McConnell defends Burr amid Trump Jr. subpoena fallout

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr on Tuesday, signaling that the embattled Republican chairman will be able to stay the course on his committee’s subpoena for Donald Trump Jr.

“None of us tell Chairman Burr how to run his committee,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. “I asked him to undertake this investigation with Russian collusion a couple of years ago. He’s indicated publicly that he believes they will find no collusion.”

Story Continued Below

Though the GOP leader did not directly address the furor over the subpoena for Trump Jr., his continuing support for the Intelligence Committee’s investigation will be welcomed by Burr and other Republicans on the panel.

Burr in particular has faced severe criticism from the White House and fellow GOP senators for subpoenaing Trump Jr. even after the special counsel’s report was completed, though he’s shown no signs of backing down.

President Donald Trump lashed out at Burr again on Tuesday.

“My son spent, I guess, over 20 hours testifying about something that Mueller said was 100 percent okay. And now they want him to testify again,” Trump told reporters. “It seems very unfair to me.”

Republicans are worried that Trump Jr. has no intention of complying with the subpoena and is eager to force a floor vote on the subpoena, which would amount to a high-stakes loyalty test on the Senate floor.

If Trump Jr. doesn’t comply, the full Senate can take him to court over his resistance to being interviewed by the committee or held in contempt.

There may be ways to avoid that, such as allowing written responses or coming to some other deal with Trump Jr. But if anything is in the works, Burr isn’t saying.

“I don’t talk about engagement with witnesses. At all. Never have. I don’t have any comment as it relates to the interview process period. On anything. I’m not addressing anything relative to witnesses,” he said in an interview. “We’re continuing to try and wrap up our investigation.”