On Sunday, Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), while talking to Chris Wallace of Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” said that President Trump shouldn’t be giving any testimonies to the Congress as it could create issues of separation-of-powers.
During the interview, Reed said that if Trump is actually questioned by Congress, it will go on to “raise the issue of separation of powers.”
“That raises the issue of separation of powers, frankly,” Reed said. “At that point, history would suggest that’s not done often.”
“The special prosecutor, Mr. Mueller, is charged to conduct this investigation, and I believe he’s the appropriate person to conduct this investigation,” Reed said.
However, it is to be noted that Reed’s pretty straightforward statement may be much more complex than it seems. If the congress gets Trump to testify under oath, they could force him to answer all kinds of questions by congressmen, some on whom may be tempted to take down the president. Furthermore, if Trump falters on even one of the statements, he could be guilty of perjury.
The incident could also set a precedent in which Congress would expect any president to come before it and answer all their questions whenever they want. Obviously, this would give the Congress significant authority and power over the president, whose authority is to counter the legislative branch’s powers. Secondly, it’s the executive branch of the government that is in charge of conducting criminal investigations.
Nevertheless, Reed still wants Trump to testify, under oath. According to him, it would be better, and he hopes too, that Trump testifies under oath, but instead of the Congress, it should special prosecutor Robert Mueller who should do the questioning.
“The American people deserve to hear directly from this President, under oath, about his charges with respect to Mr. Comey,” Reed said. “President Trump must also be truthful about what he knows about Russian interference in the election, as well as General Flynn and Attorney General Sessions’ contacts with the Russians. The FBI and the special prosecutor are trying to connect the dots related to Russian meddling in our democracy. If the President wants to cooperate and speed the process along, he could testify under oath about what he knows.”
In a press conference on Friday, Trump claimed he is “100 percent” willing to testify under oath to refute some of the claims made by former FBI Director Comey on Thursday.