Donald Trump Jr. late Thursday laid into House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., after reports appeared to vindicate the younger Trump of Democratic suspicions that he made phone calls to President Trump around the time of the Trump Tower meeting with Russians in June 2016.
Senate investigators obtained phone records which appeared to show that Trump Jr. had actually spoken to two longtime Trump family friends – Brian France, the chief executive of Nascar, and the investor Howard Lorber, the New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter.
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Trump Jr. responded to the reports on Twitter, knocking Schiff.
“Has anyone heard from Adam Schiff?” Trump Jr. tweeted. “I imagine he’s busy leaking other confidential info from the House Intelligence Committee to change the subject?!?”
Democrats have long suspected the calls were between Trump Jr. and his then-candidate father regarding a meeting with Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.
Schiff appeared on MSNBC Thursday night and said that Democrats were unable to confirm the reporting “because the Republicans wouldn’t let us get the phone records.”
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Trump Jr. said in a statement to the Times that, “After a year of hearing about this one ad nauseam, yet another left-wing narrative officially bites the dust.”
Sources told the paper that the report was seen by the White House as a victory. The findings marked an important development for Trump allies who’ve seen a challenging week that culminated with the arrest of longtime ally Roger Stone.
President Trump responded to the reports late Thursday, appearing to call out Democrats and the media.
“Just out: The big deal, very mysterious Don Jr telephone calls, after the innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me,” Trump wrote. “They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!”
He followed up later Thursday with a second tweet, saying “This witch hunt must end!”
Trump Jr. has maintained that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer he met with at Trump Tower, did not have any information to share and instead wanted to discuss the Magnitsky Act and other sanctions.
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The Trump Tower meeting has been under intense scrutiny from investigators seeking whether Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election. Investigators are also looking at the financial ties between some Trump associates and the Kremlin.
A special counsel, led by Robert Mueller, was appointed to investigate potential wrongdoing more than one year ago, and the team has already brought multiple charges against people associated with the presidential campaign.
Fox News’ Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.
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