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WASHINGTON – The White House has asked two former advisors to President Trump not to appear at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, saying that Rick Dearborn and Rob Porter were "absolutely at risk" to testify at the first impeachment hearing of the committee.
In a letter sent to the commission and obtained by the Associated Press, White House lawyer Pat Cipollone wrote that the Department of Justice had advised – and Trump ordered – to Dearborn and Porter to challenge subpoenas for "constitutional immunity". The two men's lawyers said they would follow Trump's orders.
Former Trump campaign director, Corey Lewandowski, who has never worked for the White House, is expected to attend the hearing as the only witness on Tuesday. In a separate letter, Cipollone said that Lewandowski should not reveal private conversations with Trump beyond what is already public in the report of special advocate Robert Mueller.
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On August 12, 2017, Rob Porter, left, secretary of the White House staff, speaks to President Trump after he made remarks about the situation in Charlottesville, Virginia, at Trump National Golf Club Bedminister, in New Jersey (Photo AP). / Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House, Jerrold Nadler, invited the three men to testify at the hearing as part of the committee's investigation into Mueller's report and what Nadler calls a " Aggressive audience series "this fall to determine if Trump should be dismissed. But the committee has so far been hampered by the White House's blockade of witness statements and requests for documents, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said she wanted wait to see what happens before the courts before making a decision on dismissal.
Cipollone wrote that he had been advised to Dearborn and Porter not to attend the meetings "because of the constitutional immunity protecting the president's chief advisers against the forced testimony of Congress and in order to protect the prerogatives of the Presidency ".
Democrats dispute such claims to "absolute immunity" in a lawsuit filed against former White House lawyer Don McGahn, who had challenged a subpoena to appear earlier this year. year on the order of Trump. They say that such a claim does not exist legally.
In the letter concerning Lewandowski, Cipollone wrote to Nadler that his conversations with Trump "are protected from disclosure by long-established principles protecting the confidentiality interests of the executive branch."
In a statement, Nadler said the White House's position was "a shocking and dangerous statement".
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In this photo of January 17, 2018, Rick Dearborn, Deputy Chief of the Legislative Affairs Office of President Trump at the White House, sits on Capitol HIll.walks on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh, File)
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"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."
Brant W. Bishop, Porter's attorney, stated in another letter to Nadler that his client was trapped between "competing and inconsistent requests from coordinated and equal branches" and that he would hold, for the moment, the summons to appear. He indicated that Porter would testify if the courts asked him.
"Such conflicting demands must be resolved by a compromise between the executive and the legislature, or by the judiciary," Bishop wrote. "In the meantime, given that the investigation in question concerns his service as a senior White House official, Mr. Porter must adhere to the instructions of the White House."
At Tuesday's hearing, Mr. Lewandowski would be free to discuss Trump's campaign, on which he worked until his dismissal in the summer of 2016. But the judicial panel is very interested by Mueller's report and whether or not Trump has hindered justice. The report states that the President can not be exonerated on this point.
According to the report, Trump has twice asked Lewandowski to ask Attorney General Jeff Sessions to limit Mueller's investigation. Trump said that if the sessions did not meet Lewandowski, then Lewandowski would have to inform the sessions of his dismissal.
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Lewandowski never conveyed the message but asked Dearborn – a former Sessions assistant – to do it. Dearborn said that he was uncomfortable with the application and also refused to deliver it, according to the report.
Porter, a former staff secretary at the White House, took frequent notes during his stay there, which were detailed throughout the report. He resigned last year as a result of public allegations of domestic violence on the part of his two ex-women.
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