Sen. Richard Blumenthal and other Democrats said they expected Trump Jr. to return to testify in a public session. | Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images Blumenthal cites 'gaps' in Trump Jr. testimony The Democratic Senator expects the president's son to return for a public hearing on his controversial 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Thursday there are “gaps” in Donald Trump Jr.’s closed-door testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and that he expects President Donald Trump's son to return for a public hearing before the panel.

Trump Jr. testified behind closed doors on Thursday for more than five hours about a meeting he brokered last year at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer with reported ties to the Kremlin.


President Donald Trump’s eldest son told the Judiciary panel that he accepted the meeting — which was billed as a chance to get dirt on Hillary Clinton — because he wanted to learn about Clinton’s “fitness” for the presidency, according to his opening statement, which was obtained by The New York Times. He said in his opening statement that nothing ever came of the meeting, but that he would have sought legal counsel before using any damaging information provided by the Kremlin-linked lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Trump Jr.’s interview was conducted by Judiciary Committee staffers, with senators popping in and out to listen to portions of the session. Blumenthal appeared to be the only member of the committee who was present throughout the entire interview, taking just a few short breaks for votes. The Connecticut Democrat described Trump Jr. as “cordial.”

“There are a lot of gaps that will need to be filled,” he told reporters. “My being there gives me a sense of his demeanor, his willingness to answer questions, his pauses and reluctance on some questions and eagerness on others.”

He added that there were no restrictions on what staffers could ask Trump Jr. but that his testimony was not under oath. He noted that it’s a crime to lie to Congress.

In a statement, Trump Jr. said he answered every question asked of him "until both sides had exhausted their lines of questioning."

"I trust this interview fully satisfied their inquiry," he said, thanking the committee for its "courtesy and professionalism."

Trump Jr. has offered shifting explanations for the June 2016 meeting, organized by the agent for a Russian pop singer whose father is a Russian oligarch with whom Trump discussed a Moscow real estate deal. Trump Jr. initially said the meeting was not campaign-related, and later that it focused on U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans.

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But he was forced to update his story after the release of emails he received showing that Veselnitskaya claimed to have information about illegal Russian campaign contributions to the Democratic National Committee. One email said the information would be provided as part of a Russian government effort to assist his father's campaign. "I love it," Trump Jr. replied, in part.

Blumenthal and other Democrats said they expected Trump Jr. to return to testify in a public session.

“I fully expect that he will,” Blumenthal said. “I certainly have insisted on it."

But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, said he wasn’t sure Trump Jr. would be coming back. Graham said that would be up to the chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and the committee's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California.

Graham added that he wanted to bring former FBI Director James Comey back to Capitol Hill to testify on his decision last year not to file criminal charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. The Judiciary panel released transcripts last week that appeared to show that Comey began drafting an announcement before Clinton had been interviewed by the FBI.

“He needs to come back,” Graham said. “I think some of the memos that we found need to be explored. When did you really make your mind up about Clinton, and what was the real thinking here?”