Trump Directs His Former Aides Not To Testify In Impeachment Probe

Rob Porter, Rick Dearborn and Corey Lewandowski are all facing instructions from the White House regarding testifying before the House of Representatives.
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President Donald Trump is attempting to limit which members of his inner circle can testify Tuesday in the House impeachment probe, according to letters ABC News obtained Monday.

In written notices to the House Judiciary Committee, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said that former Trump aides Rob Porter and Rick Dearborn cannot be called to testify in the House probe, which is investigating whether Trump can be impeached.

“[I]n accordance with long-standing, bipartisan precedent, senior advisers to the President such as Mr. Dearborn and Mr. Porter may not be compelled to testify before Congress with respect to matters related to their service as senior advisers to the President,” the letter addressed to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said.

In another letter, Cipollone said Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski may not speak about conversations he had with Trump during his time in office or with Trump’s advisers and may only testify about his time working on the Trump campaign.

“The White House has directed Mr. Lewandowski not to provide information about such communications beyond the information provided in the portions of the [Mueller] Report that have already been disclosed to the Committee,” the letter said.

All three men have already been subpoenaed to testify before the committee.

Trump’s White House regularly intervenes with subpoenas in investigations related to his presidency. In May, it ordered former counsel Don McGahn not to comply with the House subpoena for several documents. It did the same with former staffer Hope Hicks, though she decided to comply with the House request anyway.

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