House Democrats will subpoena the White House on Friday if the administration does not turn over documents lawmakers have requested as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.
Elijah Cummings informed committee members in a memo on Wednesday of his intention to transmit the subpoena later this week.
“I do not take this step lightly. Over the past several weeks, the Committees tried several times to obtain voluntary compliance with our requests for documents, but the White House has refused to engage with–or even respond to–the Committees”, Cummings writes, adding that “only after overwhelming public pressure did the Trump Administration finally release the incriminating record of the President’s July 25, 2019, call with the Ukrainian President and reverse its misguided decision to block the whistleblower complaint submitted to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community from being transmitted to Congress as required by federal law”.
Cummings says the administration’s “flagrant disregard” for Congress has left lawmakers with “no choice”.
Specifically, Mick Mulvaney will be “hereby required” to produce a long list of documents and communications between and related to dozens of officials and tangential characters in connection with the Ukraine drama. Those officials and characters include, but are not limited to, the following:
Current or former White House officials, employees, and detailees, including within the White House Counsel’s Office, the White House Situation Room, and the National Security Council (NSC), Current or former employees or officials of the Department of Justice, including but not limited to Attorney General William “Bill” Barr and Assistant Attorney General John Demers; c. Current or former employees or officials of the Department of State, including but not limited to Secretary Michael R. Pompeo, Counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, former Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Ambassador Kurt Volker, Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent, U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Charge d’Affaires William B. Taylor, U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Deputy Chief of Mission Kristina Kvien, and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland; d. Current or former employees or officials of the Department of Energy, including but not limited to Secretary Rick Perry and Special Advisor Samuel Buchan; e. Current or former employees or officials of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), including but not limited to Acting Director Joseph Maguire and ODNI’s Office of General Counsel; f. Current or former employees or officials of the Central Intelligence Agency, including but not limited to General Counsel Courtney Simmons Elwood; and g. Current or former employees or officials of the Department of Defense, including but not limited to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Undersecretary for Policy John C. Rood.
So, that’s basically everyone. Cummings also wants any and all “recordings, transcripts, notes, summaries, memoranda of conversation, readouts, or other documents memorializing communications between Trump and the leader of any other foreign country that refer or relate to the subject matters of the July 25 telephone conversation between President Trump and President Zelensky, including but not limited to pursuing investigations of President Trump’s political rivals and Ukrainian foreign aid”.
And that’s hardly the end of it. Additionally, Cummings is seeking information regarding Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to negotiate with foreign governments on Trump’s behalf. House Democrats are clearly concerned about the participation of private attorneys, and not just Rudy.
As such, Mulvaney will be compelled to hand over any communications related to the following:
Efforts by any current or former member of the Trump Administration or Rudolph (“Rudy”) W. Giuliani, Igor Fruman, Lev Parnas, Semyon (“Sam”) Kislin, Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing, Vitaly Pruss or any of their associates, to induce, compel, petition, press, solicit, request, or suggest that current or former Ukrainian government officials, politicians, or other persons or entities associated with or acting in any capacity as a representative, agent, or proxy for any such individuals, investigate matters related to Burisma Holdings Ltd., Paul Manafort, Hunter Biden, Joseph Biden, the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton, or any U.S. persons or entities;
The full memo is below.
Suffice to say this ratchets up the pressure on the administration materially, and is almost sure to leave Trump fit to be tied. Or fit to be tried. Whichever you prefer.
Memo from Elijah Cummings
2019-10-02.COR WH Subpoena Memo and Schedule
Good luck getting some of those clowns to comply.