Thank you, baker!
https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/09/white-house-directs-former-aide-not-to-answer-over-200-questions-in-congressional-probe
White House directs former aide not to answer over 200 questions in congressional probe
U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House prevented a former aide from answering more than 200 questions posed by Democrats in Congress who are investigating whether Trump interfered with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, according to a transcript released on Monday.
Former White House lawyer Annie Donaldson repeatedly told the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee that the White House had directed her not to answer questions about various incidents described in Mueller’s 488-page report.
“The White House has directed that I not respond to this question because of the constitutionally-based Executive Branch confidentiality interests that are implicated,” she said – a total of 212 times.
The report, released by Mueller in redacted form in mid-April, cites Donaldson as a source of information on Trump’s role in the departures of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former FBI Director James Comey.
It also recounts Trump’s efforts to persuade former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to redirect the Russia investigation away from Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Mueller’s investigation found that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, but concluded that Trump’s campaign had not illegally conspired with the Kremlin. It also outlined several instances where Trump tried to interfere with the investigation, but reached no conclusion as to whether that amounted to obstruction of justice.