Trump Promotes Aide Who Defied House Impeachment Subpoena
The aide, Robert Blair, has been named a special representative for international telecommunications policy, the White House said.
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump has promoted a White House aide who was subpoenaed in the House impeachment investigation but declined to testify.
The aide, Robert Blair, has been named a special representative for international telecommunications policy, the White House said in a statement on Monday evening.
Blair, according to the statement, will “coordinate interagency efforts and serve as a liaison to industry, non-governmental, and international stakeholders to promote the development, deployment, and operation of the next-generation telecommunications infrastructure” and support the administration’s policies regarding 5G technology. He will report to Larry Kudlow, the White House economic adviser.
He will continue in his capacity as an assistant to the president and senior adviser to Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, the White House added.
Blair was among the administration officials who were subpoenaed by the House impeachment committees in the fall, but did not appear under direction from the White House, which cited advice from the U.S. Justice Department.
Investigators wanted to talk to him about the Trump administration’s decision to put off security aid for Ukraine.
According to the House report on the Ukraine inquiry, Blair sent an email “on or about July 12” to Michael Duffey, an official at the Office of Management and Budget, explaining that the “president is directing a hold on military support for Ukraine.”
The report also said that Blair was among the officials who listened in on the July 25 telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has asked that Blair and Mulvaney along with Duffey and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, testify at the impeachment trial in the Senate.
So far, Schumer’s request for the witnesses has been rebuffed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
--With assistance from Jordan Fabian.
To contact the reporters on this story: John Harney in Washington at jharney2@bloomberg.net;Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.