Former Bolton Aide Refuses to Testify to Congress

A former aide to former National Security Adviser John Bolton is refusing to testify to Congress unless a court order to do so exists.

According to The Hill:

A top aide to former White House national security adviser John Bolton will not testify before Congress on Monday as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump, his lawyer has told Democratic investigators.

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Charles Cooper, the attorney for former Bolton aide Charles Kupperman, said his client will not testify until a court rules on a lawsuit surrounding his appearance, according to a letter delivered Sunday to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee.

“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 with the Court’s judgment,” Cooper wrote to Daniel Noble, a Democratic attorney for committee.

Kupperman, the former deputy to Bolton, has been caught in a legal tug of war between a White House trying to block his testimony, citing executive privilege, and Democrats who have subpoenaed Kupperman to appear on Monday in the Capitol before the three House committees leading the impeachment probe.

Congress is obviously not happy as Democrats threaten to hold Kupperman in contempt of Congress. However, the report states that it is President Trump who is stopping the testimony. Something all presidents for the last half-century have done.

Image Credit: John Bolton By Gage Skidmore via Flickr