House Oversight plans to vote to scorn Kellyanne Conway, unless she testifies

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Despite a summons to testify last month, Mr. Conway did not appear at the committee's hearing on Monday. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, said the committee will hold a contempt vote on July 25, but implored Conway to testify before that to "help us avoid this situation."

The White House lawyer's letter, Pat Cipollone, sent Monday to Cummings, announced that Conway would not appear at the request of President Donald Trump.

"The President ordered Ms. Conway not to appear at the scheduled hearing of the Committee on Monday, July 15, 2019," the letter said. "The long-standing principle of immunity of the president's senior advisers is firmly rooted in the separation of powers provided for by the Constitution and protects the essential functions of the presidency."

The White House also issued a statement calling the subpoena of the Chamber of Deputies' monitoring committee a "purely political campaign".

Last month, the US council's special board – which is not involved in Robert Mueller's investigation – recommended that Conway be fired for violating the Hatch law. Conway made a mistake in "denigrating the Democratic presidential candidates while speaking officially in television interviews and on social networks".
The Hatch Act is designed to prevent the federal government from affecting the elections or its activities in a partisan manner and, as explained by the Office of the Special Council, they apply to federal employees as well as to the federal government. to state employees and local employees. who work with federally funded programs.

In his remarks Monday, Cummings called Conway's testimony "unequivocal case".

"It goes beyond the Hatch law or any other law," he said. "It's about keeping our government to the highest standard and not allowing people appointed by the president to receive preferential treatment when they blatantly violate the law."

Manu Raju, Devan Cole and Jim Acosta from CNN contributed to this report.

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