Dems Call for US Interpreter in Trump-Putin Meeting to Testify Before Congress

Trump Putin Translator AP
Associated Press
Tony Lee

Congressional Democrats on Tuesday called for the American translator for President Donald Trump during his one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Helsinki, Finland, to testify before Congress.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) said Marina Gross, the translator, should testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee so she can help Senators determine what Trump “shared/promised Putin on our behalf.”

“I believe the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should hold a hearing with the American translator who was present during President Trump and President Putin’s private meeting to determine what was specifically discussed and agreed to on the United States’s behalf,” Shaheen reportedly said.

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) on Tuesday evening called on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to subpoena Gross, who was the only other American in the room with Trump during his one-on-one meeting with Putin that reportedly lasted at least two hours.

“Given the public concessions President Trump made to Russian President Vladimir Putin by siding against the U.S. intelligence community, law enforcement, and our military officials about Russia’s attack on our democracy, Congress and the American public deserve to know the details of their private conversation,” Pascrell reportedly wrote Committee leaders. “We need public testimony by the only American present at this meeting to ensure Trump did not further undermine our intelligence or law enforcement communities.”

Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) also called for Gross to be subpoenaed after Trump’s press conference with Putin.

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