House subpoenas Pentagon, budget office for Ukraine documents

The House's impeachment inquiry just went through another growth spurt.

The House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees sent letters to the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget on Monday, subpoenaing them for documents related to Trump's dealings with Ukraine. The requests open up another front in House Democrats' impeachment investigation of Trump, following the committees' subpoenas of Rudy Giuliani, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the White House itself.

Specifically, the committees are seeking documents, notes, and conversations regarding Trump's July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and any dealings with Ukrainian officials from Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the letter says. From Acting OMB Director Russell Vought, the committees have requested any documents from this year related to freezing security aid for Ukraine and conversations regarding the decision to do so. Both requests have an Oct. 15 deadline.

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Trump's phone call with Zelensky shows that he pushed the Ukrainian leader to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, perhaps for political purposes. Trump has claimed there was no promise of a "quid pro quo" for the Biden dirt, but a whistleblower alleged and officials confirmed aid for Ukraine was withheld around that same time for unexplained reasons.