Rick Perry Becomes Latest Cabinet Member To Receive Subpoena From House Democrats

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is the latest person on what’s seemingly a growing list of high-profile associates and employees of President Donald Trump who’ve received subpoenas from House Democrats in charge of investigating the president’s Ukraine phone call crisis.

According to The Hill, leaders of several House committees issued the subpoena to Perry on Thursday, demanding that he turn over any information on what involvement he may or may not have had leading up to Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that eventually morphed into an official impeachment inquiry.

“Recently, public reports have raised questions about any role you may have played in conveying or reinforcing the President’s stark message to the Ukrainian President,” wrote the chairmen of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees.

Perry reportedly has until October 18 to comply with the Democrats’ request. However, Perry’s cooperation doesn’t seem likely, as the subpoena comes on the heels of a letter penned by the White House to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week that essentially told her that they wouldn’t be cooperating in any way, shape or form, citing the lack of an official impeachment inquiry vote and unfair rules.

The three committee chairmen who sent Perry the subpoena are also reportedly interested in exactly what role the energy secretary played in an official presidential delegation at Zelensky’s inauguration in May. Perry led the delegation, which included Sen. Ron Johnson and former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker, who recently resigned from his post amid the Ukraine controversy.

The subpoenas also asked that Perry turn over all evidence of any meetings had with Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, another central figure in the Ukraine phone-call controversy.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Perry made headlines recently when Trump publicly blamed him as the reason he made the phone call to Zelensky in the first place — the one in which the U.S. president is alleged to have pressured Zelensky into investigating former vice president Joe Biden and his son for political gain.

The president told a group of Republicans on a conference call that he never wanted to make the call to begin with, citing Perry’s urging as the only reason he went through with it.

“Not a lot of people know this but, I didn’t even want to make the call,” Trump reportedly said on the call. “The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquified natural gas] plan.”

Trump has repeatedly and firmly denied any wrongdoing in his July 25 talk with Zelensky.