US energy chief Rick Perry refuses to testify in Trump impeachment inquiry
- Rick Perry’s refusal to appear represented the latest instance of Trump’s administration not cooperating with the fast-moving House inquiry
Perry’s refusal, revealed by an Energy Department spokeswoman said on Friday, represented the latest instance of Trump’s administration refusing to cooperate in the fast-moving inquiry in the House of Representatives.
Trump said on October 17 that Perry was resigning from his Cabinet post and would step down by the end of the year.
Perry, White House budget office acting director Russell Vought and two other officials were asked to testify on Wednesday next week in a closed session before the three House committees leading the inquiry, an official working on the probe said.
The inquiry focuses on a July 25 telephone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a former US vice-president and a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to face him in the 2020 election, and his son Hunter, who had served as a director for a Ukrainian energy company.
