Probe extends to White House

Democrats subpoena officials in impeachment inquiry; Trump won’t co-operate

For the first time, the United States’ impeachment inquiry reached directly into the White House yesterday as Democrats subpoenaed officials about contacts with Ukraine and President Donald Trump signalled his administration would not cooperate.

The demand for documents capped a tumultuous week that widened the constitutional battle between the executive branch and Congress and sharpened the political standoff with more witnesses, testimony and documents to come.

Trump said he would formally object to Congress about the House impeachment inquiry, even as he acknowledged that Democrats “have the votes” to proceed. “I really believe that they’re going to pay a tremendous price at the polls,” Trump said.

But Democrats accused Trump of speeding down “a path of defiance, obstruction and cover-up” and warned that defying the House subpoena would in itself be considered “evidence of obstruction” and a

potentially impeachable offence.

Lawmakers have made Trump’s request last summer that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden the centrepiece of the probe. A whistleblower complaint said Trump sought to use military assistance for Ukraine as leverage to push President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the 2020 Democratic hopeful.

“We deeply regret that President Trump has put us — and the nation — in this position, but his actions have left us with no choice,” wrote the three Democratic House chairmen, representatives Elijah Cummings, Adam Schiff and Eliot Engel, in issuing yesterday’s subpoena after White House resistance to the panel’s request

for witnesses and documents.

The White House was expected to send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arguing Congress could not mount its impeachment investigation without having a vote to authorise it. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham derided the subpoena as coming from a Democratic “kangaroo court”.

Pelosi insisted the House is within its rules to conduct oversight of the executive branch under the US Constitution.

Democrats earlier sent a separate extensive request for documents to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Ukraine. The House has also subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.