White House counsel Pat Cipollone called the impeachment process a "charade" on Friday in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, ahead of the House deadline for President Trump and his legal counsel to announce their participation in the impeachment hearings.
What they're saying: The letter emphasized that Trump is calling for House Democrats to impeach him "fast" if they're going to, so there will be "a fair trial in the Senate."
- "If the President has no good response to the allegations, then he would not want to appear before the Committee. Having declined this opportunity, he cannot claim that the process is unfair," Nadler responded in a statement on Friday.
The big picture: House Democrats have cited the White House's blanket refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry as evidence of obstruction for a potential article of impeachment.
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