Experts: White House has dubious reasons to ignore subpoenas
The impeachment process is fundamentally unfair. Congress lacks authority to investigate the president. Witnesses should have executive branch lawyers.
White House attorneys are throwing out an array of arguments for keeping its officials from cooperating with the congressional impeachment inquiry. But legal experts say they are making a weak case.
Some even say the refusal to cooperate with the probe run by House Democrats could amount to obstruction that might itself become an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
“Not only can it be, it absolutely should be,” said Heidi Kitrosser, a University of Minnesota constitutional law professor who has written about impeachment. “This is an effort to stymie Congress in one of its core roles.”
The inquiry concerns whether the Trump administration sought to pressure Ukraine into investigating business done there by Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and also probing whether Ukraine was involved in the 2016 U.S. election.
Four White House officials, including the top lawyer on the National Security Council, defied subpoenas from House investigators demanding they appear for depositions Monday.
Although the White House did not flatly assert executive privilege as the reason, it came extremely close, Kitrosser said.
“They are probably trying to have it both ways and trying to avoid the legal and political ramifications of claiming executive privilege while getting the advantage of it,” she said.
Politically, an executive privilege claim could cross a line leading to more support for impeachment. Legally it’s more or less the last attempt a president could make to prevent disclosure of evidence or testimony.
https://apnews.com/48c57b063e3a4da699cd9a8ee8dbfe91