Charles Kupperman was the deputy to National Security Advisor John Bolton, so naturally he’s been subpoenaed to testify in the impeachment inquiry. Since he’s still in the executive branch, however, the Trump administration has ordered him not to testify in the impeachment inquiry.
What a nightmare! I would hate to be in that position, having to make a high-stakes career decision about which major government branch to piss off. I think I’d want to do what Kupperman is doing:
But Kupperman […] filed a lawsuit on Friday night describing himself as caught between two competing orders. He wants a court ruling on whether he should comply with the House subpoena to testify — or comply with a White House order to stay away because the nature of his job as adviser means he is exempt from the congressional order.
“Dr. Kupperman takes no position on whether the command of the Legislative Branch or the command of the Executive Branch should prevail; he seeks only to carry out whichever constitutional obligation the Judicial Branch determines to be lawful and binding on him,” his lawyer, Charles Cooper, said in a statement.
In other words, “Please, just tell me what to do!”
I’m not sure where Kupperman falls on the good-guy/bad-guy spectrum (although 30 years of association with John Bolton is not a good sign), but he’s probably one of dozens of minor figures caught up in the impeachment fight, many of whom will soon be facing 5- or 6-figure legal bills.
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