When Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in January, the House Intelligence Committee will seek to obtain the cell phone records of Donald Trump, Jr. that outgoing chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) refused to subpoena.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), a former prosecutor and member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, explained the dynamic while appearing on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House" with Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday.
"Robert Mueller now has an open track, meaning that as he sprints to the finish line now -- if he can finish this investigation -- there are no more hurdles in the way," Swalwell noted. "He can be assured that in a Democratic majority, he's not going to see those types of stunts that would undermine his work."
"What we're going to do, and I'm on the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, we're going to fill in the gaps where they exist right now with what the Republicans didn't allow us to do," Swalwell explained. "Whether it was on money laundering that may have gone through the Trump Organization, understanding the full extent of that Trump Tower meeting, understanding Michael Cohen's relationship with Russian-Americans who were trying to connect Donald Trump and Putin during the primary."
"And then on the Judiciary Committee, we're going to seek to immediately protect Bob Mueller, so that no person who comes in like Matt Whitaker or anyone else can shut down the investigation," he added.
"Can you tell us who you'd like to see back in front of your committee?" Wallace asked.
"Donald Trump Jr. certainly -- and his phone records," Swalwell replied.
"That June 9th meeting almost tells us everything about the intent of the Trump team during the campaign," he continued. "Within days, they set up that meeting -- they moved heaven and earth to make it happen -- that showed how willing and eager they were to receive the information."
"But there is a call after Donald Trump Jr. talks to someone in Moscow -- and in between another call with someone in Moscow -- he talks to a blocked number," Swalwell explained. "That's how it shows up on the Verizon call receipt we have."
"We're seeking to unseal that call -- to subpoena Verizon -- to see if that goes to his father, because we have other evidence from other witnesses that Donald Trump, the candidate, that his phone number was often blocked," he continued.
"And that would go to Donald Trump's knowledge," Swalwell added.
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