Pence, Giuliani will not testify in impeachment inquiry

US Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Tuesday they will not cooperate with a US House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival.

The decision to defy congressional subpoenas opens the two men to possible contempt of Congress charges and illustrates Republican Trump’s determination to stonewall the Democratic-led impeachment effort, which threatens to consume his presidency.

The refusal to cooperate could be considered as evidence of obstruction of justice, which would substantiate suspicions about Trump’s misconduct, according to an official working on the inquiry who communicated on condition of anonymity.

But other US government officials have not been as reluctant to cooperate.

Lawmakers were hearing closed-door testimony on Tuesday from a senior US diplomat, George Kent, who is one of several officials involved in the Ukrainian matter who have complied with congressional subpoenas.

House Democrats are focusing on Trump’s request to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call to look into unsubstantiated allegations about Joe Biden, the former vice president and a leading contender to become the Democratic nominee to run against Trump in the November 2020 US presidential election.

Kent, who has spent much of his career fighting corruption in Ukraine and elsewhere, is the second career diplomat to testify as part of the probe after being subpoenaed. The White House and State Department had ordered them not to appear.

It was unclear what Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for US policy toward six former Soviet republics including Ukraine, was telling lawmakers.

MARIE YOVANOVITCH, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, on Friday accused the Trump administration in testimony of recalling her in May based on false claims.

Fiona Hill, Trump’s former Russia adviser, told lawmakers on Monday that she and her then-boss, former national security adviser John Bolton, were alarmed this summer by efforts to force Ukraine to investigate Biden and other rivals and advised her to notify a National Security Council lawyer, according to a source familiar with her testimony.

Hill told lawmakers that Bolton characterized Giuliani as “a hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up,” according to two sources familiar with her testimony.

Pence’s lawyer, Matthew E. Morgan, also cited the White House’s response, saying the House had not voted to authorize the inquiry. .

“There is no requirement that we have a vote and so at this time we will not be having a vote,” Pelosi said in a news conference. (Reuters)