COMMITTEES SEEK UKRAINE DOCUMENTS FROM VICE PRESIDENT
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.
