The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
WASHINGTON / AP
The senior Army officer tapped by President Donald Trump to be his national security adviser faces questions from senators during a rare closed-door meeting amid intense scrutiny of the White House for alleged Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials.
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster’s appearance before the Armed Services Committee, slated for Tuesday, is unusual because national security advisers aren’t subject to Senate confirmation and typically don’t testify on Capitol Hill. But McMaster’s situation is different. He elected to stay on active duty rather than retire from the military and generals of his grade need the chamber’s approval when they’re promoted or get new assignments.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the committee’s Republican chairman, said members will vote at the end of session on whether to recommend to the full Senate that McMaster retain his three-star rank.
McCain said Democrats on the committee and even a few Republican members wanted McMaster to appear before the panel. But McCain, who called McMaster an outstanding choice, sought to cast the session as more collegial than a normal committee hearing.
“It’s not like testimony,” McCain said. “It’s more of a meeting than a hearing.”
Independent-minded and outspoken, McMaster is highly regarded by Democrats and Republicans. Yet he’ll meet with the committee at an especially sensitive time for the embattled Trump White House. The House and Senate intelligence committees, and separately the FBI, are investigating contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, as well as allegations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election.
Over the weekend, Trump ignited a firestorm by alleging, without evidence, that former President Barack Obama tapped the Trump campaign’s telephones during the presidential election campaign.