Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has not arrived for his scheduled impeachment inquiry deposition on Friday morning, defying a congressional subpoena.
The top White House aide was subpoenaed by House Democrats late Thursday night.
It was unlikely Mr. Mulvaney would break with the president and cooperate with the investigation.
In a letter sent earlier this week, Reps. Adam Schiff, Carolyn Maloney and Eliot Engel, the respective heads of the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees, said Mr. Mulvaney was a vital, firsthand witness to an alleged quid pro quo.
“Specifically, the investigation has revealed that you may have been directly involved in an effort orchestrated by President Trump, his personal agent, Rudolph Giuliani, and others to withhold a coveted White House meeting and nearly $400 million in security assistance,” the letter read.
The heart of the impeachment inquiry is the accusation that Mr. Trump used his position to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into former U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden and his son Hunter’s connection to a corrupt Ukrainian energy company, as well as an investigation into alleged election interference in 2016.
Last month in a White House press briefing, Mr. Mulvaney linked the nearly $400 million in delayed military aid for Ukraine to the administration’s desire for an investigation into the 2016 election and whether DNC servers were located in the country.
He later walked back his remarks and said the news media misconstrued them to further their “witch hunt.”
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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