WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on Congress and investigations into President Donald Trump (all times local):
12:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he won’t negotiate policy with congressional Democrats while they continue to investigate him.
In a hastily arranged appearance Wednesday in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said it’s impossible to negotiate on infrastructure or other issues while the inquiries continue.
Trump said, “You can’t do it.”
Trump complained about the investigations after a meeting with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer that was supposed to be about an infrastructure plan.
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11:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump is blasting Democratic leaders after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused him of engaging in a cover-up.
Trump on Wednesday made a surprise appearance in the Rose Garden after cutting short an infrastructure meeting with Democratic leaders.
He appeared behind a sign that listed the cost of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and Trump’s slogans of “No Collusion” and “No Obstruction.”
Trump said, “I don’t do cover-ups” and declared that Democrats had to choose whether to investigate him or work together on the country’s priorities.
The president has long criticized the Mueller probe and the Democratic investigations.
Democrats are frustrated with the White House’s efforts to block their investigations and stymie their oversight responsibilities.
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10:35 a.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting with Democrats behind closed doors Wednesday, tamped down the push among some Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
She stressed the need for patience and pointed to legal battles that she said have already found success in forcing Trump to comply with investigations, according to a person familiar with her remarks.
Speaking to reporters later, Pelosi made it clear she’s not letting Trump off the hook. She said Trump is “engaged in a cover up.”
Some Democrats urging impeachment say the move would not necessarily be aimed at removing the president, but instead to bolster their position in court as they conduct their investigation.
Pelosi’s remarks to Democrats were described by a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to discuss the private meeting.
-Lisa Mascaro
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8:10 a.m.
The chairman of the House intelligence committee has postponed a meeting to enforce a subpoena against the Justice Department after the department agreed to hand over a cache of documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
California Rep. Adam Schiff said the department “will begin turning over to the committee twelve categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials as part of an initial rolling production.”
On Tuesday, the department offered to provide documents if the committee agreed not to enforce the subpoena. Schiff had said the panel would take “enforcement action” but had not specified if that would be contempt of Congress or some other sort of action.
The agreement is a rare detente in escalating tensions between Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration over oversight matters.
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12:15 a.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is feeling the heat from a small but growing number of House Democrats calling for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
Trump’s latest defiance of congressional investigation of his administration and his own actions came Tuesday when he ordered his former counsel, Don McGahn, to refuse to appear at a House hearing despite a subpoena.
Pelosi has taken a methodical approach to the idea of impeachment and is calling a meeting on Wednesday to discuss strategy.
Some Democratic leaders are backing Pelosi but signaling that a march to impeachment may at some point become inevitable.
The Democratic majority leader, Maryland’s Steny Hoyer, says lawmakers might be confronting the largest cover-up in American history and that if a House inquiry leads to impeachment, “so be it.”
