House panel OKs subpoenas for 12
Dems ‘will not rest’ until Trump associates comply
WASHINGTON – A House panel approved subpoenas Thursday for a dozen aides and associates of President Donald Trump, seeking information about everything from Russian interference to hushmoney payments Trump made in the months leading up to the 2016 election. The House Judiciary Committee voted 21-12 to authorize subpoenas to Trump’s sonin-law, Jared Kushner; former chief of staff John Kelly; and David Pecker, the CEO of the company that owned the National Enquirer. Lawmakers seek 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 Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.
The top Republican on the panel, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, called the “subpoena binge” haphazard.
“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 produced little new information.
Trump called the 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, the Justice Department and from a magazine company that before the 2016 election helped pay off women who claimed to have had sex with Trump.
The subpoenas targeting former White House and campaign officials, include former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn, former staff secretary Robert Porter and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Flynn awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to lying to investigations about interactions with Russians. The committee asked Kushner in March for documents about Flynn, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a Trump Tower meeting of campaign officials with Russians in June 2016. The committee asked Lewandowski about Flynn, Sessions and campaign contacts with Russians.
The subpoenas for current and former Justice Department officials cover Sessions; former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller; and Joseph Hunt, assistant attorney general for the civil division. Trump ousted Sessions in November 2018 after repeatedly complaining about him recusing himself from the Russia investigation.
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 the company American Media, which owned the National Enquirer; and Dylan Howard, chief content officer at the company. The committee asked the American Media executives in March about “catch-and-kill” payments to the women to prevent stories from being written.
The White House urged former officials to defy subpoenas for their work in the White House, either because of executive privilege or immunity from testifying about their work.
Former White House counsel Don McGahn defied his subpoena. His deputy Annie Donaldson and former White House communication director Hope Hicks testified separately behind closed doors but declined to answer hundreds of questions.