Impeachment probe: Democrats respond to Donald Trump’s fury with subpoenas

Kurt Volker, who recently departed as an envoy to Ukraine, will give a deposition to the three House committees looking into Trump’s pressure on a foreign power

US lawmakers want to talk to Volker and others mentioned in the whistle-blower complaint of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

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US President Donald Trump responds to a question about Ukraine during a news conference. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:31pm, 3 Oct 2019Updated: 3:17am, 24 Oct 2019

Democrats have set a blistering pace for their impeachment inquiry of United States President Donald Trump with a line-up of depositions – including the recently departed US envoy to Ukraine – stoking the President’s fury and feeding efforts to discredit the investigation.

Kurt Volker, who stepped down last week from his unpaid role representing US interests in Ukraine, will give a closed-door deposition on Thursday to the three House committees looking into Trump’s pressure on a foreign power to investigate a political rival, Joe Biden.

US lawmakers want to talk to Volker and others mentioned in the whistle-blower complaint of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

As the committees delve into the allegations, Trump has made it clear that the impeachment process will be met not only with broad stonewalling, but also with fierce accusations levelled at those leading it, especially Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat.

Trump on Wednesday used Twitter and a press conference to denounce his political enemies, possibly setting the tone for the rest of this year – as well as the 2020 presidential election.

Trump can call on reinforcements – most crucially, administration officials like US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, responsible for responding to the congressional subpoenas, even though he has been named in the allegations.