Mark Sandy, a senior career official at the Office of Management and Budget, broke with White House ranks and testified in House Democrats’ impeachment proceedings after being subpoenaed.
Sandy, who has worked under Democratic and Republican presidents, joined lawmakers for a closed-door deposition on Saturday, making him the first official from the OMB to participate in the impeachment process after others, such as OMB Director and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, refused to cooperate.
Lawyers for Sandy indicated that their client would testify if subpoenaed by lawmakers, and he received a subpoena Saturday morning.
“In light of an attempt by OMB to direct Mark Sandy not to appear for his scheduled deposition, and efforts to limit any testimony that does occur, the House Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to compel his testimony,” an official working on impeachment told CNN. “As required of him by law, Mr. Sandy is complying with the subpoena and answering questions from both Democratic and Republican Members and staff.”
Other OMB officials have defied subpoenas, declining to provide documents. Mulvaney initially attempted to join a lawsuit that would have forced a judge to rule whether Congress had the power to subpoena him for testimony. On Tuesday, however, he dropped the suit and indicated that he will follow President Trump’s direction not to cooperate.
Acting Director of OMB Russ Vought similarly ignored a request for a voluntary closed-door deposition and did not appear for his subpoenaed testimony last week, referring to the investigations as a “sham process.”
House Democrats launched their impeachment proceedings last month after a whistleblower complaint alleged the president improperly pressured the leader of Ukraine to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden. Lawmakers are looking into whether military aid to Ukraine was conditioned on the investigation and are hoping Sandy can provide insight into the Trump administration’s decision to freeze the aid over the summer.
