(CNN) George Conway, husband to White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, slammed the White House's letter refusing to cooperate in House Democrats' impeachment inquiry as "an excuse to prevent evidence, damning evidence, from reaching the public."

"This was trash," Conway said to former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and CNN senior legal analyst Preet Bharara that was recorded for Bharara's "Stay Tuned with Preet" podcast airing Thursday and shared in advance by Bharara on CNN Wednesday ngiht.

"The thrust of (the letter) is that there are some kind of constitutional obligations that the House has failed to meet that therefore render its impeachment inquiry illegitimate and unconstitutional, which is complete nonsense, because all the Constitution says is that the House has the sole power over impeachment," he added.

The accusation from Conway -- a vocal conservative lawyer who's often at odds with his wife's boss, President Donald Trump -- come as the White House looks to put pressure on House Democrats for choosing not to hold a vote to authorize a formal impeachment inquiry. A vote is not officially needed because the Democratic caucus already has more legal authority compared to past impeachment inquiries.

Addressing the letter's claims that Trump's due process rights have been circumvented without a vote and that Trump has no choice but to not cooperate, Conway said that while it would be unwise for House Democrats not to hold hearings, "they are under no obligation to allow the President to participate."

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