The decision to assign Donald Trump Jr. triggers an exchange of Republican shots

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), A member of the intelligence group, said the intense criticism of Burr was partly a misunderstanding of the purpose of the committee's investigation, which according to Rubio is incorrectly confused with the Special Council's investigation.

"Mueller is a criminal justice investigation," Rubio said. "Our investigation is an intelligence inquiry into the Russian threat and the performance of our agencies."

Some other Senate Republicans, members and members of the Intelligence Committee, also defended Burr.

"I will not comment on the steps that are being taken," said Senator Susan Collins (Maine.), Member of the Committee. "But I support his leadership and think he's done a good job."

Senator Mitt Romney (Utah), who is not sitting on the committee, said: "I trust President Burr, and if he asks to testify, I presume he has a reason for that."

Conservative resistance against Burr's summons continued to escalate on Thursday.

Trump Jr. would have been "exasperated" with this assignment, according to a person who had discussed it with him. And the president has repeatedly stressed Thursday that he was "surprised" by the request, considering that his eldest son had been testifying for "hours and hours".

"I really hope that Senator Richard Burr is interested as much in Biden's dealings with Ukraine and China while Vice President is being harassed by @DonaldJTrumpJr for a closed witch hunt," tweeted Former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, father of the press, secretary Sarah Sanders.

In tweets, Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, a pro-Trump organization and a friend of Trump Jr., singled out Republican senators who ran for re-election in 2020 and made them stand against the Trump family. Assignment of Burr.

"The Conservatives are closely watching @SenThomTillis' reaction to @DonaldJTrumpJr's insane targeting by his North Carolina colleague @ SenatorBurr," Kirk said in one of those tweets. "The primaries will not be nice to the Republicans who are silent about the power of the government. . . abused to harass the president's family. "

Tillis (NC), who is already facing a first challenge from the right, said Thursday morning that he does not agree with the committee's decision to summon Trump Jr. to appear.

"We have a report of over 400 pages that was determined after about $ 30 million of money spent, dozens of investigators, hundreds of subpoenas and inquisitions claiming that there was neither underlying crime or obstruction, "said Tillis. "Personally, I think the Democrats are simply trying to keep this thing alive, and that's their last starting point to do it."

But when a reporter noted that it was the committee headed by Republican Burr who had issued the subpoena, Tillis replied, "I think you should speak to Senator Burr. I maintain my comment. "

Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.), A member of Burr's committee who is also due to be re-elected in 2020, said Thursday morning that he did not know in advance that a summons to appear had been issued for Trump Jr. but at one point, it's not about finding facts.

"It smells of politics," Cornyn said, according to CBS News. "And I think we have important work to do to prevent the Intelligence Committee from playing politics."

Asked to clarify, Cornyn said he was not accusing Burr of playing politics. A spokesman for Cornyn said that he "said at one point that congressional inquiries felt the policy, not specifically that decision".

The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsey O. Graham (CR), pointed out that he would not question Burr, but said, "The last word is Mueller for me.

"If I were Don Jr.'s lawyer, I would be reluctant to return to this circus," added Graham. "It's just crazy. Mueller spent two years and $ 25 million. For me, it's the last word. "

The GOP's tension could get worse if the president's eldest son challenges the subpoena and if Burr triggers a confrontation by insisting on the application of the summons, leaving it to McConnell to decide whether Trump Jr is held in contempt of Congress.

When asked if Burr had approved the summons with McConnell in advance, a majority spokesman said McConnell did not tell Burr or the committee during the investigation. The spokesman, David Popp, also declined to say whether McConnell would file a contempt resolution if Trump Jr. had defied the claim, calling this scenario hypothetical.

Burr repeatedly refused to speak to reporters on Thursday. But at a GOP senators' in-camera lunch, he explained the reasoning behind the summons, according to people familiar with the discussion – including the timeline of negotiations with Trump Jr. following his testimony. say again.

Also at Thursday's luncheon, McConnell told his colleagues that he trusted Burr's leadership, encouraging them to stop their public attacks on his decision to issue a subpoena, according to people familiar with conversations.

In an interview this week prior to the revelation of Trump Jr.'s subpoena, Burr, who was elected for a third term in 2016 and declared that he will no longer stand for re-election, rejected any idea that politics would influence his investigation.

"My responsibility relates to the institution and the actions of the committee, and I am judged by the product we manufacture and by the way we conduct the investigation," said Burr, adding that he does not could let politics "influence what people think of the final report. "

The committee released the summons after weeks of negotiations with Trump Jr. for a second interview which, according to the assistants of both parties, was still to be understood, as the committee had always planned to bring key witnesses at a second what senators would be included. Committee staff conducted most of the interviews as part of the investigation by the intelligence group.

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, appeared for a second closed session at the end of March.

But the panel ended up losing patience with Trump Jr., who released the assignment more than a week ago. The summons was made public only a day after McConnell made a speech stating that the case was closed with respect to congressional investigations after the completion of the Mueller report. However, McConnell also acknowledged an exception for the Intelligence Committee investigation, which, he said, should continue.

"Let's hope Don Jr. and his lawyers will believe it's important," said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Also a member of the committee. "I think his brother-in-law came in a similar situation to be sure that every question was well understood and clearly answered, and I think he should do it too."

Senator Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Vice Chair of the Committee, also expressed confidence on Thursday that Burr would maintain the front line against further attacks within his own party.

"Since the beginning of this investigation, we have both been under pressure and asked him to close the investigation and draw conclusions before the end," Warner said. "We will do our job."

Warner said part of this work was to ensure that the elections are "protected by 2020" – the same cycle in which most critics of Burr will face their next political test.

Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.