Giuliani defies House subpoena in impeachment probe

President Donald Trump's personal lawyer and former prosecutor Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday said he would not comply with a subpoena issued by U.S. House Democrats as part of their impeachment inquiry into the president.

A letter from a lawyer representing Giuliani said that the inquiry was illegitimate, and that information Democrats have sought relating to his work in Ukraine is potentially protected by attorney-client privilege and executive privilege.

Likewise, The White House Budget Office will also not comply with a subpoena for documents. Others, however, are honoring their subpoenas.

George Kent, a U.S. diplomat who has spent much of his career fighting corruption in Ukraine and elsewhere testified on Tuesday in the House impeachment inquiry… even as the State Department - according to a source- had directed him not to.

Kent's testimony follows Monday's deposition by Trump's former Russia adviser, Fiona Hill, who told lawmakers that she and her former boss, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, were alarmed this summer by efforts to force Ukraine to investigate Biden and other rivals and that Bolton advised her to notify a National Security Council lawyer, according to a source familiar with her testimony.

The New York Times reported that Bolton was similarly troubled by efforts of Giuliani, along with other administration officials...

According to the paper, The Hill quoted Bolton as saying, "Giuliani's a hand grenade who's going to blow everybody up."A Bolton spokeswoman said he would have no comment on the testimony

.Democrats have accused Trump of pressuring a vulnerable U.S. ally to dig up dirt on Biden while withholding $391 million in U.S. security aid.Trump has denied wrongdoing.