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WASHINGTON – Speaker of the Judiciary Committee of the House, Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. said on Tuesday that the White House's efforts to prevent or prevent former employees from speaking before the Congress amounted to a "shocking and dangerous statement of executive power and absolute immunity".
"The White House is advancing a new dangerous theory on the privilege of cronyism, which gives the impression that absolute immunity is good by comparison." Where are the limits? " he asked at a hearing of former Trump campaign director Corey Lewandowski. "It's a concealment, simple and clean."
On Monday night, the White House invoked the privilege of the executive for any discussions that Mr. Lewandowski might have had with Trump and other senior White House officials who were not already included in the report of the special advocate Robert Mueller.
The White House has also ordered two former senior advisers to challenge the subpoenas to appear before Congress. His lawyer, Pat Cipollone, wrote to Nadler that "constitutional immunity" was protecting former advisers, Rob Porter, the former secretary of the White House staff, and Rick Dearborn, who was a member of Parliament. chief of staff, to have to testify. The White House has been supported by the Department of Justice on this subject.
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Porter, Dearborn and Lewandowski were all summoned before the committee for Tuesday's hearing, "Obstruction of Justice and Presidential Abuse".
In his opening statement at the hearing, Lewandowski told the panel that the Democrats had sold to the Americans "a false story" about possible collusion between the campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential race. .
"What there has been, however, is the harassment of the president since the day he won the elections," Lewandowski said.
Nadler asked Lewandowski when he met Trump alone in the Oval Office in June 2017, as reported in Mueller's report, and had considered limiting the scope of Mueller's investigation. Lewandowski asked the committee to provide him with a special quote in the report before answering the question.
The questions asked by Lewandowski by the Democrats. "The White House has ordered me to disclose the contents of any conversations with the president or his advisers," he said.
During an exchange with Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., Lewandowski said that Trump's request to convey a message to the then Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, in order to limit the amount of money. Mueller case investigation, had not violated any law.
"I did not think the president asked me to do something illegal," he said.
The hearing is the first that the committee has organized since it adopted a measure defining the process for investigating the possible obstruction of the justice of the president in order to determine whether it is recommended to recommend dismissal articles or not. against Trump in the House.
Trump seemed satisfied with the introductory remarks of his former assistant, tweeting a few minutes later that Lewandowski's remarks at the beginning of the hearing had been "beautiful".
Nadler had exploded as the White House advance before the hearing. "The President would have us believe that he can deliberately engage in criminal activities and prevent witnesses from testifying before Congress – even if they do not work for him or for his administration," Nadler said. in a statement Monday night.
"If he had to prevail in this concealment while the Judiciary Committee was considering the possibility of recommending indictments, it would reverse the separation of powers envisaged by our founders," he added. .
Deputy White House Press Secretary Steven Groves said about Porter and Dearborn that previous administrations have adopted similar legal positions with regard to their staff.
Groves added that even though Lewandowski would testify about the contents of Mueller's report, information about his communications with Trump or the president's top advisers "is not already disclosed in the Mueller report … remains confidential. disclosure of the contents of these communications, and Mr. Lewandowski was ordered not to testify about them. "
Rob Porter's lawyer, Brant W. Bishop, said Tuesday in a statement that his client was "subject to contradictory and contradictory directions from two equal branches: Congress ordered him to testify and the president of no not do it. "
"The absence of Mr. Porter today demonstrates his respect for the constitutional responsibilities of the three branches of the federal government in the resolution of this conflict.Congress and the President can reach a compromise, or the judiciary can resolve the conflict in the courts, "Bishop said. "As Mr. Porter informed him last night of President Nadler, if this conflict is resolved, he will fulfill his duty, that it is appropriate to testify appropriately or enforce the prerogatives of the Office of the Presidency. "
Porter, Dearborn, and Lewandowski – who were all prominent in Mueller's report – echoed previous attempts to limit or prevent former staff members from testifying before Congress, such as the former House lawyer. Blanche, Donald McGahn.
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