Congress wants to question a woman known as Trump's 'right hand'

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Rhona Graff

Astrid Stawiar/Getty Images

Rhona Graff

President Donald Trump's longtime personal secretary Rhona Graff is the latest name to come up in the congressional investigations into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.

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ABC News reports that congressional investigators want to question Graff about Donald Trump Jr.'s emails about meetings with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

"I can also send this info to your father via Rhona, but it is ultrasensitive so wanted to send to you first," music publicist Rob Goldstone, who arranged the meeting, wrote in one email. The meeting was also attended by former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Congressional intelligence committee aides declined to comment to ABC News about whether Graff has been or will be contacted. An outside counsel representing the Trump Organization told ABC News that Graff has not yet been contacted by congressional investigators.

On July 11, Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said it is "going to want to see, as referenced in that email, whether the president's assistant received any communications from the Russians as well. That was another channel alluded to in those emails."

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Sen. Richard Burr, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, did not rule out seeking an interview with Graff or examine her records in comments to ABC.

At 64, Graff is one of Trump's most loyal and longstanding personal assistants. Before Trump was elected president, she worked as the gatekeeper to Trump Tower for nearly 30 years.

While Trump's official arrangements are now handled directly by the White House, Graff has remained an important conduit for high-profile people who want to contact Trump outside his regular hours.