Pence Refuses To Give House Documents Until Impeachment Inquiry Authorized - Counsel

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) US Vice President Mike Pence has rejected a request by Democratic lawmakers seeking documents related to the Ukraine scandal because the House impeachment inquiry was unauthorized, the Counsel to the Vice President Matthew Morgan said in a letter to Congressmen Adam Schiff, Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings.

"The Office of the Vice President encourages the Committees to forgo their request to the Office of the Vice President, or hold it in abeyance, pending your discussion with the White House Counsel's Office concerning compliance with constitutionally mandated procedures," Morgan said on Tuesday.

Morgan added that the Democratic leaders, as the White House counsel has previously pointed out, have not authorized any impeachment inquiry because the full House has not voted on the matter.

Earlier on Tuesday, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani notified Congress that he was not going to comply with a subpoena issued by the three chairmen of the three committees in the House.

House Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry on September 24 to probe whether Trump tried to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rival, Joe Biden. Lawmakers initiated the inquiry after a whistleblower sent a complaint to Congress, saying that Trump threatened to withdraw military aid to Ukraine if Kiev failed to probe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

The Trump administration has said it will not cooperate with the impeachment probe because the House did not hold a formal vote to authorize the inquiry.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has denounced the impeachment inquiry as a witch hunt aimed at reversing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.