ON POLITICS

Get ready: Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., Manafort head to Senate

Emma Kinery

USA TODAY

This week had the potential to be the most interesting week in Senate hearings since former FBI director James Comey's testimony before Congress gripped Washington last month, when bars opened early and people around the country were glued to their screens.

President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort are all set to speak with congressional panels investigating possible collusion between Trump associates and Russians who sought to influence the presidential election.

Their appearances are highly anticipated after revelations the three met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer in Trump Tower in June 2016 in the hopes of obtaining damaging information about Hillary Clinton they were told would be provided by the Russian government.

After negotiations with lawmakers, these hearings will be behind closed doors – but we'll keep you updated throughout the week.

Russian lawyer: I'll testify before Senate about Donald Trump Jr. meeting

Here's what we're watching:

Monday: Jared Kushner

Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and advisor, testified Monday morning to the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed session.

In a statement before the appearance, Kushner said he had four contacts with Russians during the campaign and transition but he “did not collude” with the Russians or any other foreign officials. Kushner also stated he did not know the details of the meeting set up by Donald Trump Jr. with several Russians because he did not read the whole email that Trump Jr. forwarded to him.

More:

Jared Kushner says he had four contacts with Russians during campaign, denies collusion

Over the weekend, lawmakers and reporters debated the terms of Kushner's appearance. His appearance is behind closed doors, and will not be under oath, so, as the New York Times points out, it is not technically testimony. Yet one Republican, Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has noted it's a "crime to lie to Congress" anyway regardless of whether witnesses are under oath.

Wednesday: Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort

Trump Jr., the president’s son now at the helm of the Trump Organization, and former Trump campaign chairman Manafort will both speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Initial reports said the men would testify before the committee, though over the weekend lawmakers agreed that neither will be under oath when they speak, nor would the hearing be public.

The panel's leaders, Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., released a statement Friday. "Both Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort, through their attorneys, have agreed to negotiate to provide the committee with documents and be interviewed by committee members and staff prior to a public hearing,” the statement read.

Grassley tweeted on Friday the men would testify publicly eventually.

The change was sparked backlash from some congressmen, such as Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., who said Trump Jr. and Manafort should testify under oath.

"No, that's not good enough," Franken said Sunday on the CNN’s “State of the Union." "It should be under oath."

Also Wednesday: Bill Browder

Hermitage Capital Management chief William Browder is also set to appear before the committee. Browder, an American-born businessman, has been a driving force behind the U.S. law named after Sergei Magnitsky, who was killed in a Russian prison in 2009.

The Magnitsky Act barred Russians suspected of human rights abuses from entry to the U.S. In retaliation, the Kremlin shutdown the program allowing for Americans to adopt Russian children. These issues were allegedly discussed in the meeting between Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and other Russians.

Browder told USA TODAY he had filed a detailed complaint with the Justice Department last year related to Rinat Akhmetshin's status as an unregistered foreign agent for Russia and his activities in opposition to the Magnitsky law. Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist with former ties to Soviet military counterintelligence, was also in the Trump Tower meeting.

Glenn Simpson, founder of Fusion GPS, the firm that penned the now-infamous dossier detailing Trump's relationship with Russia, was called to appear before the committee as well, though he declined to do so. Simpson is on vacation this week, though his attorney stated Simpson was "profoundly disturbed" by the scope of the hearing, which he feels was motivated by "partisan agendas," Reuters reports.

Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin also present at Donald Trump Jr. meeting, reports say

An 8th person was present at Donald Trump Jr.'s Russia meeting: report