Trump impeachment inquiry: Pompeo subpoenaed by House Democrats
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been ordered by Democrats to turn over documents relating to the Trump administration's dealings with Ukraine.It is the latest move in rapidly escalating impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
He is being scrutinised for allegedly pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden. In a separate development on Friday, the US special envoy for Ukraine negotiations, Kurt Volker, resigned, US media reported.Mr Trump has denied putting any pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call in July, when Mr Biden was leading polls to win the Democratic nomination for the White House race in 2020. Mr Trump has alleged, without evidence, that Mr Biden pressed for the sacking of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin in 2016 to protect a business that employed his son, Hunter Biden. Impeachment is a two-stage political process, rarely exercised, by which a US president can be removed from office for wrongdoing. Even if President Trump were impeached by the House of Representatives, he is unlikely to be forced out of the White House because Republicans control the Senate.It was issued in the joint letter by the House's Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees.Media playback is unsupported on your deviceThe letter says the subpoena was issued because Mr Pompeo had failed to comply with the demand to provide requested documents. "Your continued refusal to provide the requested documents not only prevents our committees from fully investigating these matters, but impairs Congress' ability to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities to protect our national security and the integrity of our democracy," the letter said. The three committees also informed Mr Pompeo that they planned to request testimonies from five officials, including Mr Volker and the former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, in the next two weeks.On 25 July, Mr Trump raised Mr Shokin's removal during a phone call with newly elected President Zelensky, details of which were released by the White House this week after a huge row over a complaint by a whistleblower. Mr Trump went on to discuss Hunter Biden and the unsubstantiated allegation that his father - then the US vice-president - stopped an investigation into his son's employer by lobbying Ukraine to fire Mr Shokin.What we know about Biden-Ukraine corruption claims The chief prosecutor's office was inquiring into Burisma, a natural gas company on which Hunter Biden was a board member.Who is Kurt Volker? Appointed in 2017 in a volunteer capacity, Mr Volker was a key player in US efforts to help resolve an ongoing crisis in Ukraine that started with the annexation of Crimea by Russia and Moscow's support for separatists in the east.
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