U.S. House Democrats subpoena more Trump ex-aides, including Hicks

[webfact]

U.S. House Democrats subpoena more Trump ex-aides, including Hicks

By Sarah N. Lynch and Jan Wolfe

 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) confers with ranking member Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) at a House Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Oversight of the Report by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III," at which witness and former White House Counsel Donald McGahn was subpoened to testify but failed to appear on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 21, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. House committee chairman on Tuesday subpoenaed two more former White House aides, including Hope Hicks, just hours after former White House Counsel Donald McGahn was a no-show for testimony before the panel at President Donald Trump's request.

 

As tensions rose between the Republican president and the Democrats who control the House of Representatives, lawmakers also negotiated for future testimony by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on his Russia investigation and debated whether to launch high-stakes impeachment proceedings against Trump.

 

The showdown between Trump and the Democrats intensified after McGahn, heeding Trump's instructions, ignored a subpoena from the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee and did not show up to testify before the panel.

 

Undeterred in a growing conflict with Trump over congressional powers to oversee his administration, committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler announced he had issued fresh subpoenas to Hicks, the former White House communications director, and to Annie Donaldson, McGahn's former chief of staff.

 

The subpoenas seek testimony and documents in connection with the committee's probe of whether the president obstructed Mueller's inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and contacts between Trump's campaign team and Moscow.

 

Despite McGahn's absence, the committee held a hearing lasting about a half-hour that featured an empty chair at the witness table. Nadler said at the hearing, "Let me be clear: this committee will hear Mr. McGahn's testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it."

 

In Mueller's investigative report, McGahn was a key witness regarding possible obstruction of justice by Trump. Career prosecutors not involved in the case have said the report contained strong evidence that Trump committed a crime when he pressured McGahn to fire Mueller and later urged him to lie about it.

 

Attorney General William Barr, the top U.S. law enforcement official and a Trump appointee, on May 2 snubbed the same committee, which later voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for not handing over a full, unredacted Mueller report.

 

At the hearing skipped by Barr, an empty chair also figured prominently and a Democratic committee member placed a ceramic chicken on the table in front of it for the cameras. The ceramic chicken did not make a repeat appearance on Tuesday.

 

After the hearing that McGahn skipped, several Democrats said the Judiciary Committee was negotiating with Mueller about his possible testimony. A redacted version of Mueller's report was released by Barr last month.

 

"We are working with his team on that right now. I can't tell you for sure if he's going to come," said Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democratic committee member.

 

Republicans derided Tuesday's session as a political stunt.

 

"This is becoming a regular event. It's called the circus of Judiciary," said the panel's top Republican, Doug Collins.

 

Trump, seeking re-election in 2020, is refusing to cooperate with many congressional probes into his administration, his family and his business interests.

 

FORMER MODEL

In the early days of Trump's presidency, few aides had more frequent access to him than Hicks, a former model and public relations consultant hired by Trump into the White House from his daughter Ivanka Trump's staff. She rose to communications director, but resigned from the White House in March 2018.

 

Any impeachment effort would begin in the House, led by the Judiciary Committee, before action in the Republican-led Senate on whether to remove Trump from office.

 

No U.S. president has ever been removed from office through impeachment, a process spelled out in the Constitution.

 

House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, who is locked in another legal battle with Trump over access to his financial records, told reporters Democrats are "moving more and more" toward using impeachment as an option in the showdown with Trump.

 

Taking it a step further, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters: "It's time for us to, at the very least, open an impeachment inquiry."

 

Other Democrats remained cautious, saying a federal judge's decision against Trump on Monday in a subpoena case shows a step-by-step approach in the courts can bring results.

 

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington blocked a lawsuit by Trump that attempted to quash a subpoena sent by Cummings to Trump's long-time accounting firm Mazars LLP seeking the president's financial records. Trump has appealed the case.

 

Democrats have debated for months whether to initiate the impeachment process, with some lawmakers clamouring for it. But senior leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have counselled caution for fear of a voter backlash that could benefit Trump.

 

It was not immediately clear when Democrats might pursue a contempt citation against McGahn. The rules require 48-hour notice, but many House members will be flying out of town on Thursday for the Memorial Day holiday, a logistical challenge that means any contempt vote would be unlikely before June.

 

The redacted, 448-page Mueller report, 22 months in the making, showed how Moscow interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election in Trump's favour and detailed Trump's attempts to impede Mueller's probe.

 

The report found there was insufficient evidence to conclude that a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the Trump campaign had taken place. It made no recommendation on whether Trump obstructed justice, leaving that question up to Congress.

 

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey, Susan Cornwell, David Morgan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Will Dunham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-22

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[Tug]

Time for the house to start arresting for contempt start with minuchin he will squeal real quick

[mtls2005]

During previous testimony

 

"Ms. Hicks, have you ever lied for the president?"

 

leaves room for 10 minutes, comes back.

 

After having demonstrated remarkable clarity, candor and recollection answers a dozens times "I refuse to answer".

 

 

 

 

[quandow]

10 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

Well he/she is guilty of one of the biggest "cover-ups" in history.

PRICELESS!!!

[Sir Swagman]

The similarities between what happened in 1930’s Germany and the US now are growing. The refusal to acknowledge any restraints on actions, ignoring instructions of legal entities, attempting to redirect and reshape existing law and how it is to be interpreted were all early points in the rise of that totalitarian regime. People who had the opportunity to put the brakes on that behaviour did not do so, to protect their own interests, an example set for them by the ‘leader’. Will we see, as was seen in Germany, a standoff between two enforcement/power groups if an arrest of a person is attempted by congress and opposed by the WH? All this seemingly to prevent open examination of trump’s ‘total exoneration’ and innocence. This WH appears to serve trump far and away above the country, as charged.

[Srikcir]

46 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Never ending witch hunts.

What's next? 

Subpoena Trump's barber? 

That's about the degree of government experience that Trump requires to be a member of his administration - top minds in the country.

Listen to HUD Secretary Carson's responses to questioning during his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. http://lite.cnn.io/en/article/h_93cfaf4edd11d142efe8ae93774c268b

 

[Srikcir]

Meanwhile former Secretary of State Tex Tillerson sneaked in without a subpoena for an interveiw with the top Democrat and Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee about his time in the Trump administration.

"When the President would say, 'Here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it.' And I'd have to say to him, 'Well Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can't do it that way. It violates the law. It violates treaty,'" - Tillerson

http://lite.cnn.io/en/article/h_32c0a8cf745e9663ccb34b1e8ffad0ab

Will Mattis be next?

[mtls2005]

8 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Listen to HUD Secretary Carson's responses to questioning during his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

 

Not really a fair fight, Rep. Katie Porter vs. Carson? He always seems sleepy and lethargic; maybe he did neurosurgery on himself, and left a sponge inside?

 

Rep. Pressley's session with him was much more confrontational.

 

The fresh(wo)men Reps. are simply amazing. Their preparation and questioning of the administration's seemingly universally vacuous members is enlightening.

 

 

[spidermike007]

The Congress is simply doing their job. It is a system of checks and balances, and Trump is attempting to pull a Louis XIVth! He is not the king. He is subject to the rules of the land, and he is attempting to rewrite the rules, to evade the lawbreaking that he has engaged in his entire life. He is a scoundrel, and only likes rules and the laws, when it applies to his adversaries. Lock her up! Remember that one? I say lock up every member of his cabinet and administration that defies Congress. Including and starting with Don Jr. Eventually Trump himself once he leaves office. He has lived his life in such a way that nearly begs for him to be locked up. Hopefully, his abhorrent behavior will catch up with him, one of these days. The world would be a far better place once he is behind bars. 

 

In the interim, Congress needs to do everything in their power, to make his life a living hell. He richly deserves that. There is no witch hunt. That is just more deflection and obfuscation, aimed at his more ardent devotees. 

[Becker]

Please tell me you knew you set yourself up with that post?!

 

 

[Thakkar]

4 hours ago, Srikcir said:

That's about the degree of government experience that Trump requires to be a member of his administration - top minds in the country.

Listen to HUD Secretary Carson's responses to questioning during his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. http://lite.cnn.io/en/article/h_93cfaf4edd11d142efe8ae93774c268b

 

 

“You mean an REO is not the same as an Oreo? How am I supposed to know that? I’m just a brain scientist, not a rocket surgeon”

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Republicans derided Tuesday's session as a political stunt.

As it is.

The Dems, IMO, are just desperate for something, anything, to remove Trump, and are going barmy in their futile attempts to find anything serious enough to impeach him over. It has to be a real "smoking gun", as they know anything less will bring odium on them.

I guess that they realise that old Joe isn't going to be enough to win the next election in a good economy and low unemployment, so they have to get him out by legal means. 

 

It's all just a continuation of the Mueller investigation, without Mueller, and IMO will result in nothing, like his investigation, that will give them grounds for a successful impeachment.

 

IMO, every stunt they pull like this is just giving Trump more ammunition for his election campaign- 4 more years, with Dems help!

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, who is locked in another legal battle with Trump over access to his financial records, told reporters Democrats are "moving more and more" toward using impeachment as an option in the showdown with Trump.

 

Taking it a step further, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters: "It's time for us to, at the very least, open an impeachment inquiry."

LOL. I'm sure they realise that if they try to impeach and it fails in the senate, they've got nothing else they can do. 

I hope they do try, and fail, which would allow Trump to disregard anything they tried in the future. It's the all or nothing choice they have to make.

[Redline]

9 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Never ending witch hunts.

What's next? 

Subpoena Trump's barber? 

Not a bad idea ????

[Redline]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. I'm sure they realise that if they try to impeach and it fails in the senate, they've got nothing else they can do. 

I hope they do try, and fail, which would allow Trump to disregard anything they tried in the future. It's the all or nothing choice they have to make.

If they impeach, they will get any information they want from anywhere ????

[Redline]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

As it is.

The Dems, IMO, are just desperate for something, anything, to remove Trump, and are going barmy in their futile attempts to find anything serious enough to impeach him over. It has to be a real "smoking gun", as they know anything less will bring odium on them.

I guess that they realise that old Joe isn't going to be enough to win the next election in a good economy and low unemployment, so they have to get him out by legal means. 

 

It's all just a continuation of the Mueller investigation, without Mueller, and IMO will result in nothing, like his investigation, that will give them grounds for a successful impeachment.

 

IMO, every stunt they pull like this is just giving Trump more ammunition for his election campaign- 4 more years, with Dems help!

Plenty of evidence already ????

[Srikcir]

The pressure brought by House subpoenas is beginning to bear fruit.

The Justice Department on Tuesday says it’s willing to work with the House intelligence committee to make more information from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation available, but only if Chairman Adam Schiff backs down on his threat to take enforcement action against Attorney General Barr. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/21/doj-willing-trade-unredacted-mueller-report-barr/

[user46546545]

Hicks will sink Trump- she would be the most honest person that has served in his corrupt regime

[Srikcir]

19 hours ago, IHTE said:

she would be the most honest person that has served in his corrupt regime

No, she might be the least corrupt person that has served in Trump's regime:

• The White House communications director told House investigators that while her work for President Trump occasionally required her to tell white lies, she doesn’t lie about important things

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/02/hope-hicks-trust-me-i-only-tell-white-lies-for-trump.html

[mtls2005]

19 hours ago, IHTE said:

Hicks will sink Trump- she would be the most honest person that has served in his corrupt regime

 

Annie Donaldson, also subpoenaed, was Don MCGahn's CoS and was said to keep very, very detailed notes. Her note-taking abilities were documented in the Mueller Report some 65 times.

 

Some compare her to Rosemary Woods, but without the eraser, and many in the trump orbit fear what she can and will testify to.

 

READ: Annie Donaldson Writes in Trump Notes: ‘Is This the Beginning of the End?’

 

Much to Trump’s dismay, the notes of Annie Donaldson, chief of staff to former White House Counsel Don McGahn, were quoted 65 times in Mueller’s report. In fact, they served as much of the foundation for Mueller’s inquiry into whether Trump obstructed justice.

 

“Just in the middle of another Russia Fiasco,” Donaldson wrote in March 2017, quoting McGahn.

 

“POTUS in panic/chaos,” Donaldson wrote. “Need binders to put in front of POTUS. All things related to Russia.”

 

The president was “beside himself … getting hotter and hotter, get rid?” Donaldson recorded. Trump apparently felt that Comey “made [him] look like a fool.”

 

https://secondnexus.com/news/annie-donaldson-notes-mueller-report/