Extract from ABC News
Updated
Congressional committees carrying out an impeachment
investigation of US President Donald Trump have ordered the White House
to turn over documents to support the probe.
Key points:
- Democrats say the White House has refused to respond to requests for documents
- Investigators released a series of text messages showing American diplomats pressuring Ukraine's Government
- Ukraine's top prosecutor said his office was reviewing cases related to the company which hired Hunter Biden
A statement from the heads of the Democratic-led committees said they sent a letter to acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney demanding documents related to allegations that Mr Trump pressured Ukraine for political favours.
"The White House has refused to engage with — or even respond to — multiple requests for documents from our Committees on a voluntary basis. After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up," the chairmen said in the statement.
"We deeply regret that President Trump has put us — and the nation — in this position, but his actions have left us with no choice but to issue this subpoena."
The White House was given an October 18 deadline to turn over the requested files.
The move came after Mr Trump said he would formally object to Congress's impeachment inquiry even as he acknowledged House Democrats "have the votes" to proceed.
Text messages reveal US diplomat concerned over 'crazy' situation
Mr Trump had asked for an investigation into Joe Biden, his Democratic rival, in a July 25 phone call with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at a time when millions of dollars in US military assistance to the country was being held up.
That prompted the US Congress to begin the impeachment inquiry against Mr Trump.
On Friday House investigators released a series of text messages showing American diplomats pressuring Ukraine's Government.
The messages were provided by Kurt Volker, the former special US envoy to Ukraine, who has stepped down.
In the messages, Mr Volker encouraged an aide to Mr Zelenskiy to conduct an investigation linked to Mr Biden's family in exchange for getting the President a high-profile meeting in Washington with Mr Trump.
Mr Volker sent a text message on the morning of a planned July 25 phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskiy, saying: "Heard from White House — Assuming President Z convinces Trump he will investigate / 'get to the bottom of what happened' in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington."
An adviser to the Ukrainian President appeared to go along with the proposal, which entailed investigating Burisma, the gas company that hired Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden in 2014, the same time his father, who was then the US vice-president, was leading the Obama administration's diplomatic dealings with Ukraine.
Mr Volker and the two other diplomats — William 'Bill' Taylor, the charge d'affaires at the US embassy in Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union — discussed the statement Mr Zelenskiy would issue in support of the investigation.
As the negotiations progressed, Mr Sondland said Mr Trump "really wants the deliverable".
Then, Mr Trump put a hold on $US250 million in military assistance to Ukraine, which was depending on the funds as part of its defence against Russia.
"Need to talk with you," Mr Zelenskiy's top adviser Andrey Yermak wrote to Mr Volker.
Mr Taylor, the seasoned top diplomat in the Ukrainian embassy, conveyed his concerns and questioned whether the money was being withheld until Ukraine agreed to Mr Trump's demand.
"Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?" he wrote.
"This is my nightmare scenario," Mr Taylor texted his colleagues days later.Earlier Mr Sondland had texted that he wanted to get the conversation started with Ukraine, "irrespective of the pretext" because he was "worried about the alternative". Now, he was saying, they had identified the best path forward, and "let's hope it works."
Mr Taylor then texted, "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign".
After a more than four-hour pause, Mr Sondland texted Mr Taylor that he was incorrect, and wrote that Mr Trump "has been crystal clear, no quid pro quos of any kind".
He also wrote: "I suggest we stop the back and forth by text."
In releasing the exchanges on Thursday, the Democratic committee chairmen said they were "still only a subset of the full body of the materials" provided by Mr Volker, which they hoped to make public later.
Mr Trump later went on to publicly call on China to investigate Joe Biden. China's Government said there were no grounds for an investigation.
Ukraine to investigate firm that hired Hunter Biden
Meanwhile, Ukraine's top prosecutor said his office was reviewing several cases related to the owner of Burisma, but he added that he was not aware of any evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden.
Prosecutor-general Ruslan Ryaboshapka told reporters his office was "auditing" relevant cases that were closed, dismissed or put on hold by his predecessors.
Several of the cases under audit are related to Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of Burisma.
"We are now reviewing all the cases that were closed or split into several parts or were investigated before, in order to be able to rule to reverse those cases where illegal procedural steps were taken," Mr Ryaboshapka said.
Asked if the prosecutors had evidence of any wrongdoing on Hunter Biden's part, he said: "I have no such information."
US senator and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said it was "wrong and appalling" for Mr Trump to push other nations to investigate Mr Biden, the Democratic presidential frontrunner.
When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China’s investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated.
By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.
Mr Ryaboshapka insisted he did not feel any pressure over the Burisma case.
"Not a single foreign or Ukrainian official or politician has called me or tried to influence my decisions regarding specific criminal cases," he said when asked if Mr Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani or any other people had urged him to investigate Hunter Biden.
ABC/wires
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