Trump 'cannot participate' in impeachment inquiry, White House lawyer tells House Democrats

President Trump officially wants no part of this.

Trump has been in stiff opposition to the impeachment inquiry against him since the second it was launched, with his administration even ordering officials to refuse testimony to the House in its investigation. So it's no surprise that in a Tuesday letter to House Democrats, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone spelled out his legal reasoning for why Trump "cannot participate in" what he's calling a "partisan and unconstitutional inquiry."

In the letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and three Democratic House committee chairs, Cipollone alleges they've all made "numerous, legally unsupported demands" of Trump. That includes launching an impeachment inquiry without a full majority vote in the House, which Pelosi has repeatedly said doesn't need to happen for the inquiry to begin. The House also has shown "no legitimate basis" for launching the inquiry, Cipollone continued, despite a whistleblower alleging some very legally dubious action on Trump's end. All of this, Cipollone alleges, "plainly seeks to reverse the election of 2016 and to influence the election of 2020."

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Find the whole letter here, or read White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham's statement on the matter below. Kathryn Krawczyk