By Chris Sommerfeldt and Dave Goldiner
New York Daily News
John Bolton’s top aide is skipping his date with the impeachment inquiry — at least for now.
Charles Kupperman, a former aide to the fired White House super hawk, was supposed to testify Monday morning behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. But he is still waiting for a federal judge to give guidance on whether he’s legally required to do so, according to his attorney.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff predicted that a judge would quickly rule in favor of Congress, but vowed not to allow Trump to play “rope-a-dope” to delay the probe.
“You can be sure if Mr. Kupperman had anything to say that would benefit the White House, they would want him to say it,” Shiff (D-Calif.) told reporters, adding that Kupperman risks being hit with contempt charges.
Kupperman, President Donald Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, listened with other officials on Trump’s July 25 phone call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
He last week asked a judge to decide whether the subpoena he was issued from from Congress takes precedent over the White House’s position that he’s immune from having to testify as a close adviser to the president.
In a letter Sunday, Kupperman’s attorney wrote that if a judge sides with Congress, Kupperman will comply with the court order.
“If your clients’ position on the merits of this issue is correct, it will prevail in court, and Dr. Kupperman, I assure you again, will comply,” Charles Cooper, the lawyer, wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Daily News.
Cooper also represents Bolton, who is said to have bitterly resisted Trump’s effort to use defense U.S. military aid to Ukraine as leverage to bully the beleaguered ally into opening bogus investigations into Democratic rivals.
Bolton, who was ousted as national security adviser last month, is in talks with congressional impeachment investigators about making what would be a bombshell appearance.
Meanwhile, Gordon Sondland, the Trump loyalist who admitted the president sought an improper quid pro quo to get Ukraine to launch investigations into Democrats, returned to Congress on Monday morning to review his Oct. 17 testimony.
Sondland, a Republican megadonor who is Trump’s handpicked ambassador to the European Union, delivered damning — but confusing — testimony to the impeachment inquiry.
Some lawmakers have called for Sondland to be questioned about discrepancies between his testimony and that of Ambassador Bill Taylor.
Although both diplomats said Trump sought a improper trade off, Sondland made the improbable claim he was not aware that Trump was using $400 million in aid as leverage. Sondland also repeated Trump’s denials that his actions amounted to a quid pro quo even though they actually were.
Sondland also claimed his efforts to get other diplomats to stop putting concerns in texts or emails was part of his communication style — not an effort to avoid incriminating paper trail.
