US House panel subpoenas Trump aides, Mueller probe
A US House panel has voted to authorize subpoenas both for the so-called Russia probe as well as for President Donald Trump’s aides.
Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, his campaign chairman Stephen Bannon and former White House communications director Hope Hicks are among those subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
According to the resolution voted 24-17, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler is allowed to issue subpoenas “at his discretion and as he determined necessary.”
“The resolution authorizes subpoenas for documents and testimony from certain former White House employees,” said the New York Democrat. "Each of these individuals has had more than a month to produce documents to this committee voluntarily."
The five witnesses have apparently refused to provide the committee with documents needed in the investigation, announced early last month.
The committee’s top Republican, meanwhile, defended at least two of the witnesses, calling the probe “ill-advised.”
“Two of these individuals are cooperating with this ill-advised investigation and have provided nearly 3,000 pages of documents,” said Georgia Representative Doug Collins. “The other three individuals responded to Chairman Nadler’s initial inquiry and have also indicated a willingness to cooperate. Democrats never followed up with their lawyers either.”
Trump mocked the Democrats behind the investigation in tweet on Tuesday.
“There is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff. It is now time to focus exclusively on properly running our great Country!” he said.
Meanwhile, Attorney General William Barr was also urged to elaborate on the outcome of the Mueller probe, which failed to find any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“I will give him time to change his mind,” Nadler said. “But if we cannot reach an accommodation then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials.”
He further suggested that Democrats were ready to go to courts if necessary to obtain the full report on Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
"And if the department still refuses, then it should be up to a judge — not the president and not his political appointee — to decide whether the committee can review the complete record,” Nadler said.
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