A federal judge on Monday scrapped an effort by a former top aide to John Bolton to determine whether he could be required to testify before House impeachment investigators
, declaring the matter moot and outside the court’s power to resolve.
Kupperman had pressed for a ruling despite the subpoena withdrawal, arguing that the House could reissue it at any time or punish him by holding him in contempt of Congress. But Leon cited repeated assurances by the House that it would do no such thing, as well as a guarantee by the Justice Department that it would not prosecute Kupperman for refusing to comply with the subpoena.
To underscore its point, Leon pointed to the articles of impeachment adopted by the House, noting that even in the charge that Trump obstructed Congress’ investigation, the article does not name Kupperman as one of the nine officials whom Trump blocked from testifying. It’s a further indication of what some Democrats noted was an attempt to disentangle the impeachment effort from any ongoing litigation to avoid mixing legal matters with the upcoming Senate trial.
Kupperman’s suit was also seen as a proxy for Bolton, who cited its existence as a reason to refrain from speaking publicly about Ukraine matters, even though witnesses also described him as a high-level witness to Trump’s conduct.
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