Giuliani and Pence defiant
iAttorneys for US Vice-President Mike Pence and Rudy Giuliani have informed Congress that neither will cooperate with the House’s impeachment probe into President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, former Texas Republican congressman Pete Sessions has been issued a subpoena by a New York grand jury probing his interactions with Giuliani and two associates who were arrested last week and charged with campaign finance violations.
Pence’s office yesterday called the House Democrats’ action a "self-proclaimed" and "purported" impeachment inquiry. Giuliani’s lawyer said Trump’s personal attorney ‘‘will not participate because this appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate’’ inquiry.
Democrats had subpoenaed Giuliani and requested documents from Pence’s office.
Trump also complained about a lack of ‘‘transparency’’ in the inquiry as House investigators heard from another key State Department official behind closed doors at the Capitol.
George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Ukraine, testified about a campaign by Giuliani to pressure Ukraine into investigating the president’s political rival, former vice-president and 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.
In a TV interview that aired yesterday, Hunter Biden conceded that it might have been a mistake to serve on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice-president, but he insisted that he did not have an ‘‘ethical lapse’’. He accused Giuliani and Trump of pressing ‘‘a ridiculous conspiracy’’.
Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, is prepared to tell the inquiry that top White House national security officials never personally raised concerns with him about his dealings with Giuliani in Ukraine, a person familiar with his account said yesterday.
Former White House aide Fiona Hill testified that ex-national security adviser John Bolton was so disquieted by the back-channel Ukraine activities that he referred to Giuliani as a ‘‘hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up’’.
– Washington Post, AP