Tillerson quietly meets Legislators in House to discuss Trump



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Tillerson went to Capitol Hill where he met with the Democratic Chairman of the Committee, representatives Eliot Engel and Republican Representative Michael McCaul, said the assistant, refusing to provide additional details. on the meeting itself, with the exception that it was centered on the former president. diplomat's time at the State Department.

What is clear, however, is that Tillerson's visit to Capitol Hill was a surprise to many in Washington, including for some members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

According to a Republican lawmaker and a Democratic assistant on the committee, several panelists in the House had learned of the existence of this interview only after his first report by The Daily Beast.

In an interview with CBS News in December 2018, Tillerson called President Trump "unruly".

"When the president said:" Here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it. "And I should say to him," Well, Mr. Speaker, I understand what you want to do, but you can not do it that way. It breaks the law. This violates the treaty, "he said at the time.

Tuesday's meeting comes as Democrats in the House seek to use their power as a majority party to conduct various surveillance investigations into Trump's financial transactions and foreign policy decisions.

Specifically, Democratic lawmakers have expressed interest in learning more about Trump's meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin – and have indicated that they would like to know more about the specific interactions between the two. leaders who occurred during Tillerson's tenure at the state department.

Rex Tillerson at a glance

In January, CNN confirmed that after a meeting with Putin in 2017 in Hamburg, Germany, Trump had taken the interpreter's notes and told him not to share anything about the discussion with anyone. that is, according to a former head of the state department who was in Hamburg at the meeting. took place.

Senior White House and State officials handling Russian issues asked for notes on the meeting and did not receive them, the source said.

Another former state department official said Tillerson had not provided minutes of the meeting to US ambassadors in the region at the time. The source said that "Tillerson played tricks close enough to his chest" with all the meetings and this one was no different.

Engel, a Democrat from New York, had previously told CNN that his panel would work with the House Intelligence Committee to obtain the interpreter's notes and that legislators discussed the possibility of publishing a subdirectory. for these recordings.

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