Throwing a monkey wrench to House Democrats plans to impeach 73-year-old President Donald Trump, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon agreed to hear the case of Kupperman v. House of Representatives, filed by President Trump’s White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. Kupperman, a deputy under former National Security Adviser John Bolton, listened to Trump’s July 25 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Democrats content that Trump used his office to withhold Ukraine’s military funding in exchange for receiving dirt on 50-year-old Hunter Biden, the son of Democrat Party candidate former Vice President Joe Biden. Democrats led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) charge Trump with high-crimes-and-misdemeanors for interfering in the 2020 presidential election. Leon’s decision to hear Kupperman’s case, presents problems for Democrats.
Democrats had been furiously building their impeachment case against Trump, interviewing witnesses behind closed doors, refusing to let Republicans participate in the hearings. Leon’s decision to hear Kupperman’s case raises the possibility that witnesses with first or second-hand information about the July 25 phone call don’t have to respond to House subpoenas. Leon will rule whether White House employees working for the Department of Justice, State Department and National Security Agency are protected from testifying because of Constitutional Separation of Powers. Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler had subpoenaed numerous White House witnesses hoping to build their impeachment case against Trump. Not expected to rule until after Dec. 10, Leon could decide whether Congress under its Article 1 authority can force the White House under Article 2 to respond to subpoenas. Pelosi has accused the White House of “obstruction” for not responding to her demands.
Judge Leon will decide whether or not Kupperman will be forced to testify as a member of the Executive Branch against Trump. “People are nervous about not going public [with the hearings] before Thanksgiving,” said an unnamed House Democrat. Schiff’s committee hoped to stage public hearings, parading hostile witnesses against the president. But with Leon’s decision to hear Kupperman’s case, the U.S. District Court will decide whether Congress can impose its oversight authority on the White House. House Democrat want Kupperman to confirm an anonymous “whistleblower” complaint who said Trump coerced Zelensky to get information on Hunter Biden and Joe. Trump contends that he was investigating Ukrainian corruption, including Hunter’s $150,000 job with Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings, where he earned millions over a four-year period. Joe was heading up a anti-corruption task force at the time Hunter got his job on the board.
Democrats hoped to subpoena Kupperman’s boss, former National Security Adviser John Bolton. While Bolton would like to retaliate against Trump, White House Counsel Cipollone would like to prevent Bolton from testifying. Judge Leon will hear Constitutional arguments whether or not it’s legal for House Democrats to demand documents from White House officials, purely because they believe the president committed impeachable offenses. So far, Republicans have had zero say in any House depositions or inquiries about the president’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky. Trump released a transcript of the call but Democrats claim it was redacted to remove any incriminating dialogue. Democrats contend that Trump mentioned Burisma Holdings and Joe Biden, something that was not in the transcript. Whether Burisma or Joe was in the actual phone call does not rule out the president’s right to inquire with a foreign leader or government about Hunter Biden.
Democrats impeachment case against Trump is built on the president interfering with the 2020 presidential election. Inquiring about Hunter Biden, whether he’s Joe’s son or not, is not improper because Hunter isn’t running for elective office. Hunter admitted Oct. 15 on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he wouldn’t have gotten the Burisma job without his father—that’s obvious. But Hunter also admitted that it wasn’t the best idea to take the job on Burisma’s board. Kooperman’s lawsuit has relevance for Democrats’ case against Trump because they could be deprived of key witnesses testimony. But even if Kupperman or Bolton testifies, it still does’t settle the issue of whether or not Hunter is fair game. House lawyer Tod Tatelman called Kuperman’s claim of immunity a “fundamental miscarriage of justice,” insisting Congress has the oversight authority to demand the White House officials testify, even where it incriminates the president or any member of the Executive Branch.
Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler wanted to railroad the impeachment process without any judicial review. They’ve built their case against Trump not on the law but on extreme political prejudice, looking for any advantage in the 2020 election. Democrats got no help to impeach Trump from the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation or Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 22-month, $30 million probe. House Democrats agreed to accept Mueller’s finding as final. But once he gave his Final Report March 23 finding no conspiracy with Russia, House Democrats went full-speed ahead to impeach Trump. If Leon rules for Kupperman, House Democrats fear they won’t get a chance to interview Bolton. Whatever happens with Leon’s eventual ruling, Democrats impeachment process has been delayed, buying Trump more time. Building a one-sided impeachment case behind closed doors against Trump has already revealed Democrats’ 2020 campaign strategy.
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