Trump ‘Opposes White House Aides Testifying To Congress’

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump said he is opposed to current or former aides testifying before various congressional committees following the special counsel report, intensifying a power struggle between the Republican administration and Democrats in the House of Representatives.

In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Trump said complying with requests by Democrats in the lower chamber of Congress was unnecessary after the White House cooperated with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and the president’s attempt to obstruct the probe.

“There is no reason to go any further, and especially in Congress where it’s very partisan — obviously very partisan,” Trump said. “I don’t want people testifying to a party, because that is what they’re doing if they do this.”

Trump’s comments came as the White House announced it would defy requests for information from Capitol Hill, moving the two branches of government closer to a constitutional collision.

On Tuesday, two White House officials said the administration plans to fight a subpoena issued by the House Judiciary Committee for former White House counsel Donald McGahn by asserting executive privilege over his testimony.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris said that the US Congress should take steps toward impeaching Trump.

Separately, the Trump administration directed former White House personnel security director Carl Kline not to comply with a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee, prompting the panel to move to hold him in contempt of Congress.

The US Treasury Department also defied a second demand from House Democrats to turn over six years of Trump’s tax returns, which would reveal his income and the taxes he paid.