What the people tangled up in Nadler’s Trump probe are saying
Of the 81 names singled out by the House Judiciary Committee, several have already spoken out
After House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler asked 81 individuals and organizations to hand over documents relating to his panel’s expansive investigation into President Donald Trump, the responses are starting to trickle in.
Some are more cordial than others. So far, at least seven recipients have spoken out publicly about being included in the probe:
Eric Trump
The president’s son, an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, went on Fox News Radio on Monday to denounce Democrats and his inclusion in the probe.
“It is what it is … these people are so desperate,” Eric Trump said when asked for his reaction.
“The Democrats have totally lost control,” he said.
Democrats are trying to “obstruct, impeach, harass and distract” because they “can’t win,” he added.
Sean Spicer
The former White House press secretary made an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday to comment on his inclusion in the probe. He declared respect for the House’s oversight responsibility, but called the investigation a “wild fishing expedition.”
“They’ve started to move on and go on what appears to be, at least, a potential fishing expedition, kind of going through the president’s finances and personal relationships,” Spicer said.
Brad Parscale
Parscale oversaw digital operations for Trump’s run in 2016 and is now campaign manager for the president’s 2020 re-election campaign. While he hasn’t personally responded to his inclusion in the probe, he did retweet a message from the Trump campaign calling the investigation a “dramatic overreach by House Democrats.”
Our statement on House Democrats launching their desperate witch hunt: pic.twitter.com/Q3h8AB743X
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) March 5, 2019
Carter Page
Page served as a foreign policy adviser to the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. The FBI obtained a court order in 2016 to monitor Page’s communications as part of an investigation into the campaign’s connection with Russia, The Washington Post reported.
He commented on his inclusion in the probe Monday in a Fox News interview. “I’ve been complying for the last two plus years … there is nothing to get,” he said.
Jerome Corsi
Corsi is a conspiracy theorist and author associated with the fringe right-wing media outlet InfoWars. He’s drawn attention for messages he exchanged with Roger Stone about the WikiLeaks release of Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 presidential election, and last year sued special counsel Robert Mueller III, alleging illegal surveillance and prosecutorial misconduct.
He lashed out at Nadler on Monday, tweeting that the House Judiciary probe involves “clear HARASSMENT.”
Here is the DOCUMENT REQUEST that I got today from Nadler’s House Judiciary Committee — clear HARASSMENT. I’ve already spent 40 hours being interrogated by Mueller over this — my book SILENT NO MORE. Now Nadler is back to RUSSIA-WIKILEAKS, RUSSIA-WIKILEAKS. ENDLESS & EXPENSIVE pic.twitter.com/m96J6TfqaD
— Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D. :star::star::star: (@jerome_corsi) March 4, 2019
Sam Nunberg
A staffer in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Nunberg was fired in 2015 over racially charged Facebook posts. He has testified in front of Mueller’s grand jury in the past.
He sounded resigned to the House Judiciary request in a Monday interview on MSNBC.
“It wasn’t that exhaustive. It was very fair,” Numberg said of the committee’s requests.
Tom Barrack
Barrack is a personal friend of the president and was chairman of Trump’s 2016 inaugural committee. He told CBSN that he’s willing to help the Judiciary Committee.
“[Barrack] will fully cooperate with the committee’s important work as he has with all government inquiries,” a spokesperson told CBSN.