Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released the following statement in response to White House Counsel Pat A. Cipollone's letter informing the Committee that President Trump will not participate in the House impeachment inquiry:
“The American people deserve answers from President Trump. The House invited, and then subpoenaed, his top advisors. The President ordered them not to show and continues to block key evidence from Congress. We are disappointed that the President has once again failed to provide those answers here. We gave President Trump a fair opportunity to question witnesses and present his own to address the overwhelming evidence before us. After listening to him complain about the impeachment process, we had hoped that he might accept our invitation.
“If the President has no good response to the allegations, then he would not want to appear before the Committee. Having declined this opportunity, he cannot claim that the process is unfair. The President’s failure will not prevent us from carrying out our solemn constitutional duty.”
