
Donald Trump will not attend the House Judiciary Committee's first public impeachment hearing Wednesday, the White House confirmed in a letter Sunday, citing a lack of 'fundamental fairness'.

The decision came as the president headed back to Washington D.C. after spending Thanksgiving break in Mar-a-Lago with his family - and a 36-hour trip to surprise troops in Afghanistan.

Pat Cipollone, counsel to the president, wrote to Democrat Jerrold Nadler, to say that Trump's team 'cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings'.

Cipollone also said in the five-page letter that the White House would respond separately regarding a second hearing by the deadline of Friday.

He listed numerous issues that he said 'prevented any semblance of a fair process', writing: 'Under the current circumstances, we do not intend to participate in your Wednesday hearing.'

After weeks of deriding the process as a sham, Trump had previously suggested that he might be willing to offer written testimony under certain conditions.

It was already unlikely that the president himself would have attended Wednesday, as Trump, who has repeatedly called the hearings a 'witch hunt', is scheduled to be at a summit with NATO allies outside London. The Judiciary Committee had given the White House until Sunday evening to decide whether POTUS or his attorneys would attend.

Scroll down for Cipollone's letter in full

President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump, walk down the steps of Air Force One

The first family landed back into Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday after returning from Florida

Cipollone also complained that Democrats had scheduled Wednesday's hearing - 'no doubt purposely' - to overlap with Trump's absence from the United States to attend a NATO summit in London.

The Judiciary Committee's Democratic staff did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the White House's refusal to participate in the hearing, which would have been the first direct involvement by the Trump camp in the process.

Democratic U.S. Representative Don Beyer said on Twitter in response to the White House letter: 'Not one process complaint made by the President and his Republican allies in Congress so far has turned out to be genuine.'

The president waved and gave supporters his signature thumbs up as he made his way back to Washington D.C. with First Lady Melania and 13-year-old son Barron.

It was Trump's first Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Florida after changing his residence from New York. He enjoyed a belated dinner at Mar-a-Lago with his wife and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and their partners and children after spending the actual holiday with troops.

Wearing his trademark red MAGA cap, a white sleeve shirt and jacket, Trump boarded Air Force One alongside Melania, wearing a cream jacket and matching dress, on Sunday. She teamed her look with tan, knee high boots.

Teenager Barron, wearing a white t-shirt, towered over his 6 feet, 3 inches tall father and made the peace sign to the waiting cameras.

Trump's route to the airport was lined with a mixture of supporters and critics calling for his resignation.

The president, pictured with teenage son Barron, waves as the first family headed back to Washington D.C. on Sunday

Trump enjoyed a belated dinner at Mar-a-Lago after spending the actual holiday with troops in Afghanistan

Wearing his trademark red MAGA cap, a white sleeve shirt and jacket Trump boarded Air Force One Sunday. He was joined by First Lady Melania, wearing a cream jacket, and son Barron, 13, who made the peace sign, left

United States service members deployed to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan are pictured after President Donald Trump delivered remarks Thursday during a surprise Thanksgiving visit

WHAT HAPPENS WEDNESDAY? Congressional investigators have been looking into whether Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to launch investigations of former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, who is running to unseat him in the 2020 presidential election, and a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The first in a series of expected Judiciary proceedings will hear testimony on the impeachment process established under the U.S. Constitution from a panel of legal experts that has yet to be named. Hearings before the committee, which has responsibility for crafting any formal charges against Trump, are a major step toward possible charges. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will make the final decision, has not yet said whether the Republican president should be impeached. But in a letter to supporters last week, she called for him to be held accountable for his actions. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, calling the impeachment inquiry a sham. Nadler also set a second deadline of 5 p.m. on Friday for Trump to say whether he or his legal counsel would participate in further proceedings expected next week to examine evidence against him. Advertisement

The House impeachment inquiry enters a pivotal stage this week, with investigators planning a vote Tuesday to approve their report making the case for Trump's removal from office as he decides whether to mount a defense before a likely Senate trial.

A draft report will be available for members of the House Intelligence Committee to view in a secure location before their planned vote on Tuesday, which would send their findings to the House Judiciary Committee to consider actual charges.

Majority Democrats say the report will speak for itself in laying out possible charges of bribery or 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' the constitutional standard for impeachment.

Republicans want Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, to testify, though they have no power to compel him to do so, as they try to cast the Democratic-led inquiry as skewed against the Republican president.

'If he chooses not to (testify), then I really question his veracity in what he's putting in his report,' said Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee.

'It's easy to hide behind a report,' Collins added. 'But it's going to be another thing to actually get up and have to answer questions.'

Schiff has said 'there's nothing for me to testify about,' that he isn't a 'fact' witness and that Republicans are only trying to 'mollify the president, and that's not a good reason to try to call a member of Congress as a witness.'

The first family, left, returned to D.C. Sunday after spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Florida

Teenager Baron, wearing a white t-shirt, towered over his 6 feet, 3 inches tall father as he stepped off Air Force One

Trump returned on Friday from his 36-hour whirlwind trip to Afghanistan, where he served U.S. troops a Thanksgiving dinner and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss reopening talks with the Taliban

Amalija Knavs, mother of First Lady Melania Trump, looks on after departing from Air Force One on Sunday

The House impeachment inquiry enters a pivotal stage this week, with investigators planning a vote Tuesday to approve their report making the case for Trump's removal from office as he decides whether to mount a defense before a likely Senate trial. Donald is pictured with First Lady Melania boarding Air Force One, left, and son Barron, right

Trump and his son Barron board Air Force One en route to Washington after a Thanksgiving vacation in Florida

Trump returned on Friday from his 36-hour whirlwind trip to Afghanistan, where he served U.S. troops a Thanksgiving dinner and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss reopening talks with the Taliban. He is pictured Sunday with Melania

Donald Trump eats dinner with U.S. troops at a Thanksgiving dinner event during a surprise visit at Bagram Air Base

Coming after two weeks of public testimony, the findings of the House Intelligence Committee report are not yet publicly known. But the report is expected to mostly focus on whether Trump abused his office by withholding military aid approved by Congress as he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to launch investigations into Trump's political rivals.

Democrats also are expected to include an article on obstruction of Congress that outlines Trump's instructions to officials in his administration to defy subpoenas for documents or testimony.

Democrats are aiming for a final House vote by Christmas, which would set the stage for a likely Senate trial in January.

The Judiciary Committee's first hearing is Wednesday. It's expected to feature four legal experts who will examine questions of constitutional grounds as the committee decides whether to write articles of impeachment against Trump, and if so, what those articles will be.

President Trump gives the thumbs up as he returns to Mar-a-Lago after a day at the golf course on Sunday

Trump is scheduled to be at a summit with NATO allies outside London this coming week

The motorcade carrying President Donald Trump returns to Air Force One in West Palm Beach on Sunday

Pat Cipollone, counsel to the president, left, wrote to Democrat Jerrold Nadler, right, to say that Trump's team 'cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings'

Trump returned on Friday from his 36-hour whirlwind trip to Afghanistan, where he served U.S. troops a Thanksgiving dinner and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss reopening talks with the Taliban.

Donald Jr. took to Instagram to share a snap of the festivities which took place on Friday night, just hours after the Commander-in-Chief returned home to Florida following his visit to the Middle East.

'Squad goals. Fun dinner with @realdonaldtrump and @FLOTUS last night,' Donald Jr. captioned the image, which showed him standing proudly between his father and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The picture also reveals that Eric's wife, Lara, was also present at the lavish dinner.

However, the President's daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared, were absent from the festivities.

One guest at Mar-a-Lago told DailyMail.com that the President appeared in high spirits at the family dinner. 'It was a full house [at Mar-a-Lago] and everyone was happy to see President Trump after his trip,' the diner explained.

'People kept coming up to his table to say hello and wish him and his family a Happy Thanksgiving', they added.

The guest added that Trump 'looked great after doing all that travel and Melania, Kimberly and Lara looked stunning.'

'They all seemed to be in great spirits and enjoying their time together as a family.'

Supporters wait to see the motorcade carrying President Donald Trump return to Mar-a-Largo in West Palm Beach Sunday

A man holds a flag of the U.S. saluting as U.S. President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron are on their way to board Air Force One en route to Washington after a Thanksgiving vacation

Trump's route to the airport was lined with a mixture of supporters, pictured, and critics calling for his resignation. It comes as the impeachment inquiry into the president moves to the House Judiciary Committee

Trump's route to the airport was lined with a mixture of supporters and critics, pictured, calling for his resignation

People hold signs as U.S. President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron make their way to board Air Force One en route to Washington after a Thanksgiving vacation in West Palm Beach in Florida on Sunday

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Trump didn't allow himself a holiday sleep-in, and was seen departing Mar-a-Largo in the early morning for a round of golf.

In snaps obtained by DailyMail.com, the Commander-in-chief was pictured taking a phone call in the back of his vehicle while en route to the green.

Trump looked weary after the 13 hour flight to Afghanistan but still spent seven hours at his Trump International Golf Course West Palm Beach.

His trip to the Middle East was clouded in secrecy so it wouldn't be revealed ahead of time - as was his Christmas 2018 visit to troops in Iraq - and had many moving parts, including a decoy plane and tweets preset to send from the president's account so there would no suspicion if the twitterer-in-chief went silent.

Reporters traveling with the president were not allowed to reveal his trip and location until shortly before he was preparing to leave.

The president left Florida Wednesday night and flew to Joint Base Andrews and, from there, on to Afghanistan in a trip that was unannounced for security reasons.

He spent just over three and a half hours on the ground in his first visit to Afghanistan.

'There is nowhere that I'd rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest best and bravest warriors on the face of the Earth,' Trump told the soldiers at Bagram Air Field.

'We flew 8,331 miles to be here tonight for one simple reason, to tell you in person that this Thanksgiving is a special Thanksgiving,' Trump said in his remarks. 'We're doing so well. Our country is the strongest economically it has ever been.'

President Trump enjoyed a belated family Thanksgiving dinner with (from left) Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr., First Lady Melania Trump, and Eric and Lara Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday night

Lara Lea Trump takes her son Luke and baby daughter Carolina out for a walk around Mar-A-Lago

Eric's wife, Lara, was also present at Thanksgiving. One guest at Mar-a-Lago exclusively told DailyMail.com that 'everyone was happy to see the President' and that he 'looked great' following his trip

Donald Jr. took to Instagram to share a snap of the festivities which took place on Friday night, just hours after the Commander-in-Chief returned home to Florida following his whirlwind visit to the Middle East. He is pictured with girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle and both their children

Trump secretly slipped out of his Mar-a-Lago residence Wednesday evening and departed from an undisclosed airport a little after 7pm.

The plane he flew to Florida on, with its distinctive blue-and-white coloring and seal of the president, remained parked at the Palm Beach International Airport to maintain the illusion the president was still there.

Cell phones, hotspots and other devices emitting a signal were confiscated from reporters traveling with Trump, who were not told the destination of the trip until Air Force One was in the air and on route.

The White House arranged in advance for the president's Twitter account to remain active during his travel. A Thanksgiving message was tweeted from it Thursday morning.