Russia probe: Trump Jr to sit privately with Senate panel

President Donald Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has agreed to testify privately to the Senate Judiciary Committee as it looks into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. 

CNN first reported the news Tuesday, weeks after the eldest Trump son was invited to testify in public at a hearing in July. 

The network also reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had issued subpoenas to Melissa Laurenza, an attorney with the Akin Gump law firm, who formerly represented Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and to Jason Maloni, a Manafort spokesman. 

Donald Trump Jr will be testifying behind closed doors to staffers and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee 

Additionally, two associates of President Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, have been subpoenaed, reported CNN  

Additionally, two associates of President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, have been subpoenaed, reported CNN  

Special Counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed Jason Maloni (pictured), a Manafort spokesman and Melissa Laurenza, an attorney who previously represented Manafort

Special Counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed Jason Maloni, a Manafort spokesman and Melissa Laurenza (pictured), an attorney who previously represented Manafort

Special Counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed Jason Maloni (left), a Manafort spokesman and Melissa Laurenza (right), an attorney who previously represented Manafort 

Spokesmen and spokeswomen for the committee’s leaders did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.

CNN said Maloni and a spokesman for Mueller declined comment and that Laurenza referred questions to a spokesman who did not immediately comment.

Russia has loomed large over the first six months of the Trump presidency. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia worked to tilt last year’s presidential election in Trump’s favor. 

The principle investigation is through Special Counsel Mueller, who was appointed to take over the FBI’s investigation by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.

Comey subsequently testified before Congress and said Trump’s reason for firing him was the Russia probe. 

Additionally, several congressional committees are looking into the matter, including the Senate panel Donald Trump Jr will appear before.   

The eldest Trump son cut a deal with lawmakers, according to CNN, so that he would not have to testify in public about his meeting with a Russian lawyer, who had promised him dirt on Hillary Clinton in June 2016, in the midst of the presidential campaign. 

The meeting marks the first time Donald Trump Jr. will meet with lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill. 

A date for the meeting hasn’t been publicly announced but CNN’s Manu Raju said some lawmakers are saying as early as September, which means Donald Trump Jr. could be arriving on the Hill in a matter of days. 

Moscow has denied meddling in the 2016 presidential election.  

Trump denies any collusion by his campaign, while regularly denouncing the investigations as political witch hunts. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk