Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Steve Bannon could all face contempt charges if they don't comply with upcoming subpoenas from the House Oversight Committee to turn over materials from their private email accounts and instant messaging applications, Rep. Ro Khanna said Friday, adding it's important for Americans to know why the items are needed.
"We can go to court to get those records," the California Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"But what is important for people to understand is why this matters. The American people have a right to know whether there's communication going on with Saudi Arabia, about whether we should get into war in Iran. The American people have a right to know about the situation in Yemen."
It's "stunning," said Khanna, considering President Donald Trump's presidential campaign focused on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's issues with a private email server, that they "aren't willing to comply."
Khanna said Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., is "one of the fairest people" he knows and he's giving the White House "every possible opportunity" and is "bending over backward" to give the administration members the opportunity to come forward without contempt coming into play.
Meanwhile, Khanna said he thinks the Democratic caucus is unifying toward impeachment, and that special counsel Robert Mueller was much more effective during his congressional testimony this week than some are saying.
"He outlined in real detail how significant the Russian interference was," said Khanna. "And here is my sense of what's going to happen. [Judiciary Committee] chairman [Jerry] Nadler was very clear that you actually don't need a House vote to proceed with [impeachment] hearings. He actually has the ability to start these hearings, even without a Judiciary vote."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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