Impeachment probe intensifies; Trump rages
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives’ impeachment probe into President Donald Trump intensified yesterday, as Trump raged about the inquiry and news reports suggested he had used additional diplomatic channels to go after his adversaries.
Three House committees said a subpoena for documents had been sent to Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The former New York mayor had said on television he asked the Government of Ukraine to ‘‘target’’ former vicepresident Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Trump in the 2020 election.
Giuliani said in a tweet the subpoena raised legal issues including attorneyclient privilege. ‘‘It will be given appropriate consideration,’’ he said.
On Friday, the three committees announced Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been subpoenaed, and depositions scheduled for five other State Department officials.
The Democraticled House initiated an impeachment inquiry against Trump last week after a whistleblower report raised concerns Trump tried to leverage nearly $US400 million in US aid in exchange for investigating Biden from Ukraine’s leader in July.
Pompeo took part in the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which the matter was discussed, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump spent much of yesterday directing his ire at the Democrat leading the House inquiry, suggesting on Twitter that US Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, should be arrested for ‘‘treason’’.
Later, speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump accused Schiff of distorting his conversation with Zelenskiy at a House hearing last week.
The whistleblower has not been publicly identified, but Trump said on Monday ‘‘we’re trying to find out about a whistleblower. We have a whistleblower who reports things that were incorrect’’.
Trump has also accused the whistleblower and White House officials who gave the whistleblower information of being spies and suggested they may be guilty of treason. — Reuters