Democrats call on Trump-Putin interpreter to testify; Republicans say no
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Interpreter Marina Gross, left, takes notes when U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of their one-on-one-meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Monday.
WASHINGTON >> Democrats looking for information about what happened during the private meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin want the U.S. interpreter to testify.
New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell called today on Reps. Trey Gowdy and Elijah Cummings, chairman and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, to ask Marina Gross to testify publicly before the committee.
“Given the public concessions President Trump made to Vladimir Putin by siding against the US 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 said in a letter.
Other Democrats soon jumped on the bandwagon.
“This interpreter can help determine what POTUS shared/promised Putin on our behalf,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire tweeted.
Rep. Joe Kennedy told CNN that if the White House wasn’t willing to tell America what was said at the summit, then Gross seemed to be the only other viable option. If she refused to testify then Congress should subpoena, he said.
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Republicans said such actions would set a bad precedent and have harmful future implications.
“If you did that, then no one would ever serve as an interpreter in the future,” Sen. Marco Rubio told Fox News.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he did not want to hear from the translator because it would undermine the dialogue in future conversations between heads of states, the Washington Examiner reported.
“I don’t think that when two leaders get together, there’s an expectation that their translators would be testifying about their private conversations,” Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz told The Hill.
Pascrell gave his own ideas about precedents.
“It may be unprecedented to subpoena a translator to reveal the details of a private meeting between the president and another world leader,” Pascrell said. “But Trump’s actions are unprecedented in a way that harms our national security.”
