President Donald Trump should speak about the investigation into Russian interference in the election to special counsel Robert Mueller rather than testifying before Congress, as such testimony would raise "separation of powers" questions, Sen. Jack Reed said Sunday.
"Special prosecutor Mueller is charged to conduct this investigation, and I believe he's the appropriate person to conduct this investigation," the Rhode Island Democrat told "Fox News Sunday."
If Mueller does depose Trump, the questions should not only include what he and former FBI Director James Comey talked about during their meetings," the senator said, as there are also questions about conversations with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, and Trump's relationship with former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, among other issues.
"By the time Special Prosecutor Mr. Mueller is ready to depose or ask the president to speak under oath, there will be a myriad of questions," Reed said.
He also disagreed with Republicans calling for the investigation to be wrapped up as soon as possible, as Mueller will need to look at all the different aspects of the probe.
"The one thing that the president continues to diminish, which I think is unfortunate, is the fact that the Russian government at the highest level deliberately interfered with our election in 2016, and according to all of our experts in the intelligence community, they are coming back with more force in 2018 and 2020," said Reed.
Comey spoke a great deal about Trump during his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, but he also "made several points" about the Russians' "unprecedented" interference in the election, said Reed.
"One of the reasons that he [Comey] was so conscious of conducting this investigation was not to sort of back and appropriately charge people who may have done something wrong, but that he was also looking forward to what could happen and what would likely happen in 2018 and 2020," Reed said. "He said that repeatedly."
Related Stories:
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.