-Source-USAToday-
U.S. lawmakers eager to learn what went on in the private meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are demanding answers from the only other American in the room: Trump’s interpreter.
But forcing an interpreter to publicly disclose the details of a confidential conversation between world leaders would be unprecedented and perilous, experts say.
“It has never happened in American history,” said Harry Obst, who served as an interpreter for seven presidents. “And if it hasn’t happened in over 200 years, there must be a good reason for it.”
A growing number of Democrats are asking that interpreter Marina Gross be hauled before a congressional committee to reveal what she heard during the one-on-one meeting between the two world leaders. They also are demanding that Gross turn over any notes that she took during Monday’s secret, two-hour meeting in Helsinki.
“It may be unprecedented to subpoena a translator to reveal details of a private meeting between the president and another world leader, but Trump’s actions are unprecedented in a way that harms our national security,” Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., wrote Tuesday in a letter to the top lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
The American public deserves to know if Trump made any concessions, revealed national security secrets or tried to profit off the presidency, Pascrell said.
“The only way to answer this question,” he said, “is by compelling the American translator to testify publicly.”
US Democratic lawmakers on July 19, 2018, pushed for Congress to subpoena Trump's interpreter, Marina Gross (L), amid a growing sense of alarm over the private summit in Helsinki between Trump and Putin. The two presidents held a two-hour closed-door negotiation with no other officials present save for the leaders' interpreters. (Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Much like a doctor or a priest, interpreters and translators are bound by a code of ethics dictating that any privileged or confidential information entrusted to them in the course of the work remain confidential, said Stephanie van Reigersberg, who worked as a State Department interpreter for 32 years before retiring in 2005. Read more
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