Mick Mulvaney drops request to join lawsuit filed by ex-White House aide subpoenaed in impeachment inquiry after acting Chief of Staff was ordered by Trump not to testify
- Mulvaney wanted to join lawsuit filed by Charles Kupperman
- Kupperman was deputy national security adviser under ex-NSA John Bolton
- Democrats have subpoenaed Kupperman to testify in impeachment inquiry
- But the White House has ordered officials not to comply with subpoenaes
- Mulvaney has also been subpoenaed, but Trump ordered him not to testify
- Democrats want Kupperman and Mulvaney to talk about Trump's dealings with Ukraine
White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on Monday withdrew his request to join a lawsuit seeking a court ruling on whether witnesses must testify in the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, saying he would bring his own case, according to a court document.
Mulvaney earlier had sought to participate in a lawsuit filed by Charles Kupperman, a former deputy to ousted national security adviser John Bolton, seeking a court ruling on whether he should comply with a congressional subpoena or honor the Trump administration's order not to testify.
Mulvaney withdrew the request following a conference call held by the judge assigned to Kupperman's lawsuit, which was closed to media.
Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, has withdrawn a last-minute request to join a lawsuit against Donald Trump that would give him a court ruling on whether he had to listen to his boss, who has ordered him not to testify in the impeachment inquiry
Mulvaney initially asked to join a lawsuit filed by Charles Kupperman (left), a former deputy national security adviser under ousted NSA John Bolton (right). Kupperman sued after he was subpoenaed by House Democrats but was told by the administration not to testify
Mulvaney said in a one-page court filing that he intended to 'refile' his claims 'in the matter discussed on this evening's telephonic conference, as a separate related case.'
Last week, House Democrats withdrew their subpoena to Kupperman, saying they did not want to delay the impeachment investigation, and asked a judge to dismiss the litigation as moot.
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House investigators issued a subpoena to Mulvaney last week, demanding that he testify about his knowledge of Trump´s decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine.
Congressional Democrats are trying to determine whether Trump withheld the assistance to pressure Ukraine´s government to investigate the son of former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, one of Trump´s main rivals as he seeks re-election next year.
Trump denies any wrongdoing.
Mulvaney has emerged as a central figure in the impeachment inquiry, in part due to his statement at an October 17 news conference that the White House had withheld security assistance for Ukraine.
'I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy,' Mulvaney said at the time, although he later contradicted himself.
Before becoming acting chief of staff, Mulvaney ran the White House Office of Management and Budget, which made the decision to block nearly $400million in security assistance for Ukraine last summer.
The already active lawsuit lists congressional leaders and 'the Honorable Donald J. Trump' as the defendants – but Mulvaney's lawyers insist the top administration official is mainly targeting the congressional leaders.
His steps have gone against some other administration officials, who have flat out defied subpoenas and refused to comply with the Democratic-led proceedings without asking outside counsel for advice.
The president claimed last month that his aides and executive branch officials are immune from being compelled to testify by Congress.
Trump said on Friday that he wouldn't allow Mulvaney to testify on Capitol Hill because he didn't want to validate a 'corrupt investigation.'
'Because I don't want to give credibility to a corrupt witch hunt,' the president said outside the White House. 'I'd love to have Mick go up, frankly, I think he'd do great. I'd love to have him go up.'
Trump said Friday that by allowing acting Mulvaney to testify on Capitol Hill he'd be giving 'credibility to a corrupt witch hunt'
House Democrats wanted Mulvaney to sit for a deposition Friday behind closed doors on Capitol Hill as part of the impeachment inquiry, but Mulvaney did not cooperate claiming 'absolute immunity.'
A senior administration official told DailyMail.com that Mulvaney didn't receive a subpoena from the Democrats until 6:36 p.m. Thursday night, which compelled him to be at the U.S. Capitol to testify at 9 a.m. Friday.
'While Mick is immune from compulsion, making the subpoena unenforceable, the subpoena is also independently unenforceable based on lack of reasonable notice,' the source said.
'The Committee knows that no court in the country will enforce a subpoena on less than 15 hours notice.'
The senior official also pointed out that 'the Committee didn't mention the time they sent the subpoena to Mick in their statement this morning when they were complaining about 8:59 a.m.'
The trio of Democratic chairs charged with impeachment proceedings originally sent a letter to Mulvaney Tuesday ordering him to testify Friday.
'Past Democrat and Republican Administrations would not be inclined to permit Senior Advisers to the President to participate in such a ridiculous, partisan, illegitimate proceeding - and neither is this one,' principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley responded then.
Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway echoed Gidley Wednesday answering 'I'm told no' when asked if Mulvaney would testify.
News of Mulvaney's intent to join in on a lawsuit against the president comes as reports emerged that his relationship with Trump has soured as House Democrats prepare to open public hearings into whether the president should be impeached.
Democrats want to hear from Mulvaney after the acting chief of staff confirmed there had been a quid pro quo with the president of Ukraine - that the White House had held up $400 million in military aid to push for an investigation into the 2016 Democratic National Committee hack.
Mulvaney later walked back those comments.
Trump has pushed a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind the cyber attack.
On Friday, Trump insisted that he'd be happy for White House aides to testify in Capitol Hill. 'What I don't like is when they put all these people I never met before, when they put the head of the never Trumpers on the stand,' the president said.
He's dubbed Purple Heart winner Alexander Vindman a 'never Trumper.'
Vindman's testimony was released publicly Friday.
'And even those people were OK, they were fine,' Trump said of the witnesses who testified before the impeachment inquiry thus far.
'Now the rest is up to the lawyers. I have to do what the lawyers say to a certain extent, not always, but to a certain extent,' the president continued.
He then doubled down on his previous point.
'It validates a corrupt investigation,' Trump said. 'Adam Schiff is a corrupt politician,' he added, referring to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the probe.
