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US House Committee Authorizes Subpoenas of Trump Officials

VOA News

   Updated: July 11, 2019, 2:18 p.m.

   The U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Thursday authorized subpoenas of
   a dozen current and former Trump administration and campaign officials
   as part of its investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S.
   presidential election and the separation of families at the border with
   Mexico.

   Democrats who control the panel overrode Republican objections to give
   committee chairman Jerrold Nadler broad discretion in authorizing him
   to subpoena a wide array of officials who are or have been close to
   President Donald Trump during his two-and-a-half year presidency.

   "We will not rest until we obtain their testimony and documents,"
   Nadler said.

   Included on the list are Trump's son-in-law, senior White House adviser
   Jared Kushner; former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn; former
   White House Chief of Staff John Kelly; former Attorney General Jeff
   Sessions; and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

   The list of 12 people also include former Trump campaign chief Corey
   Lewandowski and David Pecker, the head of National Enquirer publisher
   American Media Inc., which made hush money payments during the 2016
   presidential campaign to a woman who alleged having an affair with
   Trump.

   The committee said the documents and testimony it seeks relate to "the
   Trump administration's 'zero tolerance' policy and other family
   separation policies and practices; detention of children and families;
   and discussions about or offers of presidential pardons to Department
   of Homeland Security officials or employees."

   The Democrats have expressed frustration at what they say is a lack of
   cooperation from the White House and federal agencies in response to
   the committee's requests to interview officials and obtain documents,
   much of it related to the nearly two-year Russia investigation by
   special counsel Robert Mueller.

   But Trump scoffed at the lawmakers as the congressional panel moved
   toward a vote, saying, "Enough already, go back to work!"

     ....conflicted and compromised Mueller again. He said he was "done"
     after his last 9 minute speech, and that he had nothing more to say
     outside of the No Collusion, No Obstruction, Report. Enough already,
     go back to work! I won, unanimously, the big Emoluments case
     yesterday!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [1]July 11, 2019

   The White House has directed some officials, such as former counsel
   Donald McGahn, not to answer the committee's questions, as Republicans
   accuse Democrats of dragging out investigations and wasting lawmakers'
   time.

   Trump has lodged numerous complaints about investigations into his
   administration and continued Wednesday with a tweet saying, "The Dems
   Witch Hunt continues!"

   About a quarter of the 235 Democrats in the House have called for
   Trump's impeachment, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has blocked the
   start of impeachment hearings while supporting on-going investigations.

   Treatment of migrants at the southern U.S. border has been a prominent
   issue throughout Trump's presidency and gained greater focus this year
   with an unprecedented level of children and families entering the
   United States without documentation.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149317469544374272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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