Washington, US House Democrats have subpoenaed three administration officials for depositions as part of their impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
The subpoenas were issued on Friday to acting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, OMB’s Associate Director of National Security Programs Michael Duffey, and State Department Counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl, Xinhua news agency reported citing a House Intelligence Committee statement as saying.
The subpoenas called for Duffey to appear on November 5 and Vought and Brechbuhl to testify on November 6.
“This deposition will be conducted jointly by the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Oversight and Reform,” according to a letter co-signed by chairs of the three panels.
The impeachment inquiry that Trump is facing was initiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24 after an anonymous whistleblower raised concern about the President’s interactions with Ukraine.
The whistleblower and Democrats pushing for the impeachment inquiry allege that Trump abused power by using a Congress-approved military aid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden, former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate for the 2020 election, so as to help his own political campaign.
The White House has said they will not provide documents or witnesses to impeachment investigators because it considers their investigation to be unfair and illegitimate.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has urged more efforts from Republicans to defend him and challenge the impeachment inquiry.
