WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s eldest son and his former campaign chairman won’t be forced to testify publicly next week and are instead discussing being privately interviewed by a Senate committee investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, the panel said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee initially called for Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort to appear at a public hearing Wednesday. But the top Republican and Democrat on the panel now say the men are negotiating the terms of their appearances, and lawmakers don’t currently plan to issue subpoenas to compel their public testimony.

In a joint statement, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also said they are negotiating with Trump Jr. and Manafort about possibly turning over documents. Grassley tweeted late Friday that Trump Jr.’s interview, while not public, will still be on the record. Feinstein and Grassley both said on Twitter that the two men will testify in public after private interviews, but they did not elaborate on when that might occur.

Both men face questions about attending a Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 that was described to Trump Jr. in emails as part of a Russian government effort to help his father’s campaign. Trump Jr. was told the lawyer had damaging information that could be used against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and top White House aide, also attended the meeting. He is scheduled to speak behind closed doors with the Senate intelligence committee Monday and with the House intelligence committee Tuesday.

The revelation of the Trump Tower meeting renewed questions about the Trump campaign’s possible connections with Russia and put some of Trump’s inner circle at the forefront of ongoing federal and congressional probes.

Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni declined to comment on the committee’s announcement. Trump Jr. attorney Alan Futerfas did not respond to several attempts by The Associated Press to contact him this week, including calls and emails Friday.

Also Friday, The Washington Post, citing anonymous U.S. officials, reported that the Russian ambassador to the U.S. has said he discussed election-related issues with Jeff Sessions, then a U.S. senator and foreign policy adviser to Trump, when the two men met during the 2016 presidential race.

Trump responded to the report on Twitter on Saturday, complaining about “illegal leaks.”

“A new INTELLIGENCE LEAK from the Amazon Washington Post,this time against A.G. Jeff Sessions,” he tweeted. “These illegal leaks, like Comey’s, must stop!”

The Post had cited anonymous U.S. officials who described U.S. intelligence intercepts of Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s descriptions of his meetings with Sessions, who now serves as attorney general.