White House Announces It Will Not Participate In Impeachment Inquiry

The White House indicated Friday that it does not intend to mount a defense in the ongoing impeachment hearings into President Donald Trump. White House counsel Pat Cipollone made the announcement in a letter to House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) Friday, in which he called the proceedings “completely baseless.”

The letter clarifies some uncertainty created by a previous missive Cipollone sent to the Judiciary Committee in which he refused to make clear whether Trump would participate in upcoming hearings.

President Trump has decided to stay out of the impeachment inquiry being conducted by the House of Representatives.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone rejected an offer from House Democrats that would have allowed the president to send counsel to represent him at future impeachment hearings.

In a short two-paragraph letter to Democrats, Cipollone said the impeachment inquiry is "completely baseless and has violated basic principles of due process and fundamental fairness."