The House Oversight Committee is absolutely done with the Trump administration’s bullshit, and they’ve been handing out subpoenas like they’re going out of style as a result. Most recently, former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, as well as Annie Donaldson, who was chief of staff for former White House counsel Don McGahn, were on the receiving end of the committee’s subpoena spree.
Rep. Eric Swalwell phoned in with MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace on Deadline: White House today and revealed the real reason why:
“These are front row witnesses to a double-digit obstructer. Bob Mueller and his team laid out at least ten instances in which the president obstructed and these two individuals were front and center,” Swalwell explained. “They have a story to tell.”
“I was part of the interview team with Hope Hicks over a year ago when she came before the House Intelligence Committee. She had a very, very deep memory and recall of everything the president had done,” he continued. “I was really struck by that. Where others who have known him for decades have said to us over and over, ‘I don’t recall, I don’t recall’ — Hope Hicks said the opposite. She did recall.”
“It would be very helpful to know what she saw,” he stated.
The MSNBC host allowed Washington Post national political reporter Robert Costa to question Swalwell and he asked, “What’s the one thing, the top-line if you get her in front of your committee that you want to find out from Hope Hicks?”
“The question I asked her on the House Intelligence Committee and she refused to answer, which is, ‘Did the president ever tell you to lie for him and did you ever lie for him?’ That was a very, I would say, flash point in the interview,” the Judiciary Committee Democrat explained. And then recalled, “She asked to step outside for ten minutes and then she came back inside and refused to answer the question.”
“I asked if Donald Trump Jr. had asked her to lie and she refused again,” he went on. “She started shaking her head and said, ‘I refuse to answer, I refuse to answer.'”
“I asked her about Ivanka Trump, whether she asked her to lie, she said I refuse to answer,” he said. “It clearly struck a nerve.”
It seems that the Trump family has quite a bit more to hide than they’re letting on. And Hope Hicks’ testimony may very well be the end for them.
You can watch the interview here:
Featured image via screen capture
