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‘Obstruction’: Democrats Condemn Trump After Official Blocked From Testifying In Impeachment Probe

   DailyWire.com
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence Committee speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on October 08, 2019 in Washington, DC. Schiff spoke on reports that the Trump administration has blocked the testimony of U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in the House impeachment inquiry. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Win McNamee/Getty Images

The State Department ordered its ambassador to the European Union not to participate in a scheduled interview with investigators from Democrat-led committees on Tuesday in a move Democrats have said they consider “strong evidence of obstruction” by the Trump administration. The ambassador came into the spotlight last week for a text exchange in which he defended Trump against claims of attempting to pressure Ukraine for his own political interests.

As first reported by The New York Times Tuesday morning, U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s testimony in front of investigators for the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees Tuesday was blocked in the eleventh hour by the State Department.

Both Trump and Sondland, a hotelier and Trump contributor, have suggested that they would actually prefer that he testify. Sondland’s attorney Robert Luskin said in a statement that while Sondland was ready and willing to talk to investigators, he must follow State Department orders.

“Ambassador Sondland had previously agreed to appear voluntarily today, without the need for a subpoena, in order to answer the Committee’s questions on an expedited basis,” said Luskin in a statement reported by NBC News. “As the sitting U.S. Ambassador to the EU and employee of the State Department, Ambassador Sondland is required to follow the Department’s direction,” he said, stressing that his client “is profoundly disappointed that he will not be able to testify today.”

“I would love to send Ambassador Sondland, a really good man and great American, to testify, but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court, where Republican’s rights have been taken away, and true facts are not allowed out for the public to see,” Trump tweeted. “Importantly, Ambassador Sondland’s tweet [text], which few report, stated, ‘I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo’s of any kind.’ That says it ALL!”

In a text exchange reported last week, Sondland rebuked a fellow diplomat’s claim that Trump was withholding aid “to help” his political campaign by investigating potential 2020 presidential rival Joe Biden.

“As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor Jr., said in an early September text exchange with Sondland.

“Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions,” Sondland responded after reportedly calling Trump. “The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind.” Sondland added that they should “stop the back and forth by text.”

House Democrats “have repeatedly warned that if the administration tries to interfere with their investigation, it will be construed as obstruction, a charge they see as potentially worthy of impeachment,” the Times noted in its initial report.

Though the impeachment inquiry was prompted by Democrats’ claims of a “quid pro quo” in Trump’s famous July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after the administration released the transcript showing no such explicit pressure, the Democrats have been increasingly shifting their emphasis toward allegations of “obstruction.”

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