Four Trump officials decline to testify
WASHINGTON — House investigators Monday released the first transcripts from closed-door depositions taken as part of the impeachment inquiry as four White House officials, including John Eisenberg, a lawyer central to the Ukraine controversy, defied subpoenas to testify.
The refusals to cooperate came on a day in which President Donald Trump tweeted that he sees “no reason” for lawmakers to summon witnesses regarding his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which he again contended was “perfect.”
House Democrats are encountering renewed stonewalling from the White House as they attempt to move deeper into the ranks of officials with knowledge of Trump’s efforts to press Ukraine’s president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden at a time when U.S. military aid was being withheld from that country.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called the four officials who declined to appear Monday “firsthand witnesses to serious misconduct” and said their absence was further evidence of Trump trying to obstruct Congress.
In addition to Eisenberg, those summoned are Robert Blair, a senior adviser to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; Brian McCormack, an Office of Management and Budget official; and Michael Ellis, another White House lawyer.
Meanwhile, House investigators released the transcripts of two closed-door depositions taken as part of the inquiry: records of the Oct. 11 testimony of Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and the Oct. 16 testimony of Michael McKinley, a former senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Yovanovitch testified that she feared her job was in jeopardy because of criticism from conservatives, according to the transcript, and reached out to Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
She also testified that Ukrainian contacts of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani sought to ruin her career because she was battling corruption in Ukraine, which undercut them financially.
Schiff said that the depositions of Sondland and Kurt Volker, the former special U.S. envoy to Ukraine, will be released Tuesday.