Subpoenas for Trump associates get approval
National Enquirer execs, Kushner, Kelly named
WASHINGTON – A House panel approved subpoenas for a dozen aides and associates of President Donald Trump on Thursday, seeking information about everything from Russian interference to hush-money payments made in the months leading up to the 2016 election.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 21 to 12 to authorize subpoenas to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; former chief of staff John Kelly; and David Pecker, the CEO of the company that owned the National Enquirer. Lawmakers are seeking information about what they described as possible corruption and obstruction by Trump and his administration.
“We will not rest until we obtain their testimony and documents,” said Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
The top Republican on the panel, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, called the “subpoena binge” haphazard and premature.
“This is another trip down an empty road,” Collins said.
Previous efforts by the panel to subpoena information from the Trump administration have met with stiff resistance and have so far produced little new information.
Trump has called the continued investigation by House Democrats, after the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry, presidential harassment and a partisan witch hunt.
The subpoenas would apply to top aides who worked in Trump’s White House or campaign, and officials from the Justice Department and from a magazine company that helped pay off women who claimed to have had sex with Trump before the 2016 election.
The subpoenas targeting former White House and campaign officials include Kushner, Kelly, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn, former staff secretary Robert Porter and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
The subpoenas for current and former Justice Department officials cover Sessions, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Joseph Hunt, assistant attorney general for the civil division. Rosenstein appointed Mueller, and Trump ousted Sessions in November 2018 after repeatedly complaining about him recusing himself from the Russia probe.
The subpoenas dealing with the hush-money payments include lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal in their claims against Trump; Pecker, CEO of American Media Inc., which owned the National Enquirer; and Dylan Howard, chief content officer at the company.
“These are the key players, both in our ongoing investigation and in the Mueller report,” said Rep. Ted Deutch, D-fla. Republicans derided the action. “It’s really a faux impeachment, a fake impeachment,” said Rep. Steve Chabot, R-ohio.