New Delhi:
The White House on Tuesday ruled out any cooperation by US President Donald Trump’s administration with the Democrats’ in the impeachment probe, calling it “constitutionally invalid.” The eight-page letter signed by White House counsel Pat Cipollone rejected the entire process underway in the House of Representatives.
“President Trump cannot permit his Administration to participate in this partisan inquiry under these circumstances,” the letter said.
“Your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the most elementary due process protections,” the letter said.
The White House said it objected especially to the fact that the lower house had not held a formal vote to launch the impeachment enquiry.
This comes in contrary to what US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said: “the Department of State will do what is required by law in the impeachment proceedings against his boss and President Donald Trump.”
Trump has denied that he’d done anything wrong in his relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, insisting that his only interest was “looking at corruption.” Trump has repeatedly claimed that Biden and his son were involved in corruption in Ukraine. “He is pillaging these countries,” Trump said.
Many Democrats have been calling for an impeachment inquiry into Trump even before the latest 'Ukraine' controversy. The row was sparked after reports surfaced saying that an intelligence whistleblower had lodged a formal complaint about a phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
It is be alleged that during the conversation Trump threatened to withhold military aid to force Ukraine to investigate corruption allegations against former Vice-President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Biden is currently the front-runner in the race for Democratic nominee for 2020 Presidential Elections.
Trump has already acknowledged discussing Joe Biden with Zelensky but said he was only trying to get Europe to step up assistance by threatening to withhold military aid.
