Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday that the committee may have "no choice" but to subpoena an interpreter's notes from a private meeting in 2017 between President Trump Donald John TrumpHR McMaster says president's policy to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is 'unwise' Cast of 'Parks and Rec' reunite for virtual town hall to address Wisconsin voters Biden says Trump should step down over coronavirus response MORE and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Engel said during an interview on CNN's "At This Hour" that he would prefer "not to have to look at what an interpreter wrote."

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"But we may have no choice. We’ll have to see down the road what happens," he added.

“I would like, in a perfect world, not to have to look at what an interpreter wrote … We may have no choice,” chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee @RepEliotEngel tells @KateBolduan.



“I wouldn't make promises in terms of what we are going to do,” Engel added. pic.twitter.com/uQh30Sc3G2 — CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) January 14, 2019

Engel's comments come after The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Trump has worked to hide the details of his private conversations with Putin, including by taking notes from an interpreter following a 2017 meeting with the Russian leader.

Former White House officials from the Obama and George W. Bush administrations have warned against issuing a subpoena for the interpreter's notes, arguing that it could set a dangerous precedent.

The Post story was published one day after The New York Times reported that the FBI in 2017 opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump was working on behalf of Russia.

Engel said in a statement Saturday that the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold hearings on Trump's relationship with Putin.

“We will be holding hearings on the mysteries swirling around Trump’s bizarre relationship with Putin and his cronies, and how those dark dealings affect our national security,” Engel said.