Et tu Rex? Trump's fired Secretary of State Tillerson meets Democrats for more than SIX HOURS to accuse White House and Jared Kushner of stopping him from confronting the Russians on election interference

  • Ex Secretary of State Rex Tillerson quietly met with the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday to talk President Donald Trump and Russia
  • In the over six-hour meeting, Tillerson told the committee the White House actively avoided confronting Russia over allegations of interference in the 2016 election
  • He specifically said Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner prevented him from communicating effectively
  • Tillerson also felt Kushner blocked him from sharing State Department proposals with the president
  • The voluntary meeting took place the same day former White House Counsel Don McGahn defied a congressional subpoena  to testify before the House Judiciary Committee

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner prevented him from being able to communicate effectively with the president.

Tillerson arrived at Capitol Hill Tuesday relatively quietly without any media advisories or press releases, and spent more than six hours meeting with the members and staffers on the committee, according to the Daily Beast.

The session focused a lot on Tillerson’s tenure with the Trump administration from February 2017 to March 2018, and specifically his efforts to tackle issues related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

An aide for the Foreign Affairs Committee said the former chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil reached out to express his willingness to meet, while other in Trump’s circle are refusing to comply with congressional oversight efforts.

Tillerson accused Kushner of blocking his ability to introduce Trump to State Department proposals on foreign affairs matters, both in the Middle East and beyond.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (pictured) met with House Democrats for more than six hours Tuesday to discuss President Donald Trump and Russia

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (pictured) met with House Democrats for more than six hours Tuesday to discuss President Donald Trump and Russia

Tillerson said Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, among others, prevented him from being able to communicate effectively and introduce State Department proposals to the president

Tillerson said Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, among others, prevented him from being able to communicate effectively and introduce State Department proposals to the president

Kushner has focused a lot of his efforts on a Middle East peace plan, which is set to be released in the coming weeks. The White House announced it would be holding a conference in Bahrain next month.

The Trump administration actively avoided confronting the Kremlin about the allegations of their interference in the 2016 elections, Tillerson told the committee in the Tuesday meeting.

The former secretary of state and the president did not have a good relationship, and reports said Tillerson called Trump a ‘moron’ in private.

Nevertheless, Tillerson was in the position during many important moments of Trump’s presidency, including his 2017 private meeting in Hamburg, Germany with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While Tillerson was being interviewed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Republican ranking member Michael McCaul, former White House Counsel Don McGahn did not show up for his schedule testimony.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler subpoenaed McGahn to appear before the committee Tuesday, but his lawyers said he would not comply on direction from the White House.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel
Republican ranking member  on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul

Tillerson appeared before the House Foreign Affairs committee and was interviewed by Chairman Eliot Engel (left) and Republican ranking member Michael McCaul (right)

His lawyer, William Burck, said in a letter to Nadler that McGahn is 'conscious of the duties he, as an attorney, owes to his former client' and would decline to appear.

In the letter, Burck encouraged the committee to negotiate a compromise with the White House, saying that his client 'again finds himself facing contradictory instructions from two co-equal branches of government.'

Nadler says that McGahn will ‘face serious consequences’ for not appearing, and said the committee would vote to hold him in contempt of Congress.

The committee has also already voted to move forward in holding Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress after he refused to adhere to a subpoena for an unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report complete with grand jury testimony.

The Trump administration is taking steps to block Democratic investigations, and the president has said his administration will fight 'all of the subpoenas.'

Tillerson has rarely spoken publicly since leaving his post last year, but at an event in Houston, Texas in December said there was ‘no question’ Russia interfered in the elections.

Attorney General Bill Barr
Former White House Counsel Don McGahn

Tillerson reached out to express his willingness to meet with the committee, while others are declining to comply with congressional subpoenas, including Attorney General Bill Barr  (left) and  former White House Counsel Don McGahn (right)

Trump has said his administration will fight 'all of the subpoenas'

Trump has said his administration will fight 'all of the subpoenas'

Barr released a redacted version of the 448-page Mueller report in April, and the report found no evidence that Trump, his associate, his administration or his campaign had conspired with the Russian government to influence the 2016 elections.

The meeting comes a little over a month since the report was handed over to Congress.

The report, however, did outline 10 ‘episodes’ that could potentially be instances where Trump obstructed justice, but the special counsel left that to be decided by the attorney general.

Democrats in Congress feel the instances are enough evidence to move forward with impeachment proceedings against the president, and since the release of the report have demanded Barr and Mueller answer questions related to the findings.

Mueller is reportedly negotiating to testify, but it seems he is reluctant to testify publicly because it could look like a political move.

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Ex-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Democrats for more than SIX HOURS to talk Trump and Russia

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