It will "ultimately" take a subpoena to get answers from the Trump administration about Russia and whether senior adviser Jared Kushner can keep his security clearance after being involved in Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian attorney, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said Thursday.
"We have an overdue answer to our letter requesting information about reviewing that security clearance," the Rhode Island Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "I think we would know if it were withdrawn, but I'm not certain."
Whitehouse accused the Trump administration of "stonewalling" as it's not comfortable about the answers when it comes to Kushner, who is married to President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka.
"There's a lot of trouble getting a lot of questions answered" about the administration and the Russian relationship, Whitehouse said, but getting a subpoena to have them answered may be difficult with Republicans who would be responsible for issuing them holding the committee chairmanships.
"I can't speak for other committees, but I do sense that Chairman [Chuck] Grassley is getting personally irritated about the lack of response, and he's vented a few times about how senators are entitled answers to their questions," Whitehouse said. "At some point, he has to make good on that talk."
Meanwhile, the senator said he has just one demand for Trump in relation to Russia: "Show me your tax returns."
"He's the only president or presidential candidate not to reveal his tax returns," Whitehouse said. "There is credible information to suggest that the tax returns would reveal contacts with Russia. He is exactly the model of the business mark that the Russians target in their election interference strategies which has been written up over and over again."
The tax returns also could be gotten through subpoena, he continued, noting that during a subcommittee hearing Wednesday, witnesses said Congress has that authority.
Meanwhile, retaking the House and Senate in 2018 will depend on local races, not on what is happening in Washington. As for 2020, it will come to people deciding what to do when they see their basic institutions of government under attack.
"Thank God for the work you've done recently on this, but the president is busy calling your legitimate work fake news to delegitimize what you're doing," Whitehouse told the show's anchors, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
"It's not just a question of opposing Donald Trump when he does these things. It's a question of standing up for stuff that a lot of Americans bled and fought and died for over many generations, and the idea that this crowd in the white house gets to take that down is just wrong."
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.
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