Demand Justice Calls on Senate to Re-Question Judicial Nominee Menashi Over Possible Involvement in Trump Cover-Up

Menashi Could be Among White House Lawyers Who Directed the Cover-Up of Transcript of Trump Asking a Foreign Leader to Investigate Joe Biden

WASHINGTON, DC—On Thursday, Demand Justice called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a follow-up hearing on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, current Associate White House Counsel Steven Menashi, to ask him whether he was involved in covering up Trump’s call in which he asked the president of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

The demand comes after a whistleblower complaint has revealed that unnamed “White House lawyers” directed administration officials to remove the full transcript of the call with Ukrainian President Zelensky from the computer system used to store such files. As Associate Counsel to President Trump, Menashi told the Senate he is “responsible for providing legal advice to senior staff in the Executive Office of the President,” which may mean that he was involved in keeping information about the call under wraps.

“Steven Menashi is an already controversial nominee who wouldn’t even answer basic questions about his work in the Trump Administration,” said Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon. “If he played any part in covering up Trump’s call with President Zelensky, his nomination must be rejected outright. The Senate has a responsibility to get to the bottom of this by convening a follow-up hearing.”

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Menashi refused to answer which controversial immigration policies he advised on and dodged questions about his involvement in Trump’s policy of separating families at the border. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) already has called for a second hearing because of Menashi’s stonewalling, and after today’s revelations, every Senator should demand the same.

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