White House raises resistance to House probes on Trump
WASHINGTON — The White House sharply escalated its resistance to congressional attempts to investigate President Donald Trump, notifying the House Judiciary panel Wednesday that it would refuse to comply with sweeping requests for documents and witness testimony while declaring that the legislative branch had no right to a “do-over” of the special counsel’s Russia probe.
White House counsel Pat Cippillone sent a 12-page letter to the committee chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., labeling congressional investigations as efforts to “harass” Trump in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference. Current and former administration officials will not be permitted to testify, according to the White House, and the administration will fight subpoenas as Congress moves to step up investigations into Trump’s presidency and finances.
Cippillone offered what has become a new favored talking point among Trump’s allies: that Congress is a legislative, not law enforcement, body and does not have a right to pursue most investigations.
“Congressional investigations are intended to obtain information to aid in evaluating potential legislation, not to harass political opponents or to pursue an unauthorized ‘do-over’ of exhaustive law enforcement investigations conducted by the Department of Justice,” Cippillone wrote.
The White House counsel stopped short of invoking blanket executive privilege, but he said the White House would only cooperate with narrow requests from Nadler if Congress explained the legislative purposes behind them.
Nadler said the White House’s arguments were “ridiculous” and would hold the president above the law. He added, for the first time, that the committee was considering “very large” fines for witnesses who do not comply.
“This flies in the face of the American idea that no one is above the law, and I reject it,” Nadler said.
White House officials said the release of a redacted version of Mueller’s 448page report last month made the congressional probes unnecessary and gratuitous. Though Trump and his allies routinely attacked Mueller’s integrity, the White House has found fit to praise the special counsel when it suits them: Officials on Wednesday declared Mueller’s team to be “professional” and “hard-charging” and insisted that Mueller’s conclusions be honored.
Trump told his staff and political advisers in recent weeks to refuse to cooperate with Democrats, declaring the party’s goal was simply to damage him politically as he goes into his reelection campaign. The legal battle could stretch to 2020.