Mulvaney asks to join lawsuit in testimony rift BALANCED COVERAGE

Trump advisers seek court ‘aid’ on whether to comply with probe.

Acting White

WASHINGTON — House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Friday asked to join a federal lawsuit seeking a judicial ruling on whether Congress can compel President Donald Trump’s senior advisers to testify in the impeachment inquiry.

What happened

The lawsuit was originally filed last month by Charles Kupperman, a former top national security aide to Trump, who said he faced conflicting orders from House Democrats and the White House over whether he must participate in the investigation and needed the court to tell him what his constitutional duty was.

Attorneys for Mulvaney said

The debate over impeachment is divisive, and these types of controversial stories receive special treatment. We always try to present as much information as possible so readers can use those facts to reach their own conclusions. the acting chief of staff was fac

ing the same dilemma. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Mulvaney last week and threatened to hold him in contempt if he refused to comply.

In response, White House counsel Pat Cipollone instructed him not to testify, saying Mulvaney, who skipped his scheduled deposition Friday morning, was protected by “constitutional immunity” that extended to all of Trump’s current and former senior advisers.

Why it matters

The questions raised in the case “go to the heart of our representative government and its promise to secure individual liberty by dividing the awesome power of government amongst itself,” Mulvaney’s attorneys, Christopher Muha and William Pittard, wrote in the filing.

“Mr. Mulvaney, like Mr. Kupperman, finds himself caught in that division, trapped between the commands of two of its co-equal branches — with one of those branches threatening him with contempt,” they wrote. “He turns to this Court for aid.”

What’s next

Mulvaney’s request, if granted, would add further weight to a lawsuit that could have far-reaching effects on the House’s inquiry into the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals.

LEIGH VOGEL / NEW YORK TIMES Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff, has emerged as a key figure in the House investigation of President Donald Trump’s alleged pressure campaign on Ukraine.