UPDATE: (10-12-18): CNN reports the House Judiciary Committee is going to force Glenn Simpson to appear in person next week to plead the Fifth.
A Republican House Judiciary Committee aide told CNN the committee expects him to appear in compliance of the subpoena, even though Simpson's lawyer said he wouldn't answer questions before the panel.
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In the letter, addressed to Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Simpson's lawyers question the motives of the committee's investigation, asserting that the "inquiry is not designed to discover the truth."
"The obvious -- and at times explicitly stated -- goal of this Committee is to discredit and otherwise damage witnesses to Russia's interference in the 2016 election, all as part of an effort to protect a President who has sought to placate and curry favor with a hostile foreign power and who demands that the Justice Department stop investigating him," the letter continues.
House committee will force Fusion GPS's Glenn Simpson to testify and plead the 5th (CNN)
House Republicans have issued a subpoena for Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson to appear for a closed-door deposition Tuesday even though he already has said, through his lawyer, he is not interested in participating.
Simpson's firm commissioned former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to investigate Donald Trump's ties to Russia, and Steele's memos became the much-referenced Steele dossier.
“Mr. Simpson’s attorney has already indicated his client will exercise his privilege not to answer questions at the deposition,” according to a notice circulated Thursday among lawmakers. “It is unclear if Republicans will force Mr. Simpson to assert that privilege in person or not."
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If he shows up, Simpson would be questioned by some Republican and Democratic members and staff of the House Judiciary Committee, as well as the Oversight and Government Reform panel, which have been conducting a joint examination of investigative decisions made during the 2016 campaign by the FBI and the Justice Department.
Simpson previously met with the House Intelligence and Senate Judiciary committees, and transcripts of those sessions were released.
Despite the subpoena, Simpson requested on Thursday that he be excused from appearing for the deposition, in a letter sent to Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia by his lawyers, including Joshua Levy.
They said that committee members already have “falsely accused Mr. Simpson of ’lying’ -– ample basis for us to be concerned that this committee is only seeking to falsely incriminate Mr. Simpson.”
“Thus, the service of a subpoena on Mr. Simpson for a closed-door deposition by politicians who have already exhibited abundant bad faith leaves him with no other decision than to stand on his constitutional rights under the First and Fifth Amendments not to testify," the lawyers said in the letter. There was no immediate response from Goodlatte.
House GOP Subpoenas Glenn Simpson, Founder of Trump Dossier Firm (Bloomberg Politics)