House Democrats subpoena White House and demand documents from VP Pence regarding Ukraine News
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House Democrats subpoena White House and demand documents from VP Pence regarding Ukraine

House Democrats subpoenaed Acting Chief of Staff to the President, John Mulvaney, for documents and requested documents from Vice President Mike Pence on Friday relating to President Donald Trump’s interactions with the Ukrainian President and delay of military assistance to Ukraine that are at the center of the impeachment inquiry that is currently underway.

The subpoena to the Chief of Staff and the request for documents to the Vice President were sent by Democratic committee chairmen Representative Adam Schiff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Representative Eliot Engel of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Representative Elijah Cummings of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The document request sent to the Vice President asks for all information regarding the telephone conversations between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, communications between several departments relating to those conversations, meetings regarding the conversations, the withholding of foreign assistance, etc.

The document request sets a deadline of October 15 for the production of the documents.

In the subpoena to the White House Chief of Staff, the justification for the subpoena asserts:

[The] White House has refused to engage with⁠—or even respond to⁠—multiple requests for documents from our Committees on a voluntary basis. After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up.

The subpoena cites the Oversight Committee’s authority under House Rule X to investigate “any matter” at “any time.” House Rule X, clause 3(i) empowers the Oversight Committee to probe into the affairs of government at all levels including the Executive Branch.

The final portion of the subpoena states, “We deeply regret that President Trump has put us⁠—and the nation⁠—in this position, but his actions have left us with no choice but to issue this subpoena.”

The subpoena sets a deadline compelling production of documents by October 18.