House Committee Chairmen Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), and Eliot Engel (D-NY) together have sent letters to Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing serious concerns that President Trump has violated the Presidential Records Act (PRA) by concealing details of and disposing notes pertaining to conversations he has had with Vladimir Putin.
In January, The Washington Post reported that Trump personally intervened to hide details of meetings with the Russian president, such a sit-down between the two leaders in Hamburg, Germany, in 2017. The Post reported that Trump went to "extraordinary lengths" to keep conversations with Putin under wraps, with current and former U.S. officials telling the publication that in Hamburg, Trump went as far as confiscating notes from his interpreter and barring the interpreter from discussing details of the meeting with other administration officials.
In another high-profile instance, Trump didn't allow Cabinet officials or any aides into the room during a two-hour conversation with Putin during their summit in Helsinki, Finland, last summer. Only a translator were present, and several officials have since said they were never able to get a reliable readout of the meeting, the Post reported.
The lawmakers note this is their second time asking for answers.
On February 21, 2019, we wrote a joint letter to the White House requesting basic information about whether the President in fact destroyed records relating to his conversations with President Putin—in violation of the Presidential Records Act—or if he did not, where those records are currently located. The White House failed to provide any response to our inquiry. As a result, we are now expanding our investigation.
They ask Mulvaney not only to ensure the preservation of all records going forward but also to produce the information the White House still has not shared with Congress.
The broad requests from the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Reform committees ask for the substance of Trump and Putin’s conversations in person and by phone and for information on whether those conversations had any impact on U.S. foreign policy. They are also asking whether Trump tried to conceal any conversations.
The committees ask for interviews with “linguists, translators or interpreters” who in any way listened to those conversations. Trump and Putin met privately in Helsinki in July for more than two hours with only interpreters present.
The chairmen's request comes hours after House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., made a request for documents from more than 80 people or entities connected to the president as part of that committee's Trump investigation.
“I cooperate all the time with everybody,” Trump said Monday in response to Nadler's request, adding, "You know, beautiful thing, no collusion. It’s a total hoax."
Congress seeks info on private Trump-Putin chats (AP)
House Democrats demand documents on Trump-Putin talks (NBC News)
House Chairmen Request Documents and Interviews on President Trump’s Communications with Putin (press release)