Committees Seek Ukraine Documents from Vice President
Source: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Oct 4, 2019
Press Release
Washington, D.C. (Oct. 4, 2019)--Today, Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Eliot L. Engel, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter requesting key documents from Vice President Michael Pence as part of the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
"Pursuant to the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry, we are hereby requesting that you produce the documents set forth in the accompanying schedule by October 15, 2019," the Chairmen wrote.
The Committees are investigating the extent to which President Trump jeopardized national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election and by withholding security assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression, as well as any efforts to cover up these matters.
"Recently, public reports have raised questions about any role you may have played in conveying or reinforcing the President's stark message to the Ukrainian President," the Chairmen wrote. "The reports include specific references to a member of your staff who may have participated directly in the July 25, 2019, call, documents you may have obtained or reviewed, including the record of the call, and your September 1, 2019, meeting with the Ukrainian President in Warsaw, during which you reportedly discussed the Administration's hold on U.S. security assistance to Ukraine."
This request is being made jointly by the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Oversight and Reform under the Rules of the House of Representatives in exercise of their oversight and legislative jurisdiction.
"The Committees are seeking the documents in the attached schedule in order to examine this sequence of events, including the Administration's attempts to press the Ukrainian President to open an investigation into former Vice President Biden or election interference in 2016, and the reasons behind the White House's decision to delay critical military assistance to Ukraine that was appropriated by Congress to counter Russian aggression," the Chairmen concluded.
Read more: https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/committees-seek-ukraine-documents-from-vice-president
A copy of the request is here - https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/2019-10-04.EEC%20Engel%20Schiff%20%20re%20Request%20to%20VP%2010-04-19%20Letter%20and%20Schedule.pdf
Seems the media is asleep. This just got sent out from the committee and the media feeds went silent.
Link to tweet
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Oversight Committee
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@OversightDems
🚨#BREAKING🚨 @HouseIntel, @HouseForeign and @OversightDems request key documents from #VP Pence as part of the impeachment inquiry. Read it here:https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/committees-seek-ukraine-documents-from-vice-president ...
ETA - FINALLY CNN woke up -
By Jeremy Herb, CNN
Updated 3:53 PM ET, Fri October 4, 2019
(CNN) House Democrats are seeking documents from Vice President Mike Pence as part of their impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump and his conversation with the President of Ukraine. The demand for documents came in a letter Friday from House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel and House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings. The Intelligence Committee has taken the lead on Democrats' impeachment inquiry.
"Pursuant to the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry, we are hereby requesting that you produce the documents set forth in the accompanying schedule by October 15, 2019," the chairmen wrote.
Rather than traveling to Warsaw, Poland, last month to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump decided to stay home to track the damage from Hurricane Dorian. In his place he sent Pence, whose face-to-face meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky now puts him at the heart of events that led to the impeachment inquiry by the House of Representatives.