Erik Prince, pictured in 2007, has come under scrutiny after The Washington Post reported in April that he tried to set up a secret back channel between Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images Former Blackwater chief to testify to House panel in Russia inquiry Erik Prince is reported to have tried setting up secret communications between Trump and Putin.

Erik Prince, former head of security contractor Blackwater and the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has been scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee next week in its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Prince has come under scrutiny since The Washington Post reported in April that he tried to set up a secret back channel between Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia just days before Trump’s inauguration.


Prince’s spokesman told The Post at the time: “Erik had no role on the transition team. This is a complete fabrication. The meeting had nothing to do with President Trump. Why is the so-called under-resourced intelligence community messing around with surveillance of American citizens when they should be hunting terrorists?”

Prince’s interview, as posted by the committee, is described as “open in a closed space.” That means that although his testimony will be taken privately, the committee intends to post a transcript of the proceedings afterward. They took a similar approach to the testimony provided earlier this month by Carter Page, a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser.

Page’s testimony provided insights into the committee’s lines of questioning about the campaign’s contacts with Russia and about Page's discussions with Trump campaign officials. The testimony has reverberated in the weeks since it became public.

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Prince, a Trump donor and longtime ally of former White House strategist Steve Bannon, has openly flirted with a bid for the Senate, in a Wyoming race that would pit him against incumbent Republican Sen. John Barrasso.

According to the Post article, the United Arab Emirates brokered a secret meeting in the Seychelles between Prince and an ally of Putin just nine days before Trump’s inauguration. The Post also reported that the meeting was part of a range of contacts between Trump associates and the Russian government under investigation by federal authorities.

Prince’s former firm, Blackwater, became notorious after an episode in Iraq in which the company’s security officials were charged and convicted for killing civilians. The episode highlighted a decision by the George W. Bush administration to rely on private security contractors in Iraq.

