May 21, 2019

House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson

The White House is likely to request they defy the committee.

Donald Trump kisses outgoing White House Communications Director on Thursday, March 29, 2018. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday subpoenaed Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director, and Annie Donaldson, a former chief of staff to Donald McGahn when he served as White House counsel, as part of the panel’s effort to obtain information regarding President Donald Trump’s alleged obstruction of justice. 

The move comes after McGahn refused to comply with the committee’s subpoena seeking his testimony at a hearing on Tuesday after the White House claimed the power to block his testimony. In his final report, Special Counsel Robert Mueller cited McGahn’s recollections about Trump’s efforts to force Mueller’s firing as part of the case that Trump had obstructed justice. As McGahn’s deputy, Donaldson kept detailed notes that buttressed McGahn’s account.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the committee’s chairman, says Hicks also was a “critical witness” to Trump’s potential obstruction. The White House is likely to attempt to bar Donaldson and Hicks from testifying and from sharing documents with the panel.

Read the subpoenas here:


WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate