The
White House told
Democratic lawmakers on Sunday that President Donald Trump and his lawyers would not participate in a congressional impeachment hearing this week, citing a lack of "fundamental fairness." Mr Trump's aides responded defiantly to the first of two crucial deadlines he faces in
Congress this week as
Democrats prepare to shift the focus of their impeachment inquiry from fact-finding to the consideration of possible charges of misconduct over his dealings with Ukraine. The Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, tasked with considering charges known as articles of impeachment, had given Mr Trump until 6pm on Sunday to say whether he would dispatch a lawyer to take part in the judiciary panel's proceedings on Wednesday. "We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the President a fair process through additional hearings," White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters. Mr Cipollone - while citing a "complete lack of due process and fundamental fairness afforded the president" in the impeachment process - did not rule out participation in further proceedings. But he signaled that Democrats would first have to make major procedural concessions. Where now? | Next steps in the impeachment inquiry Mr Nadler has given the White House a Friday deadline to say whether Mr Trump will mount a defence in broader impeachment proceedings. The Judiciary Committee’s Democratic staff did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the White House's refusal to participate in the hearing, which would have been the first direct involvement by the Trump camp in a process he has condemned as a partisan "witch hunt." Democratic US Representative Don Beyer said on
Twitter in response to the White House letter: "Not one process complaint made by the President and his
Republican allies in Congress so far has turned out to be genuine." Congressional investigators have been looking into whether Mr Trump abused his power by pressuring
Ukraine to launch investigations of former Democratic Vice President
Joe Biden, who is running to unseat him in the 2020 presidential
election, and a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not
Russia, interfered in the 2016 US presidential election. The first in a series of expected judiciary proceedings will hear testimony on the impeachment process established under the US Constitution from a panel of legal experts that has yet to be named. Hearings before the committee, which has responsibility for crafting any formal charges against Mr Trump, are a major step toward possible charges. Democratic House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, who will make the final decision, has not yet said whether the Republican president should be impeached. But in a letter to supporters last week, she called for him to be held accountable for his actions. Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing, calling the impeachment inquiry a sham.