Mick Mulvaney ignored a subpoena to be questioned by House investigators.
Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, failed to appear on Friday for a 9 a.m. interview in the impeachment inquiry, defying a subpoena. Investigators had hoped to question Mr. Mulvaney for his role in President Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine, including his involvement in the decision to withhold a $391 million package of security assistance.
Democrats leading the investigation issued the subpoena for Mr. Mulvaney on Thursday night. In a statement on Friday, an official working on the impeachment inquiry said that Mr. Mulvaney’s lawyer informed them one minute before the start of his deposition that the White House had directed Mr. Mulvaney not to comply with the subpoena, claiming he had “absolute immunity” from appearing before Congress.
Investigators were eager to question Mr. Mulvaney in the wake of his admission in the White House briefing room last month of a quid pro quo linking the military aid for Ukraine to that country’s announcement of investigations that Mr. Trump wanted. Hours later, Mr. Mulvaney said he was misunderstood and retracted the statement.
The official working on the inquiry said that if Mr. Mulvaney had evidence that would exonerate Mr. Trump, he would have shown up for the interview. The official predicted that the no-show would help build the case for obstruction of the impeachment investigation.
Mark Sandy, the associate director for national security programs at the White House Office of Management and Budget, also did not show up for an interview scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Investigators also wanted to ask Mr. Sandy about the budget office decision to put a hold on the aid for Ukraine.
— Michael D. Shear
Trump says he is not worried about impeachment testimony, and calls the upcoming public hearings a “hoax.”
Mr. Trump on Friday said he had little concern about the recent stream of damning testimony from officials in his own administration who have cooperated with the House impeachment inquiry, and he dismissed the public hearings scheduled to start next week as a “hoax.”
“They shouldn’t be having public hearings,” Mr. Trump said to reporters as he left the White House to travel to Georgia, adding that they were a “hoax.” He said the impeachment inquiry was a continuation of the “Russian witch hunt.”
The testimony from former and current officials has provided a remarkably consistent account of how Mr. Trump tried to enlist Ukraine to smear his political rivals by setting up a quid pro quo in which nearly $400 million in military aid would be withheld until the country announced it was investigating former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other Democrats. The witnesses have described a shadow foreign policy campaign led by Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, while career diplomats and seasoned national security specialists on Ukraine were sidelined.
“I’m not concerned about anything. The testimony has all been fine,” Mr. Trump said. He said his quest for investigations into Mr. Biden was merely an effort to root out corruption in Ukraine as part of his stewardship of American taxpayer dollars.
Mr. Trump also said that he had never heard of many of the witnesses and that the ones he did know were “Never Trumpers.” Of Gordon D. Sondland, a campaign donor to Mr. Trump whom he installed as the United States ambassador to the European Union, the president said: “I hardly know the gentleman.”
Mr. Sondland changed his testimony this week and acknowledged that he laid out the quid pro quo to a top Ukrainian official, saying the country would likely not get the military aid unless it publicly announced the investigations Mr. Trump had demanded.
— Eileen Sullivan
Catch up on impeachment: What you need to know
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Mr. Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Here’s a timeline of events since January.
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A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint.