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The White House ordered former staff security director Carl Kline this week to challenge a subpoena issued by the House Oversight Committee as part of the committee's investigation into the controversial security clearance for administration officials.
Kline was scheduled to appear Wednesday before the committee for an interview, but the White House told him to ignore the subpoena, unless a White House council representative was allowed to attend the interview.
MONITORING THE HOUSE SUBPOENA TRUMP ACCOUNTING
"[M]Your client has been ordered not to appear tomorrow. With two masters from two equal branches of government, we will follow the instructions of the person who employs him, "Kline's lawyer Robert Driscoll, commission chair Elijah Cummings, D-Md, told Kline's lawyer on Monday.
Driscoll has attached a letter from the White House's deputy legal adviser to President Michael Purpura, revealing Kall's instructions to the administration to not follow his subpoena.
"This letter serves to inform you that Mick Mulvaney, acting chief of staff of the president, ordered Mr. Kline not to appear on April 23, 2019," reads in the letter from the White House to Driscoll. "The Department of Justice is aware of the legal position adopted by the White House and subscribes to its position that Mr. Kline does not need to appear for his testimony if no representative of that office 39 is authorized to attend the meeting. "
VOTES ON MONITORING OF HOUSES PUBLISH SUB-POINAS ON WHITE HOUSE SECURITY AUTHORIZATIONS
Last week, the White House asked the committee "to allow a representative of the office of the president's council to attend" Kline's interview, but the committee rejected the request.
Driscoll wrote to Cummings late on Monday that his decision to adhere to the White House's demands was "not taken lightly and did not come from unwillingness or a deliberate challenge" on his part, or from the from Kline.
"We wanted to answer the legitimate legislative questions of this committee, but we had warned of an imminent conflict," wrote Driscoll, adding that they had done their best to avoid the problem. "I sincerely hope that this dispute between branches can be settled. If this is the case, we will quickly and enthusiastically arrange an appointment with committee staff for their voluntary appearance. Thank you for your understanding."
Kline's subpoena was issued as part of a security clearance committee investigation by top Trump administration officials, including Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the former advisor to the National Security Michael Flynn and former White House aide Rob Porter.
The investigation intensified after Tricia Newbold, an 18-year-old government employee who had overseen the issuance of clearances to some senior White House officials, revealed that she had listed at least 25 officials who had initially been denied a security clearance last year. cancel these refusals.
The charges were detailed in a letter and memo issued Monday by Cummings.
The documents, which are based on the interview with Newbold's private committee on March 23, do not identify the officials in the list, but mention that they include "two current senior officials of the White House, as well as entrepreneurs and individuals "in different parts of the executive office of The President.
The White House's mistrust of Kline's summons comes after Trump's lawyers sued the committee Monday for blocking subpoenas for the president's financial records.
"We will not allow the congressional harassment of Congress to remain unanswered," said President Jay Sekulow's attorney.
The Oversight Committee, earlier this month, has announced that it will assign accounting firm Mazars USA LLC to appear for Trump's financial information. Cummings wishes to obtain annual statements, periodic financial reports and independent audit reports from Mazars, as well as records of communications with Trump.
In searching for documents, Cummings quoted February testimony from Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who said the president had inflated or depreciated the value of his assets when it would be beneficial.
Andrew O'Reilly, Alex Pappas, John Roberts, and Fox News Associated Press contributed to this report.
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