Impeachment-related lawsuit by former Trump aide is declared moot

WASHINGTON – A federal judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit involving a former top national security aide to President Donald Trump after House Democrats said last month that they were no longer seeking to force the aide to testify in impeachment proceedings against the president.

Charles Kupperman, a deputy to John Bolton when Bolton was Trump’s national security adviser, had received a congressional subpoena in the impeachment inquiry. After the White House instructed him not to testify, Kupperman filed a lawsuit asking a judge to decide whether he should obey the president or honor the subpoena.

Justice Department lawyers have argued that the president’s top aides have “absolute immunity” from congressional subpoenas and cannot be forced to testify.

Before the court could hear the case, however, House Democrats withdrew the Kupperman subpoena in early November. They said they would instead rely on the outcome of a similar case that is further along in judicial proceedings, involving a subpoena issued to former White House counsel Donald McGahn.

With Kupperman’s dilemma resolved, Judge Richard Leon of U.S. District Court in Washington declared the case moot and dismissed the lawsuit.