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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 21 January 2020

Justice Dept. memos back defiance of impeachment subpoenas

By ERIC TUCKER ing an investigation into his
Associated Press own misconduct, President
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump asserted the prerog-
White House on Monday ative to nullify Congress's
released Justice Depart- impeachment power itself,"
ment legal opinions meant House managers wrote
to bolster its case for defy- Monday.
ing subpoenas from Con- "He placed himself above
gress in the impeachment the law and eviscerated
inquiry of President Donald the separation of powers.
Trump. This claim evokes monar-
One opinion, dated Sun- chy and despotism. It has
day, says Trump adminis- no place in our democ-
tration officials were free to racy, where even the high-
disregard subpoenas sent est official must answer to
last fall before the House Congress and the Constitu-
of Representatives had tion," they added.
formally authorized an im- At issue are subpoenas is-
peachment inquiry. That sued last fall after news
approval, the memo says, broke of Trump's July 25
is necessary before con- phone call with Ukraine's
gressional committees can leader, Volodymyr Zelen-
begin their own investiga- The Senate side of the U.S. Capitol at sunrise on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Washington. The im- skiy, in which Trump asked
tions and issue subpoenas peachment trial of President Donald Trump will resume in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. for an investigation into
for documents and testi- Associated Press Biden and his son, Hunter.
mony. House Speaker Nancy
The opinion says lawmakers of obstruction charges and House committees to ac- reasonable for executive Pelosi announced an im-
acted in "unprecedented" unconstitutional demands" commodate the Execu- branch officials to decline peachment inquiry on
fashion by investigating the that officials appear for tive Branch's legitimate to comply with the subpoe- Sept. 24. Three days later,
president without a formal closed-door testimony concerns with the unprec- nas addressed to them," Democratic-led commit-
vote from the House and about sensitive matters. edented nature of the says the opinion from Assis- tees subpoenaed Secre-
by making "express threats "Absent any effort by the committees' actions, it was tant Attorney General Ste- tary of State Mike Pom-
ven Engel, who heads the peo. Additional subpoenas
legal counsel office. were issued over the next
Giuliani associate in campaign The opinion is significant several weeks to multiple
because one of the two ar-
other government officials
cash probe seeks Barr recusal ticles of impeachment be- and diplomats.
ing taken up this week by Since it wasn't until Oct.
the Senate accuses Trump 31 that the House adopt-
of obstructing the congres- ed procedures governing
NEW YORK (AP) — An as- to start. Parnas is charged New York City mayor, try to sional investigation into his the impeachment inquiry,
sociate of Rudy Giuliani along with an associate, persuade Ukrainian officials efforts to get Ukraine to in- subpoenas issued before
charged with illegally fun- Igor Fruman, with making to launch an investigation vestigate political rival Joe then — such as to Pompeo
neling foreign money into illegal campaign contribu- of the business dealings of Biden. Republican allies of — are not valid, accord-
U.S. political campaigns tions in order to further their Joe Biden's son. the president are likely to ing to the Justice Depart-
has asked Attorney Gen- business interests and po- In recent weeks, Parnas seize on the Justice Depart- ment opinion. Even when
eral William Barr to recuse litical goals that included has been giving Congres- ment conclusion to argue it passed the resolution, the
himself in the case and ap- a campaign to get the U.S. sional Democrats docu- that the White House was opinion says, the House did
point a special prosecutor. to replace its ambassa- ments and electronic cor- on solid legal ground when not change the legal status
The request is made in a dor to Ukraine. Both have respondence related to it directed aides and offi- of subpoenas issued before
letter filed Monday in the pleaded not guilty. that pressure as part of the cials to flout congressional Oct. 31 "because the reso-
docket of the federal cam- Two other men are also impeachment inquiry. demands for testimony and lution did not ratify them
paign finance violation charged in a part of the Barr's Justice Depart- documents. or otherwise address their
case brought by New York case having to do with at- ment brought the charges Democrats, meanwhile, terms."
prosecutors against Lev tempts to get approval in against Parnas, but the are unlikely to be persuad- It is one of several the of-
Parnas. The letter signed several states for a fledg- case is being overseen by ed that the administration's fice — which provides legal
by defense lawyer Joseph ling marijuana business. the U.S. Attorney in Man- defiance of subpoenas advice for the executive
Bondy came a day before Both Parnas and Fruman hattan, Geoffrey Berman. and refusal to participate branch — has recently is-
the Senate impeachment were deeply involved in The U.S. Attorney's Office in the impeachment inquiry sued that the Trump ad-
trial against President Don- helping Giuliani, Trump's declined to comment on has any legal basis. ministration has pointed to
ald Trump was scheduled personal lawyer and former Bondy's letter Monday.q "In completely obstruct- in support of its positions.q