The House Intelligence Committee has met with another Trump administration member behind closed doors about Russia. This time, it was Hope Hicks.
Trump’s former aide and now White House communications director was brought in on Tuesday to speak privately to the committee in regards to Russia playing a part in the 2016 election that lead to Donald Trump becoming president. As the Associated Press points out, she is a key witness to his actions over the last few years from his announcement that he would run, to his path along the campaign trail where she was his spokeswoman and now as he navigates the White House. Her testimony could be crucial.
But will she be willing to reveal anything? After Steve Bannon invoked the executive privilege on behalf of Trump during his questioning and refused to answer anything anything beyond the 2016 election time frame, would she be willing to invoke the same privilege? Or will she actually be forthcoming and honest?
The House Intelligence Comittee member Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff of California tells CNN, “We don’t know at this point if she will testify completely or fully as others who have served in the administration have, or whether she will do what Steve Bannon did, which was stonewall. We hope obviously she will be cooperative, but at this point I don’t know what we can expect.”
So far, those familiar with the interview say Hicks’s lawyer has said she will not discuss questions about the time period following the campaign in accordance with a request from White House, though she reportedly did still answer some questions about the transition period. It remains unclear whether she will be subpoenaed for further information as former Trump aide Steve Bannon was.
Of course, she will likely be questioned about other scandalous headlines the president has created in his relatively short time in office, but it’s the Russia questions that are most in need of answers. It’s problematic and also incredibly telling that none of the Trump administration members, current or former, are willing to answer any questions about Russia’s involvement in the election. What are the employees trying to hide? Are they trying to stop the ship from sinking? Why will none of them answer any questions regarding the situation?
For now, the questions are merely preliminary and investigators have more to slog through before they can even touch the topic of Russia.
But don’t worry. Before his communications director went in for questioning, Trump went on a tweeting tirade quoting Fox News commentators who say that they can offer no evidence of collusion and ended it with an all-caps “WITCH HUNT!” If you have nothing to hide, why put on the show?
“I’ve been skeptical about the collusion and obstruction claims for the last year. I just don’t see the evidence….in terms of the collusion, it’s all a bit implausible based on the evidence we have.” Jonathan Turley on @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2018
WITCH HUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2018