House committees ask key Mulvaney aide for testimony in impeachment inquiry

The House committees leading the impeachment investigation are asking an aide to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to testify this week about the White House’s relationship with Ukraine.

Robert Blair, an assistant to President Trump and senior adviser to Mulvaney, listened in on the July 25 phone call between the president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that prompted the impeachment inquiry. The committees are hoping Blair can provide insight into how the Trump administration interacted with Ukraine.

{mosads}An official working on the impeachment inquiry told The Hill that Blair is expected to appear in closed session on Friday.

Several former and current officials have been subpoenaed to testify in front of Congress but have not complied due to orders from the White House.

Blair previously was the associate director for national security programs in the Office of Management and Budget before moving to Mulvaney’s side in January, according to CNN, which first reported the House committees’ interest in interviewing Blair.

The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) launched the impeachment inquiry into Trump after a whistleblower report detailed that he asked the Ukrainian president to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son’s dealings in the country during the July 25 phone call.

The White House’s relationship with Ukraine has come under scrutiny after officials’ testimony to the committees has indicated a pressure campaign run by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland to influence Ukrainian policy and push the country to investigate Biden.

Updated at 5:38 p.m.