Democrats warn White House to expect subpoena
Democrats accused the administration of “flagrant disregard“ of previous requests and said that refusal could be considered an impeachable offense.
Separately, the Democrats accused Trump of “an incitement to violence” against a national security whistleblower and advised him and his administration not to intimidate potential witnesses in the impeachment inquiry.
The whistleblower exposed a July 25 phone call that Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump pressed for an investigation of Democratic political rival Joe Biden and his family. Democrats say the pressure on Zelenskiy, on its own, constitutes an abuse of power worthy of impeachment scrutiny.
In appearances in the Oval Office and a joint news conference with the president of Finland, Trump displayed an unusual show of anger as he defended what he has called his “perfect“ phone call with Zelenskiy. He suggested, without evidence, that House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff may have committed treason, and, again without evidence, labeled Biden and his son Hunter “stone cold crooked.”
At one point, Trump demanded that a reporter pressing him on his dealings with Ukraine move on. “Ask the president of Finland a question, please,” he said, emphasizing each word, eventually labeling the reporter “corrupt.”
Trump declined to answer yes or no when asked if he would cooperate with the House to produce requested documents on Ukraine. “Well, I always cooperate,” he said, though his administration has repeatedly stonewalled congressional investigations.
Schiff, accusing Trump of inviting violence against the whistleblower, had said earlier that any effort to interfere with the Democrats’ investigations would be considered evidence of obstruction and could be included in articles of impeachment.
The whistleblower sought guidance from Schiff’s committee days before filing his complaint with an inspector general, according to panel aides. The interaction with a Schiff aide reflects the officer’s sense of urgency in surfacing the allegations that Trump had pressed Zelenskiy to intervene in the 2020 election in a way that would harm Biden.
It is fairly routine for the committee to receive an informal inquiry from a whistleblower before a formal complaint is made, according to current and former committee staffers.
The revelation, first reported Wednesday by The New York Times, prompted a jab by the president, who suggested without evidence that Schiff may have helped compose the whistleblower complaint.
“He knew long before, and he helped write it, too,” Trump said at a news conference alongside Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. “The whole thing is a scam.”
Trump showed no signs of letting up, tweeting a vulgarity earlier during the House leaders’ news conference.
Trump has tweeted in recent days that he wants to “find out about” the whistleblower and question him or her, though the person’s identity is protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act.
The Democrats said they would subpoena the White House on Friday for documents related to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings wrote in a memo to committee members that the action is necessary because the White House has ignored multiple requests.
Referring to a report on the whistleblower’s complaint, Cummings, D-Md., said that given the “stark and urgent warnings“ the inspector general for the intelligence community has delivered to Congress, the panel has “no choice but to issue this subpoena.”
The subpoena will be directed toward acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and request 13 separate batches of documents related to the July call and related matters.
The call unfolded against the backdrop of a $250 million foreign aid package for Ukraine that was being readied by Congress but stalled by Trump.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged Wednesday that he was on the phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy. Pompeo continued to push back against what he said was Democrats’ “bullying and intimidation.”
Democrats have scheduled closed-door depositions Thursday with former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and next week with ousted U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and three other State Department officials. Pompeo told Democrats on Tuesday that the dates they had set were “not feasible,” but at least some officials are still coming.
The Democrats said Pompeo’s resistance amounted to his own intimidation.
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