(Bloomberg) -- House Democrats are moving forward with the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump over his interactions with Ukraine, as Energy Secretary Rick Perry became the latest official subpoenaed to provide documents.
Here are the latest developments:
Former Ukraine Envoy Set to Testify Friday (6:30 a.m.)
Three House committees leading the Trump impeachment inquiry are expecting to hear a private deposition Friday from Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
The panels are still planning for Yovanovitch to testify, even though the White House has pledged not to cooperate with the investigation. Canceling another witness at the last minute would add fuel to Democrats’ threat to include obstruction of Congress as an article of impeachment.
The State Department on Tuesday blocked Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, from appearing for his scheduled deposition less than an hour before it was set to start. The committee chairmen issued a subpoena for Sondland and could do the same for Yovanovitch if she doesn’t show up.
Key Events
- Perry was subpoenaed to provide documents to help House Democrats determine whether he played a role in Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate 2020 political rival Joe Biden.
- Two associates of Rudy Giuliani were arrested on federal charges of violating campaign finance limits as part of a plot to oust the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested at Dulles International Airport outside Washington as they were about to leave the country with one-way tickets.
- The two men had been subpoenaed by House committees in the impeachment inquiry. Their lawyer, John Dowd, told lawmakers in a letter they “assisted Mr. Giuliani in connection with his representation of President Trump.” Trump said he didn’t know Parnas and Fruman. “Maybe they were clients of Rudy,” he said.
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country is “ready to investigate” whether previous authorities meddled in the 2016 U.S. elections. At an all-day news conference in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said he hasn’t received any information yet about allegations of meddling from Trump’s administration.
To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Kathleen Hunter
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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