House Democrats slapped Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with a subpoena Thursday as he prepares to appear at a New Hampshire rally alongside the president later in the day.
Jerry Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, announced his committee is demanding Lewandowski and former deputy White House Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn testify next month.
Committee members are claiming Lewandowski played a role in assisting Trump in obstructing former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
‘It is clear that any other American would have been prosecuted based on the evidence Special Counsel Mueller uncovered in his report,’ Nadler said is a statement.
‘Corey Lewandowski and Rick Dearborn were prominently featured in the Special Counsel’s description of President Trump’s efforts to obstruct justice by directing then-White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire the Special Counsel, and then by ordering him to lie about it,’ Nadler said in a statement.
Judiciary Democrats authorized the subpoena last month, but the White House could invoke executive privilege to block Lewandowski from having to comply with the subpoena.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler is subpoenaing former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. The committee is calling Lewandowski to testify because of the potential role he may have played in the president obstructing Robert Mueller’s investigation
The White House could invoke executive privilege to prevent Lewandowski from testifying next month
Trump is encouraging his former campaign aide to launch a bid for Senate in the key primary state of New Hampshire.
‘I think he would be fantastic. He’s got great energy,’ Trump told New Hampshire Today radio host Jack Heath Thursday morning ahead of his rally there. ‘I like him, I like his family, I like everything about him.’
‘I don’t think he’s made that decision yet,’ the president continued. ‘I will say this: If he ran, he would be a great senator. If he ran and won, he would be a great senator. He would be great for New Hampshire. He would be great for the country. He has got a tremendous drive, and that drive would be put to the people of New Hampshire’s benefit, and the country’s benefit.’
Lewandowski told Heath earlier in August that he was ‘seriously considering’ mounting a Senate run in the 2020 New Hampshire primaries.
If Trump were to invoke executive privilege to block Lewandowski from testifying, it would be the first time he used it on someone who has not worked within the administration.
Previously he used the administrative power to block other aides from complying with their respective subpoenas, including former White House Counsel Don McGahn.
Although former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks appeared for her testimony before the committee in June, she refused to answer almost every question, citing instructions from the president that said she was ‘absolutely immune’ from answering.
Staff are skeptical that Trump will be able to invoke the same privilege principals over an informal adviser as he would an administration staff member, and many White House officials don’t think Lewandowski will be able to cite immunity since that’s reserved for government employees.
In the subpoena, Nadler points to a part of Mueller’s 448-page report, which was completed in March, that says Trump asked Lewandowski to direct Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to limit the probe into focusing solely on Russian election interference.
According to the report, Lewandowski asked Dearborn to deliver the message to Sessions. The directive was never carried out and the message never delivered.
But Democrats argue the direction from the president was an attempt to obstruct justice, and therefore should be investigated.
Donald Trump put his weight behind a potential Senate run from his former campaign chief. ‘If he ran and won, he would be a great senator. He would be great for New Hampshire. He would be great for the country,’ he said Thursday
Lewandowski is joining Trump for his rally in Manchester, New Hampshire later Thursday night. He said earlier this month he is ‘seriously considering’ a bid, but said there is still a lot of time left to make the decision before the 2020 primaries
Trump reposted a poll that shows Lewandowski with the most support among likely primary voters, even though he hasn’t declared yet. He earned 30 per cent support – higher than the two candidates who have already announced their candidacy
The poll, however, did not show how Lewandowski would do in a general election against incumbent Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. She is not facing any 2020 Democratic primary challenger so far
Even though there is support from Washington for Lewandowski’s candidacy, locals seem less enthusiastic with the potential.
Dave Carney, a New Hampshire-based strategist who has worked on many Republican campaigns in the state, said a Lewandowski run is a ‘joke.’
‘He adds nothing to the ticket and doesn’t help the president or the ticket in any way,’ Carney said of the 2020 Republican ballot, according to Politico. ‘Corey is a political hack. Political hacks make bad candidates generally.’
Trump, however, reposted a poll to Twitter that shows Lewandowski as the top Republican primary choice in the state.
The political operative plans to join the president for a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire later Thursday night.
‘I will be with the president tomorrow on his visit to New Hampshire and I’m excited for him to come back and talk about his message of economic prosperity and national security,’ Lewandowski told The Hill on Wednesday.
When asked if he was planning to announce his candidacy during the rally, Lewandowski suggested he still hadn’t determined if he was going to join the race.
‘There’s a lot of time to make decisions about running,’ he said, noting that the 2020 Senate primaries are still more than a year out.
So far, incumbent New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen is facing no Democratic primary rivals. Two Republicans have already declared, and there are a handful of other potential primary contenders who have not yet declared, including Lewandowski.
The poll was commission by Citizens United president David Bossie, who has co-authored two books with Lewandowski about Trump
Retired Brigadier General Donald Bolduc(right) and former New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien(left) have already declared they are running in the Republican primaries in New Hampshire. They earned 11 per cent and 10 per cent support respectively in the poll
Lewandowski has the most potential of earning the Republican Senate bid, with 30 per cent of respondents in an August 11-12 poll claiming they would vote for the former Trump aide in the primary elections.
The poll showed declared Retired Brigadier General Donald Bolduc earning 11 per cent support among 400 likely primary voters who participate din the poll and already declared former New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien came in as No. 3 with 10 per cent.
Bryant Messner, a former lawyer who has not yet declared a bid, but is a potential candidate, earned only 1 per cent support.
The poll did not include a theoretical general election matchup with Lewandowski against Shaheen.
The survey was conducted by Trump campaign pollsters and commissioned by Citizens United president and Lewandowski confidant David Bossie. Lewandowski and Bossie have co-authored two books together about Trump.
‘If he ran, I think he’d be number one,’ Trump said during his radio interview regarding Lewandowski. ‘I think he’d be hard to beat in New Hampshire. Corey was there with myself and Hope and a couple of others while we started this whole thing, and we did well. We did well. Corey’s a very outstanding guy.’
New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Chris Sununu has expressed concerns about a Lewandowski run to GOP leadership, and Judd Gregg, who served as both a governor and senator in New Hampshire, described Lewandowski as a ‘thug.’
Former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath, and a prominent Republican in the state, says he’s ‘not a Corey fan.’
Overall, the poll indicated 37 per cent of New Hampshire voters have a favorable view of Lewandowski while only 16 per cent said they had an unfavorable one.