WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A U.S. House committee chairman yesterday 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.
