Former Trump aide Hicks testifies to Congress

WASHINGTON—The House Judiciary Committee is interviewing Hope Hicks, former White House communications director and a trusted confidante to President Donald Trump, behind closed doors Wednesday. Hicks is the first former Trump aide to agree to testify in the House Democrats’ ongoing investigation into the Trump administration.

In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., White House counsel Pat Cipollone said Hicks would not answer questions “relating to the time of her service as a senior adviser to the president.” Democratic members of Congress attending the hearing, including Reps. Karen Bass of California and Pramila Jayapal of Washington, confirmed Wednesday that Hicks and a White House lawyer were invoking executive privilege in response to questions about her work in the Trump administration.

Hicks already cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives leading up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. She handed over documents to the House from her work on the campaign but refused to comply with subpoenas demanding records from her time at the White House.

Republicans have criticized Democrats for searching for a reason to impeach the president, saying that Mueller’s report already thoroughly covered any accusations against Trump. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said House Democrats were taking “a scorched-earth approach to pursuing information.”