House subpoenas White House budget officials, State Department advisor in impeachment probe

KEY POINTS

• House Democrats sent subpoenas on Friday to two White House budget officials and a State Department official as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. 
• The subpoenas were issued by the chairs of the three committees leading the investigation into whether Trump abused his power and jeopardized national security in his dealings with Ukraine. They call for the officials to be deposed behind closed doors in early November. 
• The Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees had previously requested that each of the officials appear for interviews voluntarily. The officials declined to do so. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on October 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. House Democrats will not hold a vote to authorize impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Also pictured is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Zach Gibson | Getty Images

House Democrats sent subpoenas on Friday to two White House budget officials and a State Department official as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. 

The subpoenas were issued by the chairs of the three committees leading the investigation into whether Trump abused his power and jeopardized national security in his dealings with Ukraine. They call for the officials to be deposed behind closed doors in early November. 

The budget officials are Office of Management and Budget acting director Russell Vought and associate director Michael Duffey, who oversees national security programs. The State Department official is Ulrich Brechbuhl. 

The subpoenas call for Duffey to be deposed Nov. 5 and for Vought and Brechbuhl to be deposed Nov. 6.

The Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees had previously requested that each of the officials appear for interviews voluntarily. The officials declined to do so. 

It's not clear if the officials will comply with the subpoeanas. In a tweet posted on Monday, Vought criticized the impeachment process.

"I saw some Fake News over the weekend to correct. As the WH letter made clear two weeks ago, OMB officials - myself and Mike Duffey - will not be complying with deposition requests this week. #shamprocess," he wrote. 

The White House has refused to participate in the impeachment probe. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the three committee chiefs earlier this month, White House counsel Pat Cipollone called the investigation "unconstitutional." 

State and OMB did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Vought tweet