Two more White House officials hadnt appeared to testify to the House in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, and lawmakers werent expecting them to appear later in the day.
Michael Duffey, associate director of the White House budget office, wasnt going to comply with House Democrats requests for a deposition, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought said last month.
Wells Griffith, a special assistant to Trump and senior director for international energy and environment for the National Security Council, was also scheduled to be deposed on Tuesday but hadnt shown up.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the House Judiciary and House Oversight committees, told reporters just before 10 a.m. that neither Griffith nor Duffey had appeared and were unlikely to do so.
Three other officials are slated to testify on Wednesday. They are Vought and two State Department personnel: T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, counselor of the department, and David Hale, under secretary of state for political affairs.
The apparent refusal by both White House officials to testify Tuesday came after four White House officials failed to appear on Monday.
Robert Blair, assistant to President Donald Trump and senior adviser to acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; Brian McCormack, associate director for natural resources energy and science at the Office of Management and Budget; John Eisenberg, deputy counsel to the president for National Security Affairs; and Michael Ellis, senior associate counsel to the president, declined to appear.
Blairs attorney cited the order by Trumps White House to cite executive privilege while Eisenbergs counsel told House Democrats in a letter that “the President has instructed Mr. Eisenberg not to appear at the deposition.”
A former White House aide, Charles Kupperman, also didnt appear for a scheduled interview in October and has asked a federal judge to rule whether he should obey Trumps direction or comply with House Democrat efforts.
The White House has called the impeachment inquiry illegitimate while instructing officials not to comply with requests for depositions, including subpoenas. House Democrats have said the iRead More – Source
