Meet Marina Gross, the interpreter who was the only other American in the room for Trump and Putin's 1-on-1 meeting in Helsinki
- In the wake of President Donald Trump's controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Democratic members of Congress are calling for the interpreter who sat in on the private, two-hour meeting with the two world leaders to answer questions.
- Her name is Marina Gross and she has worked as a translator for the State Department for years.
- Gross was the only other American in the room when Trump spoke privately with Putin.
In the wake of President Donald Trump's controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Democratic members of Congress are calling for the interpreter who sat in on the private, two-hour meeting with the two world leaders to answer questions.
Her name is Marina Gross.
Gross, a translator for the State Department, can be seen sitting near Trump in images of the Helsinki, Finland meeting. Putin also had an interpreter at the meeting.
Gross has worked as a translator for the government for years, at least as far back as 2008 when she accompanied former First Lady Laura Bush to Sochi, Russia as her interpreter. She was also seen alongside former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Moscow in April 2017.
Trump's flip-flop on Russian election meddling
The decision to meet with Putin alone was broadly criticized, as the president's opponents felt he could not be trusted to speak privately with the Russian leader.
This view has been compounded by Trump's performance during a press conference with Putin in which he appeared to side with the Russian leader over the US intelligence community on the subject of Russian election interference. At the time, Trump said he didn't see "any reason" why Russia would interfere in the US electoral process, contradicting conclusions from US intelligence agencies as well as recent statements from Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
Trump walked back on this on Tuesday after he'd returned to the US, stating he agreed with the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.
'Ms. Marina Gross was the only other American in the room'
Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday called for Gross to be interviewed before Congress in relation to the Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki.
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey wrote a letter to Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy and Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, demanding the committee hear public testimony from Gross on the meeting.
"Given the public concessions" Trump made to Putin "by siding against the US intelligence community, law enforcement, and our military officials about Russia's attack on our democracy, Congress and the American public deserve to know the details of their private conversation," Pascrell said in the letter. "Serving as a translator, it has been reported that Ms. Marina Gross was the only other American in the room and so the sole reliable witness to the conversation between the two world leaders."
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also called for the committee to bring Gross forward to testify on the meeting.
"I believe the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should hold a hearing with the American translator who was present during President Trump and President Putin's private meeting to determine what was specifically discussed and agreed to on the United States's behalf," Shaheen said.