WASHINGTON -- Democrats said Thursday that they'll seek a subpoena to force Corey Lewandowski, a former campaign manager to Donald Trump, to answer all of their questions after he refused for the second time to respond to inquiries about his communications with the president.
"I answered every relevant question they had," Lewandowski told reporters after three hours of questioning by the House Intelligence Committee. But Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the panel's top Democrat, said it's not up to a witness "to pick and choose" what he's willing to discuss. He said Republicans are weighing the request to compel Lewandowski's testimony.
Lewandowski had balked at providing some answers in his initial, nine-hour appearance Jan. 17 before the panel, which is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and whether anyone close to Trump colluded in the meddling.
While Lewandowski did answer some questions Thursday, Schiff said he refused to respond to inquiries about a Trump Tower meeting with Russians in June 2016 or the preparation of a misleading White House statement about what was discussed once that meeting became public.
Schiff said Lewandowski also balked at questions about Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey as well as any discussions he may have had with Trump about the possibility of firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is leading the criminal investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Lewandowski told the panel in January that he wasn't prepared to answer questions about his activities and communications after his departure from the Trump campaign in June 2016, including his interactions as a private citizen with Trump as president-elect and president. Lewandowski has said he still keeps in touch with the president.
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It wasn't clear whether Rep. Michael Conaway of Texas, the Republican leading the panel's investigation, would go along with a demand for subpoenas. "I don't talk about things like that," Conaway said Wednesday.
The committee has had trouble with other recent witnesses, including longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks, who refused to answer questions from the time period after Trump's inauguration. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon has also refused to answer questions about his time in the White House even though the committee subpoenaed him.
The committee's investigation is one of several congressional probes into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and whether Trump's campaign was involved. Republicans on the House panel have said they want to wrap up the investigation soon, but Democrats argue that there are still many witnesses who should be called.
On Thursday, Schiff said he wants the panel to re-interview Trump supporter and Blackwater security firm founder Erik Prince. Schiff said he wants to determine if Prince lied to the panel about a meeting last year in the Seychelles that evidence apparently gathered by the special counsel suggests was an effort to establish a back channel between the incoming Trump administration and the Kremlin.
Schiff also said he wants the panel to speak with George Nader, a Lebanese American businessman who helped organize the meeting in the Seychelles, as his reported version of events "is obviously at odds with" what Prince told the panel in November, Schiff said.
Meanwhile, Paul Manafort, another former Trump campaign manager, pleaded innocent to tax and fraud charges in federal court in Virginia, as he appeared before a judge in the second criminal case brought against him by Mueller.
Manafort last week also pleaded innocent in a related case in Washington, D.C., where he is set to go to trial Sept. 17. Manafort lives in Virginia and was indicted there in February.
During the Thursday hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, a trial date was set for July 10. It is expected to last eight to 10 days.
Manafort's former business partner, Rick Gates, has pleaded guilty in Washington to conspiracy and lying to the FBI. At the request of prosecutors, charges have been dropped against Gates in Virginia, though they could be resurrected should he fail to live up to his plea agreement. That agreement requires him to offer information on any matters that the special counsel deems relevant.
Information for this article was contributed by Billy House of Bloomberg News; by Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press; and by Rachel Weiner and Karoun Demirjian of The Washington Post.
A Section on 03/09/2018