Trump tells 2 former aides not to testify at House hearing on possible obstruction of justice

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published 17 September 2019

President Trump has directed two of his former aides to ignore subpoenas and skip a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Democrats on the committee are seeking information on an incident described in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, when Trump allegedly attempted to coerce then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions into redirecting the Russia investigation away from Trump's presidential campaign, Reuters reports.

The committee sent subpoenas to former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn and former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, but in a letter sent to House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said they will not appear, as the Department of Justice has decided they "are absolutely immune from compelled congressional testimony with respect to matters related to their service as senior advisers to the president."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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