“The only people I think who should … who may have to stay, would be people in the national security area, who can at least have some moderating or blunting effect,” Conway said, accusing White House lawyers of attempting “to protect Trump” from allegations related to his controversial phone call in July with Ukraine’s president.
Deflecting a potential query about his wife’s role in the administration, Conway told Bharara: “Not going there. But I think my position is clear.”
Conway saved his most intense criticism for Cipollone, who signaled in a letter Tuesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the three committee chairmen leading the impeachment probe that the White House would block any cooperation with their investigations.
“Given that your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the most elementary due process protections, the Executive Branch cannot be expected to participate in it,” Cipollone wrote to the Democratic lawmakers.
Conway condemned that correspondence from the White House’s top attorney as “just garbage,” and dismissed calls from Cipollone and congressional Republicans for Pelosi to call a vote by the full House to formally authorize the establishment of an impeachment inquiry.
Conway asserted that the arguments laid out in Cipollone’s letter amount to “complete nonsense, because all the Constitution says is that the House has the sole power over impeachment” — adding that the chamber’s members could hypothetically approve an indictment of Trump without holding hearings at all.
“It’s just an excuse to prevent evidence, damning evidence, from reaching the public,” he said.