The showdown between the White House and congressional Democrats is definitely on this week, as we can tell from the latest developments in the case of Rudy Giuliani.
The former New York City Mayor-turned-personal lawyer to the President has been smack dab in the middle of the latest push by the “resistance” to impeach President Trump, this time over a foreign influence scheme colloquially known as UkraineGate, or RussiaGate 2.0 for the more cynical observers.
Now, after two of Giuliani’s close associates were arrested at Washington Dulles Airport with one way tickets overseas, Rudy himself is coming under even further scrutiny. The President’s lawyer has even been the recipient of a congressional subpoena.
Giuliani’s legal team rebuked the Democrats sternly on that request in a biting and boisterous letter.
Tuesday was the deadline for Giuliani, who is Trump’s personal lawyer, to turn over to the committees documents related to Ukraine.
“Mr. Giuliani will not participate because this appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate ‘impeachment inquiry,’ ” Giuliani’s lawyer, Jon Sale, wrote in a letter to the House.
Sale’s letter called the subpoena “overbroad, unduly burdensome, and seeks documents beyond the scope of legitimate inquiry.”
“Moreover, documents sought in the subpoena are protected by attorney-client, attorney work-product, and executive privilege,” the letter said.
Rudy Giuliani is certainly testing the limits of the Democratic resolve with this deft maneuver, knowing full well that the subpoenaing committees will find it legally difficult to enforce contempt punishments without a vote to authorize impeachment on the House floor.
Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have been reluctant to vote on impeachment, possibly in an attempt to stall the process so that it bleeds into the heart of the 2020 election.
