Rick Perry won't testify at impeachment inquiry hearing

Energy Secretary Rick Perry won't testify before House investigators' impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, according to the DOE.

“The Secretary will not partake in a secret star chamber inquisition where agency counsel is forbidden to be present," DOE spokesperson Shaylyn Hynes said in an email, adding that Perry would consider a request from lawmakers to testify in an open hearing.

A person working on the inquiry had said Perry was expected to testify on Wednesday.

Perry, one of the “three amigos” who along with EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland and former U.S. special representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker, was said to be part of Trump’s unofficial channel to Ukrainian government officials. Perry plans to depart the administration on Dec. 1 and said last week that he would not comply with a Congressional subpoena for information about the discussions.

Perry has vehemently denied hearing Sondland and other officials discuss asking Ukraine officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, but testimony earlier this week from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman put Perry in a White House meeting where the Bidens were discussed. Perry had also been said to have pressured Ukraine officials to fire a former Biden aide and State Department energy official who works on an advisory board of its state-owned gas company and install two Texas energy executives — a claim he has denied.

House investigators expect to hear testimony next week from several officials, including Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought, State Department Counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl and State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale, according to the person working on the inquiry.