Hicks rebuffs questions about time with Trump White House

WASHINGTON -- Former top White House adviser Hope Hicks on Wednesday refused to answer questions related to her time in the White House in an interview with the House Judiciary Committee, dimming Democrats' chances of obtaining new or substantive information about President Donald Trump as part of their investigation into obstruction of justice.

Frustrated Democrats taking breaks from the meeting said Hicks and her lawyer were following White House orders to stay quiet about her time there working for Trump. She was answering some questions about her time on Trump's campaign, the lawmakers said.

"She's objecting to stuff that's already in the public record," said California Rep. Karen Bass. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called her answers "a farce." California Rep. Ted Lieu tweeted about the interview, writing Hicks refused to answer even innocuous questions such as whether she had previously testified before Congress and where her office was located in the White House.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said she asked Hicks if she had been aware of any outreach from the Russians during the campaign. After Hicks responded no, Dean named apparent contacts, such as emails, some of which are mentioned in special counsel Robert Mueller's report. Hicks said she hadn't thought those contacts were "relevant."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said Hicks' lawyers had asserted the White House's principle as one of Trump's close advisers she is "absolutely immune" from talking about her time there because of separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. Nadler said the principle is "ridiculous" and Democrats intend to "destroy" it in court.

Outside the interview, Nadler said the committee plans to take the administration to court on the immunity issue, and Hicks' interview would be part of the litigation.

In a letter Tuesday to Nadler, White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote Trump had directed Hicks not to answer questions "relating to the time of her service as a senior adviser to the president." The White House has similarly cited broad executive privilege with respect to many of the Democrats' investigative demands, using the president's power to withhold information to protect the confidentiality of the Oval Office decision-making process.

Republicans had a different perspective, saying she was cooperative and the interview was a waste of time. The top Republican on the panel, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, said they were "simply talking about things that are already out there in public or getting the same answers over and over."

Hicks was a key witness for Mueller, delivering important information to the special counsel's office about multiple episodes involving the president. Mueller wrote in his 448-page report released in April there was not enough evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia, but he said he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice. The report examined several situations in which Trump attempted to influence or curtail Mueller's investigation.