Rudy Giuliani Was Just Subpoenaed for Ukraine Documents
Credit to Author: Greg Walters| Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 20:53:01 +0000
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was subpoenaed Monday by the House Intelligence Committee for documents related to the Ukraine scandal that’s launched an impeachment inquiry.
The subpoena seeks documents by October 15 as part of a probe into whether Trump “jeopardized national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election,” according to a letter released by the House panel on Monday.
The subpoena seeks all documents and communications related to former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, the Ukrainian gas company where he held a paid board seat, and any efforts to bring about an investigation into the Biden family. It also seeks records of Giuliani’s communications with the White House and other U.S. government agencies, and any files relating to two phone calls Trump had with Ukraine’s president, on July 25 and April 21.
The move marks the latest advance in Democrats’ intensifying impeachment inquiry against Trump, who asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “look into” the Biden family during the now-notorious July 25 phone call. That conversation took place shortly after Trump reportedly ordered that almost $400 million in military aid to Ukraine be withheld. The funds were later released.
“Our inquiry includes an investigation of credible allegations that you acted as an agent of the president in a scheme to advance his personal political interests by abusing the power of the President,” said the letter, which was co-signed by the chairman of the House committees on Oversight and Foreign Affairs.
Read: Here Are 7 Crimes Trump Might Have Committed in This Ukraine Scandal
Giuliani said over the weekend he wouldn’t cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee as long as the panel was helmed by its current Democratic Chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff of California.
“I wouldn’t cooperate with Adam Schiff,” Giuliani said on ABC's "This Week" — before adding he might “consider” cooperating if Trump orders him to.
Top Republicans have expressed frustration with Giuliani’s free-wheeling style in the Ukraine controversy, during which has appeared to contradict himself while raising his voice in frequent, amped-up appearances on cable news.
“I’m not sure he’s helping the president by being on TV every 15 minutes,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of North Carolina, who has forcefully defended Trump during the Ukraine saga, told reporters last week.
Giuliani was named over 30 times in the whistleblower’s complaint, which identified him as “a central figure” in Trump’s apparent effort to “solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”
Cover: Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, left, wipes his forehead as he listens to Trump speak before signing H.R. 1327, an act ensuring that a victims compensation fund related to the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, July 29, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
This article originally appeared on VICE US.