Trump Calls New US House Probe Hoax, But Promises to Cooperate

Responding to a corresponding question, US President vowed to cooperate with the new probe, saying that "I cooperate all the time with everybody."

The comment referred to the new investigation, announced by the chairman of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee shortly before that. As he declared, the body had requested documents from more than 81 agencies, entities, and people, launching an investigation into what they believe might be obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Donald Trump.

"We have seen the damage done to our democratic institutions in the two years that the Congress refused to conduct responsible oversight. Congress must provide a check on abuses of power", House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement.

According to Nadler, document requests have been issued to the Justice Department, the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, as well as former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former White House Counsel Don McGahn.

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As he described, the panel will also look into the resignations of some officials at the Justice Department, such as former FBI Director James Comey, to find out if the US president abused his power by possibly offering pardons or tampering with witnesses. Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017 over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server and email accounts for official business during her time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders has confirmed the receipt of the House's request, saying that "the [White House] Counsel's Office and relevant White House officials will review it and respond at the appropriate time".

The list of those issued requests by the committee includes White House officials or those who worked for the US president's campaign in 2016: Hope Hicks, Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer; Rhona Graff, as well as David Pecker, chief executive of American Media Inc., which publishes the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer.

Republicans are accusing the Democratic-led panel of seeking to remove Trump from office, although Nadler has said it is too early to speak about impeachment because the investigation is just beginning.