Donald Trump Jr. and GOP Sen. Richard Burr are locked in a subpoena stalemate
Contempt Round 2 might be around the corner. Only this time, it's Donald Trump Jr. who's proving a thorn in the side of Congress, and not Attorney General William Barr.
Trump Jr., who was subpoenaed last week by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, might not comply with the order if he is asked about a 2016 meeting concerning a Trump Organization project in Moscow, CNN reports. His legal team argues that he already answered questions about the topic before three prior congressional committees. The two sides have reached a stalemate, though, because the committee will not agree to limit the number of topics brought up during the possible testimony.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the chair of the Intelligence Committee, subpoenaed the president's son after he backed out of two voluntary interviews last year, which reportedly "rankled" Burr and led to their current stand-off, CNN reports. Trump Jr. might offer to supply the committee with written answers, but the committee has rejected those in the past.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Now Burr is left with a choice between giving Trump Jr. a "pass" or pushing to hold him in contempt of Congress and risk facing more backlash from the Trump administration and the Republican party. If he takes the latter course, it looks like some prominent members of the GOP would disapprove. Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) has already advised Trump Jr. to ignore the subpoena. Read more at CNN. Tim O'Donnell
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Crossword: November 19, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
God is now just one text away because of AIUnder the radar People can talk to a higher power through AI chatbots
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
