Caputo Won't Cooperate

News  |  Mar 7, 2019

Michael Caputo, a Trump campaign communications strategist, says he has nothing offer the House Judiciary Committee in response to its request for documents and information as it investigates corruption, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power.

Washington Post:

Caputo told The Washington Post that he has already begun talking with four other Trump associates who received requests from the committee this week to begin a joint strategy of resisting requests for testimony.

“All four are reluctant to appear because they believe it’s a perjury trap designed to move toward impeachment of the president,” he said.

(...)

“We see no reason why the House Judiciary Committee cannot obtain the transcript of Mr. Caputo’s testimony” from the House Intelligence Committee, [Caputo attorney Dennis C.] Vacco wrote.

... A person familiar with the exchange said there was no formal request for Caputo’s testimony but only a casual conversation between Caputo’s lawyer and committee attorney Barry Berke.

The committee may have made a mistake by not better tailoring Caputo's letter and document requests.

The committee asked Caputo, for instance, to produce documents related to a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer. Caputo did not attend the meeting and, according to his attorney, has no documents about it.

It also asked him to produce records related to any Russian government contact with a long list of other Trump aides and associates. His attorney again indicated he had no responsive documents to the request.

The committee, however, did not ask Caputo about his communications with Trump adviser Roger Stone, with whom he is close. Nor was he asked about his contacts with a Russian national who contacted him in May 2016 to offer information about Hillary Clinton in exchange for money. 

Former Trump adviser says he does not plan to cooperate with House Judiciary inquiry (WaPo)