White House refuses to attend impeachment hearing

WASHINGTON

The White House will not participate in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee's hearing Monday on the impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump, the White House counsel said Friday.

Pat Cippolone slamed the impeachment inquiry as "completely baseless,” in a letter addressed to the committee's chairman, Jerry Nadler.

"House Democrats have wasted enough of America’s time with this charade," said Cippolone. "You should end this inquiry now and not waste even more time with additional hearings."

Last week, Nadler told Trump in a letter to he had until Dec. 6 to decide whether to attend the hearings, offering the president the option of sending someone to represent him.

The Judiciary Committee opened its first impeachment hearing Wednesday.

The White House's response came a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked lawmakers to draft articles of impeachment against the president.

"The president leaves us no choice but to act," Pelosi said in televised remarks. "Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and a heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairmen to proceed with Articles of Impeachment."

The House's investigation is centered on Trump's multiple requests to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to declare criminal investigations into leading Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, as well as claims it was Ukraine, not Russia, that meddled in the 2016 election.

Also at issue is the holdup of $400 million in congressionally-appropriated military aid to Ukraine and whether Trump conditioned the release of the assistance and a possible Oval Office meeting with Zelensky on the Ukrainian president publicly announcing the investigations.