Washington: President Donald Trump intensified his fight with Congress on Tuesday over the Democrats' impeachment investigation, as the administration blocked a US diplomat from testifying behind closed doors about the president's dealings with Ukraine.
Gordon Sondland, the US European Union ambassador, was barred from appearing in a closed-door session with three House panels investigating Trump's entreaties to Ukraine.
Text messages released last week revealed conversations between Sondland and two other US diplomats who were acting as intermediaries as the president urged Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden's family and the 2016 US election.
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House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff said that Sondland's no-show was "yet additional strong evidence" of obstruction of Congress by Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. That will only strengthen the Democrats' case as they conduct an impeachment inquiry and consider an eventual impeachment vote, he said.
"By preventing us from hearing from this witness and obtaining these documents, the president and secretary of state are taking actions that prevent us from getting the facts needed to protect the nation's security," Schiff said.
"For this impeachment inquiry, we are determined to find answers." Sondland's absence raised questions about whether other witnesses called by the committee would appear. Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine who was recalled from the post, is scheduled to testify Friday, and the committee has called two other State Department officials.
Trump indicated on Tuesday morning that it might have been his own decision to block Sondland's testimony, tweeting that he would "love to send Ambassador Sondland" to testify, "but unfortunately he would be testifying before a compromised kangaroo court."
Sondland's attorney, Robert Luskin, said in a statement that his client was "profoundly disappointed" that he wouldn't be able to testify.
"Ambassador Sondland travelled to Washington from Brussels to prepare for his testimony and to be available to answer the Committee's questions," Luskin said.
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Democrats have struggled to investigate Trump and his administration all year as the White House has broadly blocked and ignored subpoenas for documents and witness testimony. While the Democrats are already in court to force some of that evidence, they are making it increasingly clear that they do not intend to wait much longer.
Articles of impeachment, including for obstruction, could be drafted by the end of the year.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Schiff laid out four parameters of the committee's investigation items that could potentially become articles of impeachment.
The panel is probing whether Trump solicited foreign help from Ukraine for his 2020 reelection, whether a never-realized White House meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump was conditioned on the country conducting investigations, whether US military assistance to Ukraine was conditioned on those investigations and whether the administration has obstructed justice.
Top Republicans generally have criticized Schiff and defended the president. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said on Tuesday that "the president was just doing his job" to prevent corruption in Ukraine.
Across the Capitol, Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham one of Trump's friends and staunchest defenders said he would call the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to testify about corruption in Ukraine. Giuliani was communicating with Zelenskiy about the investigations that Trump sought.
