The White House directed Hope Hicks to refuse to answer 155 questions from House Democrats about her time in President Donald Trump’s West Wing, according to a transcript of her remarks released Thursday.
The transcript underscores the extent to which the White House asserted that Hicks has “absolute immunity” from talking to lawmakers, who are investigating evidence that Trump attempted to obstruct special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
During Wednesday’s closed-door testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Hicks refused to answer repeated questions about the president’s actions, her conversations with him and her discussions even with officials outside the White House, per the transcript. But she also refused to answer basic questions such as where her desk was located in the White House.
Democrats were livid Wednesday about her stonewalling but hoped to glean information about her time on the Trump campaign in 2016, when the claims of immunity did not apply. Hicks testified for more than eight hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill.
According to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, however, Hicks broke with Trump’s willingness to accept foreign dirt on 2020 rivals, saying that she “made clear that even she knew that such foreign assistance should be rejected and reported to the FBI.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine