Donald Trump Jr. Demands Leak Inquiry of House Intelligence Committee

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WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, has asked the House Intelligence Committee to investigate information that was leaked from his closed interview with the committee last week.

Alan S. Futerfas, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, warned on Tuesday that a leak inquiry was needed “to maintain the credibility” of the committee’s investigation into Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election.

“This committee should determine whether any member or staff member violated the rules by leaking information to the media concerning the interview or by purposely providing inaccurate information which led to significant misreporting,” Mr. Futerfas wrote in a letter to Representative K. Michael Conaway, the Texas Republican who is leading the committee’s Russia investigation.

A copy of the letter was obtained by The New York Times, and its contents were first reported by New York Magazine.

Mr. Conaway said that he had received the letter and was “working on the response.” He declined to comment specifically on the leak charges or say whether he would authorize an investigation.

In the letter, Mr. Futerfas said that he and Mr. Trump had been informed before the interview that its contents “would be kept strictly confidential and not discussed publicly unless and until the full committee voted to release the transcript.”

But while the interview was underway and after it was completed, he said, accounts of what Mr. Trump had said in private began appearing in media reports.

Mr. Futerfas cited public appearances by the committee’s top Democrat, Representative Adam Schiff of California, as well as television interviews with Representatives Jackie Speier and Eric Swalwell, both California Democrats. Mr. Futerfas said the Democrats selectively presented details from the closed-door questioning of Mr. Trump “in an attempt to discredit my client.”

In addition, his letter charges that members of the House committee “began disseminating wildly inaccurate information” to reporters that formed the basis of an erroneous CNN report on an email that Mr. Trump and other members of the Trump campaign received in September 2016.

The CNN report relied on two unnamed sources who described an email purporting to show that Mr. Trump and other campaign officials had received advance notice about a cache of hacked Democratic documents that were about to be posted by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group. In fact, the email had been sent the day after the cache was posted publicly. CNN later corrected its story.

“These disturbing circumstances warrant examination,” Mr. Futerfas concluded in his letter.

A spokesman for Mr. Schiff, Patrick Boland, denied that the congressman or his staff had leaked classified or confidential information. But, he said, Mr. Schiff reserved the right to speak out about the “noncooperation” of a witness.

“We do not permit witnesses to represent publicly that they are fully cooperating with our committee and privately refuse to answer questions pertinent to our investigation on the basis of meritless claims of privilege,” Mr. Boland said. He added that Mr. Schiff would continue to do so when appropriate.

The New York Times and numerous other outlets reported on Mr. Schiff’s remarks, which were made public after the all-day session concluded. Mr. Schiff said that Mr. Trump had cited attorney-client privilege in declining to provide the committee details of a July telephone conversation with his father about a 2016 meeting at which Trump campaign officials had expected to receive damaging information from the Russian government about Hillary Clinton.

The Times also reported, based on unnamed sources familiar with the testimony, that Mr. Trump had said he could not remember a phone call with a blocked number that records indicate took place as he was setting up the 2016 meeting.

Mr. Trump is set to be back on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for another closed-door session, this time with the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to a person familiar with the schedule.

The leaks surrounding Mr. Trump’s appearances before Congress have deeply frustrated his team, as well as his father’s allies. Mr. Trump and his lawyer were barred from recording his answers to Congress, which they have told associates limited their ability to combat selective leaks.

Mr. Futerfas’s letter is likely to carry the most weight as a public relations gambit. The chances of a leak probe into a bipartisan investigation are highly unlikely.