Nevada lawmakers want Trump investigations to continue

WASHINGTON — Members of the House Intelligence Committee plan to work on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump during a two-week recess, a move hailed Friday by Nevada lawmakers from both major political parties because of the seriousness of a whistleblower complaint.

On Friday, the committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said there is a sense of urgency to investigate a recent claim by a whistleblower that Trump coerced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate political rival Joe Biden while U.S. military aid was being withheld.

And a transcript of a telephone call has Zelenskiy mentioning to Trump that the Ukrainian president stayed in Trump’s hotel in New York.

A subcommittee headed by Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., is investigating whether the president violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution and profited illegally from foreign leaders staying at his Trump International Hotel in Washington, another property leased by Trump from the federal government.

Titus said it would be a mistake to overlook Zelenskiy’s boast.

“This is more evidence that foreign leaders are trying to curry favor with President Trump by buying rooms,” Titus said. “This revelation makes our investigation even more urgent.”

Quick investigation needed

Rep. Mark Amodei, the lone Republican in the Nevada congressional delegation, said he wanted a quick investigation by committees to determine whether Trump violated the law over the Ukrainian complaint.

“What I want to know is were rules broken,” Amodei said.

The congressman said he stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Nevada’s senior Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, who put out a recent statement that said she was waiting to see what the committee process determines.

Amodei, a former assistant U.S. attorney, said the president’s comments in the transcript are awkward, but he doesn’t “know that it’s a smoking gun.”

“If it was my statement and I had the ability to do a do-over, I’d probably phrase it differently,” Amodei told Nevada reporters during a telephone interview.

The House Intelligence Committee plans to subpoena witnesses and documents to verify claims made by the whistleblower that the president sought “a favor” from Ukraine to investigate Biden, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

After the complaint was made, the whistleblower asserted, White House officials locked down telephone call records to cover up the conversation.

The White House on Friday acknowledged that a record of the Trump phone call with Zelenskiy had been sealed away in a highly classified system at the direction of Trump’s National Security Council lawyers.

‘Perfect conversation’

The inspector general for intelligence services, Michael Atkinson, found the complaint to be “credible” and “urgent.”

The acting director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, testified that he sought legal advice from the White House counsel and the Justice Department.

He did not forward the complaint to the House and Senate, as required by law, because of concerns over executive privilege.

Trump took to social media Friday in his own defense, trying to cast doubt on the motives of the whistleblower, who he suggested, without proof, could be “a partisan operative.”

The president accused the whistleblower of treason.

“IT WAS A PERFECT CONVERSATION WITH UKRAINE PRESIDENT,” Trump tweeted.

Separately, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told reporters that the whistleblower “has protection under the law.”

Pelosi voiced concern Friday over Trump’s comments Thursday that suggested retaliation against people who helped the whistleblower.

She said the House panels conducting the impeachment probe will make sure there’s no retaliation against people who provided information in the case.

Pelosi declined to provide a timeline for the House impeachment investigation, saying “the facts will lead us.”

Congress is on a two-week recess to observe religious holidays and will not return until Oct. 15.

House committee leaders and staffers plan to work over the recess. A hearing by the Intelligence Committee could be held as early as next week.

“I would like to see it move real fast,” Amodei said. “It certainly sounds important enough to me where I wouldn’t be criticizing somebody for holding committee hearings for the next couple of weeks.”

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the whistleblower wants to speak to Congress, but legal questions remain over whether the White House and the acting director of national intelligence will allow or limit the scope of testimony.

The transcript and complaint also name Attorney General William Barr and the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, both of whom could be called to testify before the committee.

Giuliani was scheduled to appear at a Kremlin-backed conference in Armenia on Tuesday, but he said Friday that he would not attend.

The agenda showed him speaking at a session on digital financial technologies. Russian President Vladimir Putin also was scheduled to participate in the conference.

Emoluments investigation continues

Meanwhile, Titus and the Judiciary Committee are investigating Trump’s personal business ties and possible violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution.

A hearing was held earlier this week by Titus, who grilled the General Services Administration over a lease to the Trump organization and its failure to review that contract under the advice of an inspector general.

The Trump International Hotel in Washington is in the Old Post Office, a federal building operated by the government and leased to the president’s company.

Titus said the transcript of the conversation between Trump and Zelenskiy and the boast of a stay at the Trump Tower hotel in New York make it “clear that Trump’s corruption is happening in plain sight and it’s happening right now.”

The Judiciary Committee also is investigating potential violations of the emoluments clause involving Trump properties in foreign countries.

The emoluments clause of the Constitution prohibits a U.S. official from receiving gifts, money or emoluments from foreign governments without congressional approval. Another clause prohibits a president from receiving taxpayer funds other than his salary.

Obstruction case still alive

Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., is also investigating incidents of obstruction in the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

A report by special counsel Robert Mueller outlined as many as 10 instances in which Trump tried to interfere or stop the investigation, which he thought would doom his presidency.

Mueller cited Department of Justice guidelines in not charging the president with crimes, but he left it to Congress to pursue the obstruction of justice incidents outlined in his report, including the presidential directive to then-White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller. McGahn did not carry out the order.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this story.