Attorney General William Barr and the President’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani should be called to testify in the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Ukraine, according to a House Democrat who sits on the committee.
Rep. Mike Quigley told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Friday that he has “several questions” for Giuliani including whether the President’s personal lawyer has a security clearance.
“Rudy may be the best source of information, because he doesn’t know what he shouldn’t say,” Quigley said, adding that he thinks Barr is “part of that list” of officials the committee will call to testify.
Asked if the committee would enforce subpoenas or hold the two men in contempt should the White House attempt to block their testimony, Quigley said, “I think the committee will take whatever actions are necessary.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who launched the formal inquiry this week, told CNN on Friday that the intelligence committee will decide who to call as witnesses, also adding that she believes Barr “has gone rogue.”
Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, another committee member, told reporters on Capitol Hill Friday that it “makes sense” for the committee to invite Barr or Giuliani to testify since “both are obviously central figures.”
“I’m going to probably defer to the chairman on this on who he thinks should come before the committee,” he added.
According to a White House-released transcript, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a July phone call to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, though there is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden. Trump asked Zelensky to work with Giuliani and Barr, even suggesting four times during the call that Barr will call Zelensky.
The call was also part of a whistleblower complaint submitted to the Intelligence Community Inspector General that was publicly released Thursday in which the whistleblower alleged that Trump abused his official powers “to solicit interference” from Ukraine in the upcoming 2020 election, and the White House took steps to cover it up.
The whistleblower has tentatively agreed to meet with congressional lawmakers, according to correspondence obtained by CNN.
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify that Rep. Quigley was giving his opinion and not speaking for the committee.
CNN’s Alex Rogers and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
