White House communications director Hope Hicks declined on Tuesday to answer questions from House Intelligence Committee lawmakers about her time with the Trump campaign transition team, and her time at the White House.
“I have less hope we’ll get all the answers,” Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., told reporters Tuesday amid Hicks’ testimony to the committee. Hicks arrived on Capitol Hill around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Quigley said she didn’t assert executive privilege, but was instead “following the orders of the White House not to answer certain questions.”
“Anyone who doesn’t answer questions, they ought to be subpoenaed going forward,” Quigley said, but it did not appear that the Republican majority on the committee was ready to issue a subpoena yet.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said Hicks answered questions about the Trump campaign, but “was instructed by the White House not to answer questions regarding the transition or her time in the White House.”
Hicks, who was originally supposed to testify privately in January, is likely fielding questions about her involvement in the White House’s initial statement drafted aboard Air Force One responding to reports of the June 2016 Trump tower meeting.
The committee is also broadly investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election, and what foreign nationals had contact with Trump campaign members.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s testimony before House Intelligence Committee was also limited by the administration. Bannon could be held in contempt.
Last week, GQ named Hicks, 29, the most powerful person in Washington politics.
