House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) knocked acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney late Saturday over his failure to testify in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
Schiff in a statement also condemned Mulvaney for working “to block others from complying with subpoenas” and not giving Congress documents regarding the withholding of military aid to Ukraine.
“This is the same Mick Mulvaney who publicly admitted from the White House podium that Trump withheld the military aid in order to pressure Ukraine to conduct investigations meant to help the President’s re-election campaign, and the same Mick Mulvaney who was a direct firsthand participant in and witness to the scheme,” the chairman said in the statement.
He also contrasted the acting chief of staff with a White House Office of Management and Budget official Mark Sandy and other officials who testified in front of House investigators.
And the chairman criticized Mulvaney for “hiding behind” Trump.
“If Mulvaney had evidence that contradicted what we’ve already heard, he’d be eager to testify and provide documents. Instead, he’s hiding behind, and assisting in, Trump’s efforts to conceal the truth from the American people,” Schiff said in the statement.
Mulvaney initially said he wanted to join a lawsuit asking how to respond to an impeachment inquiry subpoena, but changed course, saying he will follow the president’s directions to ignore it.
In a press conference last month, Mulvaney suggested aid was withheld because the president wanted Ukraine to look into a conspiracy theory about the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee. He later walked back those comments.