United States President Donald Trump’s aides have said that the president and his lawyers will not participate in a congressional impeachment hearing later this week.
The White House said that the decision is based on what it described as a lack of “fundamental fairness”.
Trump’s response to invitation by the congress committees comes at a time Democrats prepare to shift the focus of their impeachment inquiry from fact-finding to the consideration of possible charges of misconduct over his dealings with Ukraine.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives judiciary committee, tasked with considering charges known as articles of impeachment, had given Trump until 6pm on Sunday to say whether he would send a lawyer to take part in the judiciary panel’s proceedings on Wednesday.
According to a letter seen by Reuters, written by White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone, to chairman Jerrold Nadler, “We 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 cited a “complete lack of due process and fundamental fairness afforded the president” in the impeachment process but did not rule out participation in further proceedings. But he signalled that Democrats would first have to make major procedural concessions.
Nadler has given the White House a Friday deadline to say whether Trump would mount a defence in broader impeachment proceedings.
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 a process he has condemned as a partisan “witch hunt”.
Democratic US 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.”
Congressional investigators have been looking into whether Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to launch investigations into 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 US presidential election.
The first in a series of expected judiciary proceedings will hear testimony on the impeachment process established under the US 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 Trump 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 5pm 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.
“We may consider participating in future judiciary committee proceedings if you afford the administration the ability to do so meaningfully,” Cipollone wrote, laying out a list of demands, including allowing Trump’s Republicans to call additional witnesses.
Cipollone also complained that Democrats had scheduled Wednesday’s hearing – “no doubt purposely” – to overlap with Trump’s absence from the US to attend a NATO summit in London.
Three investigating panels, led by the House Intelligence Committee, are due to release a formal report this week when lawmakers return on Tuesday from a Thanksgiving recess. The report will outline evidence gathered by the intelligence, foreign affairs and oversight committees.
