Giuliani Allies to Miss Document Deadline: Impeachment Update

(Bloomberg) -- House Democrats are moving forward with their impeachment investigation of Donald Trump, with the whistle-blower’s lawyers saying they’re now representing a second person with knowledge of the president’s contacts with Ukraine.

Here are the latest developments:

Giuliani Associates to Miss Document Deadline (4:10 p.m.)

Two men who assisted in Rudy Giuliani’s effort to uncover damaging material in Ukraine about Democrats are unable to meet Monday’s deadline to turn over documents to three House committees, their attorney said.

John Dowd, the lawyer representing Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, wrote in an Oct. 3 letter to the House Intelligence Committee obtained by Bloomberg News that its request in a letter last week is “overly broad and unduly burdensome” and “beyond the scope” of the inquiry. Dowd said lawyers need time to review the documents for material that should be withheld under privilege.

Dowd asked the committees to amend their requests and said he would keep them advised about a “rolling production of non-privileged documents.” He represented Trump as a personal lawyer during the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

A committee aide said that if Parnas and Fruman don’t respond to the committee requests they will be subpoenaed.

Pentagon, OMB Subpoenaed for Documents (12:13 p.m.)

Three House committees sent subpoenas to the Defense Department and White House Office of Management and Budget for documents that relate to the impeachment inquiry into Trump.

“The enclosed subpoena demands documents that are necessary for the committees to examine this sequence of these events and the reasons behind the White House’s decision to withhold critical military assistance to Ukraine that was appropriated by Congress to counter Russian aggression,” the chairmen of the panels said. They set a deadline of Oct. 15 to comply.

The subpoena to the Defense Department seeks any recordings, transcripts or notes of Trump’s phone conversations with Ukraine’s president on April 21 and July 25; as well as information on efforts by administration officials and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to ask Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton.

Also, it seeks any opinions or advice on the legality of withholding congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine.

Volker Leaves McCain Institute, Citing Media (11:26 a.m.)

Former U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, will step down as head of the McCain Institute, citing the “media focus” on his work in Ukraine, which Congress is investigating as part of Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

In a statement Monday, Volker said he strove to build an organization “dedicated to advancing character-driven leadership.” He said he didn’t want his involvement in allegations regarding Ukraine to become “a distraction.”

Volker, who resigned from his unpaid diplomatic post after a rough transcript of Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president was published, testified Thursday for more than eight hours to the three committees leading the House’s impeachment inquiry. The former special envoy turned over text messages as part of his closed testimony that reflected discussion and some coordination between himself and other State Department officials with Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney.

The institute, named for late Senator John McCain, is based at Arizona State University. The university’s head of National Security and Counterterrorism Programs and law professor Nick Rasmussen will take over as acting executive director, the statement said.

State Department’s Kent Won’t Testify Monday (8:50 a.m.)

George Kent, the State Department official in Washington who oversees Ukraine policy, won’t testify before Congress’s impeachment investigators Monday, as was initially requested. The three House committees leading the probe are still discussing when his deposition can be rescheduled, according to a House official briefed on the plans.

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is still scheduled to appear privately Tuesday before members and staff of the the committees focusing on allegations regarding Ukraine in the House impeachment inquiry, the official said.

Marie Yovanovitch, U.S. ambassador to Kiev from 2016 until Trump recalled her earlier this year, is also still set to testify on Friday before the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Reform committees.

Key Events

• The whistle-blower’s lead attorney, Andrew Bakaj, said Sunday his firm is now representing “multiple whistle-blowers” in the complaint against Trump. Another lawyer with his firm, Mark Zaid, said the second whistle-blower has “first hand knowledge” of the matters and cannot be retaliated against.
• Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham said Sunday on Fox News that the whistle-blowers should be interviewed in public and under oath. He said the public should have the chance to “judge their credibility.”
• House committees have subpoenaed the White House for documents on efforts by Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine. The committees want records related to a suspension of U.S. aid to Ukraine and the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president.

--With assistance from Billy House.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Fabian in Washington at jfabian6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Anna Edgerton

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