According to special counsel Robert Mueller, Hope Hicks witnessed several possible instances of obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images White House White House instructs Hicks, Donaldson to defy Dem subpoenas

The White House on Tuesday instructed two former aides to defy congressional subpoenas that sought documents related to allegations that President Donald Trump obstructed justice, in yet another act of defiance toward House Democrats’ investigations.

But one of those aides, Hope Hicks, a longtime Trump confidant who served as White House communications director, has turned over some documents to the House Judiciary Committee regarding her service on Trump’s presidential campaign, according to Jerry Nadler, the panel's chairman. He hailed the document production as a show of “good faith” and indicated that the committee will continue to negotiate with Hicks — as well as former White House deputy counsel Annie Donaldson — for the next few weeks as lawmakers attempt to arrange public testimony pursuant to the committee’s subpoenas.


“The president has no lawful basis for preventing these witnesses from complying with our request,” Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “We will continue to seek reasonable accommodation on these and all our discovery requests and intend to press these issues when we obtain the testimony of both Ms. Hicks and Ms. Donaldson.”

On Tuesday, White House counsel Pat Cipollone informed the Judiciary Committee that Hicks and Donaldson have been directed not to comply with the subpoenas. Cipollone said Hicks and Donaldson “do not have the legal right to disclose the White House records to third parties.” He also said it would be inappropriate to disclose information related to the Mueller probe while the White House continues to negotiate with the committee for access to all of Robert Mueller’s files.

For Nadler, whose committee has been starved of documents thanks to Trump's all-out resistance to the committee’s obstruction investigation, Hicks' initial cooperation was a welcome development.

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But it's unclear how relevant such documents will be. Nadler's committee is particularly focused on evidence that Trump obstructed the FBI's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election — a probe that accelerated in earnest and was taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller in 2017. Documents related to the 2016 campaign wouldn't cover the period in which Mueller found that Trump attempted to thwart that investigation.

In addition, the House Intelligence Committee obtained similar documents and testimony from Hicks in early 2018, when Republicans led their own Russia investigation. At the time, the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, called Hicks' cooperation insufficient because she defied their inquiries about her time on the Trump transition team and in the White House.

"The committee must issue a subpoena and, if necessary, move to initiate contempt proceedings to compel the White House to permit Hicks to testify to Congress fully and without constraints," Schiff said in February 2018.

The Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas two weeks ago to Hicks and Donaldson, who was former White House counsel Don McGahn’s top aide, as part of the panel’s investigation into Trump’s alleged obstruction of justice and abuses of power.

The subpoenas also seek public testimony from Hicks on June 19 and Donaldson on June 24. The White House previously directed McGahn not to testify, asking the Justice Department to craft a legal opinion stating that former White House officials are immune from congressional testimony. McGahn is expected to be held in civil contempt of Congress by the full House next week.

Democrats have accused Trump of orchestrating a “cover-up,” citing his resistance to their investigations — in particular, his efforts to prevent former aides from turning over documents and testifying publicly. That resistance — in addition to the evidence outlined in Mueller’s report — has prompted around 60 House Democrats and one Republican to call for impeachment proceedings.

Trump has maintained that Democrats are trying to mount a “do-over” of Mueller’s report on Russian election interference and the president’s efforts to thwart the probe. The president has said the report “exonerated” him, despite evidence laid out in the special counsel’s report about Trump’s attempts to fire Mueller or otherwise end the investigation altogether.

In his report, Mueller outlined several episodes that met the legal criteria necessary for obstruction of justice charges. But the special counsel cited long-standing Justice Department policies that prohibit the indictment of a sitting president.

In his only public statement since his investigation began two years ago, Mueller said last week that “the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing” — a statement that some Democrats interpreted as an impeachment referral.

Donaldson gave extensive testimony to Mueller’s investigators, including her contemporaneous notes detailing the mood inside the White House after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and after Mueller was ultimately appointed.

“Is this the beginning of the end?” Donaldson wrote on May 9, 2017, referencing what Mueller said were Donaldson’s fears “that the decision to terminate Comey and the manner in which it was carried out would be the end of the presidency.”

According to Mueller, Hicks witnessed several of the possible instances of obstruction of justice.

The House is voting next week to hold McGahn and Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for defying the Judiciary Committee’s subpoenas. The vote will also allow individual committees to enforce subpoenas that have already been issued without requiring a separate vote on the House floor.

When asked whether he believes Hicks and Donaldson will eventually be held in contempt, Nadler said on Tuesday: “I assume so.”

Heather Caygle contributed to this report.

