The pen of White House counsel Pat Cipollone sure is getting a workout. Last week Cipollone sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee calling the panel’s inquiry into Jared Kushner's top-secret security clearance "unprecedented and extraordinarily intrusive"; this week Cipollone accused the panel of making "grossly unfair" allegations against a former White House official and Donald Trump's personal attorney regarding Trump's hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
According to CNN, House Oversight Chair Elijah Cummings sent a letter to the White House last month saying new information had come to light suggesting former White House lawyer Stefan Passantino and Trump attorney Sheri Dillon "may have provided false information" to federal ethics officials about the Daniels payment. Cummings charged that Dillon "repeatedly" told government ethics officials in the spring of 2018 that Trump "never owed any money" to Cohen, who in fact was reimbursed by Trump for the $130,000 sum. Trump had not claimed any money owed to Cohen on his 2017 financial disclosure form. Cummings extended interview requests to both Passantino and Dillon on the matter.
Cummings extended interview requests to both Passantino and Dillon, a move Cipollone criticized in his communication with Cummings. "In response to your request, given longstanding law and practice, we are not inclined to make the former Deputy Counsel to the President available for a transcribed interview inquiring into his conversations and advice he provided while serving as Deputy Counsel to the President," Cipollone wrote.
The message seems pretty clear: This White House ain't gonna provide access to any information pertinent to ongoing House investigations unless it is forced to do so. That's the posture of a White House with a lot to hide.