Giuliani hit with subpoena for Ukraine files after week of erratic statements

House Democrats have subpoenaed Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani for documents related to his interactions with Ukrainian officials.

The House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Reform panels announced the subpoena Monday as they examine Trump’s efforts to have Ukraine investigate political rival Joe Biden and his family. Giuliani assisted in that effort.

The Democrats have also requested information from three of Giuliani’s associates.

The committees are investigating the matter, which was a subject of a whistleblower’s complaint, as part of an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

“Our inquiry includes an investigation of credible allegations that you acted as an agent of the President in a scheme to advance his personal political interests by abusing the power of the Office of the President,” the committee chairs wrote in a letter to Giuliani on Monday.

The letter notes that Giuliani himself admitted during a CNN interview that he had asked Ukraine to investigate one of Trump’s 2020 election rivals.

“[This] subpoena requires you to produce all of those communications [with others involved in the matter], and other related documents, to the Committees in order to determine the full extent of this effort by the President and his Administration to press Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election,” they added.

Republicans have been split over how President Donald Trump should respond to impeachment proceedings.

The president’s allies fanned out across the Sunday talk shows espousing different approaches to the rough transcript and whistleblower complaint at the heart of the proceedings.

The whistleblower says Trump tried to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate the son of Democrat Joe Biden.

Giuliani has tried to deflect on the issue, insisting that the real story is a debunked conspiracy theory. Senior presidential adviser Stephen Miller said “deep state” figures are to blame. Ohio congressman Jim Jordan said Biden’s son improperly profited from his father’s position. There’s no evidence of that.

Trump himself tweeted that he should be able to meet his accuser. A top House Democrat said he expects the whistleblower to testify “very soon.”