A House panel voted to subpoena President Trump’s top aide, Kellyanne Conway, after she refused to testify before the panel about alleged violations of the Hatch Act.
The Democratic-led House Oversight Committee on Wednesday approved the subpoena after a contentious hearing over whether Conway broke the law when she talked politics during media appearances.
“The American people demand that our public officials follow the law and be held accountable for their actions,” Oversight panel Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said. “Through this resolution, the committee demands answers and requires Ms. Conway to provide those answers under oath.”
The vote could lead to a contempt of Congress citation if Conway refuses to appear.
Conway serves as counselor to President Trump and is a frequent guest on television shows, where she advocates for the president’s agenda and takes jabs at his critics, namely Democrats and their agenda.
The Oversight panel summoned Conway after the Office of Special Counsel found she had committed “multiple Hatch Act violations” and recommended President Trump fire her.
The Hatch Act forbids federal employees from engaging in political activities.
The White House informed the Oversight panel that Conway would not appear before the committee, prompting Democrats to vote to issue a subpoena.
White House lawyer Pat Cipollone wrote to Cummings that senior White House aides are immune from having to testify before Congress.
Republicans on the panel voted against the subpoena resolution and made the case Democrats are targeting Conway because she is an effective surrogate for President Trump.
“This is one more example of the Democrats’ obsession with going after this president,” Rep. Jim Jordan, of Ohio, who is the top Republican on the panel, said.
While Conway was a no-show at the hearing, it carried on with sole witness Henry Kerner, of the Office of the Special Counsel, who issued the report calling for Conway’s removal from office.
Kerner told lawmakers Conway engaged in campaign activity while serving in her official capacity as counselor to the president.
Kerner sited “clear, repeated and knowing violations of the Hatch Act and an unwillingness to comply with the law.”
Kerner, a Trump appointee, pointed to television interviews in which Conway called Democratic presidential candidates “wood chips” and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., “sexist.”
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said former Obama administration officials also engaged in political speech during their tenure.
“This subpoena is nothing more than a political spectacle,” Meadows said.
