WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats on
Tuesday requested that White House acting Chief of Staff Mick
Mulvaney testify in the impeachment probe of Donald Trump, as
they prepared to release testimony by two of the "three amigos"
who helped run Ukraine policy for the Republican president.
The U.S. House of Representatives committees conducting the
impeachment inquiry have asked Mulvaney to appear at a
deposition on Friday.
"Based on evidence gathered in the impeachment inquiry and
public reporting, we believe that you possess substantial
first-hand knowledge and information relevant to the House's
impeachment inquiry," leaders of the House Foreign Affairs,
Intelligence and Oversight committees said in a letter to
Mulvaney.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The Trump administration has directed U.S. officials not to
cooperate with the investigation. Some who have been subpoenaed
have testified, while others have refused.
Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters
on Monday transcripts would be released of interviews with Kurt
Volker, Trump's former special representative for Ukraine
negotiations, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the
European Union.
Witnesses have testified that Volker and Sondland, with
Trump's secretary of energy, Rick Perry, were known as the
"three amigos," responsible for Trump's unofficial channel to
Ukrainian government officials.
Volker resigned as special representative in September. He
testified to the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and
Oversight panels for more than eight hours behind closed doors
on Oct. 3.
Sondland, a major Trump donor, testified on Oct. 17.
Perry, a former Texas governor who said he was resigning
from his Cabinet post as of Dec. 1, has refused to testify so
far.
Tuesday's will be the second public release of testimony in
the impeachment investigation of Trump that Democratic House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally launched on Sept. 24.
On Monday, the committees released transcripts of testimony
by Marie Yovanovitch, whom Trump abruptly recalled as ambassador
to Ukraine in May, and Michael McKinley, a former top adviser to
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In their interviews, Yovanovitch and McKinley said the State
Department was being used for domestic political purposes under
Trump and warned that would hurt American interests.
The House investigation is focused on a July 25 phone call
in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to
investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading
Democratic rival as Trump seeks re-election in November 2020.
Trump froze nearly $400 million in U.S. military assistance
to Ukraine shortly before speaking to Zelenskiy, prompting
accusations from Democrats that he had misused U.S. foreign
policy for personal gain.
Strongly backed by his fellow Republicans in Congress,
Trump has denied wrongdoing and accused Democrats of unfairly
targeting him in the hope of reversing his surprise victory in
the 2016 presidential election.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The committees began releasing interview transcripts as they
prepare for public hearings that could start this month.
If the House eventually votes to impeach Trump, a trial in
the Republican-controlled Senate would be held. Trump would not
be removed from office unless two-thirds of the senators who are
present vote to convict him - an unlikely prospect at this
point.
According to accounts of their testimony already public,
both Sondland and Volker discussed communications between
Trump's private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Ukrainian officials
with House investigators.
Volker turned over text messages concerning Ukraine among
himself, Giuliani and other diplomats.
Sondland testified that Trump directed him, Perry and Volker
to talk to Giuliani about his concerns about corruption in
Ukraine and that the three were dismayed by that order.
He said he did not understand "until much later" that
Giuliani's agenda included a push for Ukraine to investigate
Biden. Sondland also said it would be wrong to get a foreign
government to launch investigations in order to influence a U.S.
election.
The Trump administration has directed U.S. officials not to
cooperate with the probe.
Democratic U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin, who sits on the
Oversight Committee, said the failure of the witnesses to appear
would not affect the pace of the inquiry.
"We're going to move to the public phase of the
investigation because America needs to hear from these witnesses
themselves," he said. "The president is actively obstructing our
investigation by trying to blockade the witnesses. That in
itself becomes evidence of obstruction."
Two administration officials who had been scheduled to
appear for closed-door testimony did not show up on Tuesday:
Michael Duffey, associate director of the White House budget
office, and Wells Griffith, senior director for international
energy and the environment on the White House National Security
Council.
Four White House witnesses also failed to testify on Monday.
Schiff said on Monday that could potentially lead to
obstruction of Congress charges against the president.