Hope Hicks, a former aide to President Donald Trump, has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee next Wednesday as the panel investigates whether the president obstructed justice.
Hicks, 30, will be the first former Trump aide to go before the panel, The Washington Post first reported Wednesday. The committee is looking into whether Trump attempted to obstruct special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The White House told Hicks earlier this month to ignore the request to testify, and previously blocked former White House counsel Don McGahn from testifying before Congress about his own dealings with Trump.
The meeting will be behind closed doors, but a transcript will be released to the public, committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
“Today, I am pleased to announce Hope Hicks will appear before the Committee for a transcribed interview,” Nadler said. “It is important to hear from Ms. Hicks, who was a key witness for the Special Counsel. Ms. Hicks understands that the Committee will be free to pose questions as it sees fit, including about her time on the Trump Campaign and her time in the White House.”
Hicks left the White House as communications director last year as Mueller ramped up his investigation. In his report and at a press conference last month, Mueller said, “If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.”