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- Top White House official snubs impeachment inquiry subpoena
Top White House official snubs impeachment inquiry subpoena
Trump says he'd 'love' for aide 'to go up, except one thing: it validates a corrupt investigation'


White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney snubbed demands by House impeachment investigators to testify Friday, claiming immunity as a top aide to US President Donald Trump.
As Trump again blasted the probe as "corrupt" and a "witch hunt," Mulvaney rejected a subpoena from the House Intelligence Committee to appear for a closed-door interview.
The brush-off came days ahead of Democrats taking their impeachment investigation public with what promises to be highly contentious open hearings in Congress starting next Wednesday.
The investigation has gathered evidence that Mulvaney was a key player in Trump's alleged extortion of Ukraine to further his personal political goals.
Democrats accuse the president of withholding $391 million in military aid to pressure strategic ally Ukraine into producing damaging information on Trump's Democratic rivals, including former vice president Joe Biden.
Mulvaney, who is also acting head of the White House budget office, allegedly froze the money on Trump's order one week before a now-infamous phone call with the president's Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump has refused almost all cooperation, rejecting requests for executive branch records and banning White House staff from testifying, citing his executive privilege.
"This is a scam by the Democrats who want to win an election," he told reporters on Friday. "I would love for Mick to go up, frankly," he said of Mulvaney. "Except one thing: it validates a corrupt investigation."