘keep working’ on disaster aid bill Warner: Campaigns should start reporting foreign contacts to FBI Overnight Health Care: Trump urges Congress to take action on surprise medical bills | New bipartisan drug pricing bill introduced | Trump gambles in push for drug import proposal MORE (R-Ky.) on Friday tried to tamp down the political backlash over the Senate Intelligence Committee’s decision to subpoena Donald Trump Jr.Donald (Don) John TrumpTrump Jr. unlikely to comply with Senate Intel subpoena: report Ted Cruz: There’s no need for another subpoena for Donald Trump Jr. McCarthy: GOP-led Senate Intel panel ‘wrong’ to subpoena Trump Jr. MORE, urging the president “not to worry.”
“I know the president’s upset about that, but I think he ought not to worry about it. The chairman of the Intelligence Committee has already said the committee, when it reports, will find no collusion,” McConnell told WHAS, a Kentucky radio station.
ADVERTISEMENT
McConnell’s comments come after Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard BurrRichard Mauze BurrTrump Jr. unlikely to comply with Senate Intel subpoena: report Ted Cruz: There’s no need for another subpoena for Donald Trump Jr. The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Dems raise stakes with talk of ‘constitutional crisis’ MORE‘s (R-N.C.) decision, in conjunction with Vice Chairman Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerWarner: Campaigns should start reporting foreign contacts to FBI Trump Jr. unlikely to comply with Senate Intel subpoena: report Trump ‘surprised’ Senate Intelligence subpoenaed his son MORE (D-Va.), to subpoena Trump Jr. sparked intense division among Senate Republicans.
Several — including Burr’s fellow senator from North Carolina, Thom TillisThomas (Thom) Roland TillisTed Cruz: There’s no need for another subpoena for Donald Trump Jr. Graham: If I were Trump Jr.’s lawyer, ‘I’d be reluctant to put him back in this circus’ Key GOP senator after Trump Jr. intel subpoena says ‘at some point this smacks of politics’ MORE (R), who is up for reelection — were critical of Burr on Thursday.
But McConnell, during Friday’s radio interview, defended the Intelligence Committee, noting that its years-long investigation into the 2016 election and Russian interference had remained bipartisan.
“This Intelligence Committee in the Senate, unlike the Intel Committee in the House, has not descended into partisan bickering. It’s been a largely bipartisan effort. Chairman Burr has indicated that they’ll be reporting very soon,” McConnell said.
He added that “we ought to just take a deep breath and understand that this episode is coming to an end.”
The decision by Burr and Warner to subpoena Trump Jr. comes as members of the Intelligence Committee say they are trying to wrap up their investigation, and subsequent reports, by August. The decision appeared to catch a number of Senate Republicans off guard, with several members of the committee indicating that they hadn’t been given a heads up.
Trump said on Thursday that he was “surprised,” adding that he “saw Richard Burr saying there was no collusion two or three weeks ago.”
Burr, in a closed-door GOP lunch on Thursday, detailed the steps that he and Warner had taken to try to set up a time to talk with Trump Jr. before issuing the subpoena. McConnell also reportedly defended Burr during the lunch.
McConnell also predicted to Fox News’s Sean HannitySean Patrick HannityTrump jokes after rallygoer suggests migrants be shot Kamala Harris responds to Trump calling her ‘nasty’ Trump accuses Harris of being ‘very nasty’ to Barr, looking for ‘political points’ MORE on Thursday night that “this is going to have a happy ending.”
“I understand the president’s frustration here. But I think that this is just a blip,” he said. “I think that the case is closed. I think that the controversy has been concluded.”