President declares war on inquiry
Counsel informs House that no cooperation will be forthcoming
WASHINGTON — The White House declared Tuesday it will not cooperate with what it termed the “illegitimate” impeachment probe by House Democrats, sharpening the constitutional clash between President Donald Trump and Congress.
Trump attorneys sent a letter to House leaders bluntly stating their refusal to participate in the quickly moving impeachment investigation.
“Given that your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the most elementary due process protections, the Executive Branch cannot be expected to participate in it,” White House Counsel Pat Cipollone wrote.
The White House is currently objecting that the House did not formally vote to begin the impeachment inquiry into Trump. It also claims that Trump’s due
process rights are being violated and is attacking the conduct of House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has insisted the House is well within its rules to conduct oversight of the executive branch under the Constitution regardless of a formal impeachment inquiry vote.
Schiff, commenting before the White House letter was released, said, “For this impeachment inquiry we are determined to find answers.”
Earlier Tuesday, Trump intensified his fight with Congress by blocking Gordon Sondland, the U.S. European Union ambassador, from testifying behind closed doors about the president’s dealings with Ukraine.
Sondland’s attorney, Robert Luskin, said his client was “profoundly disappointed” that he wouldn’t be able to testify. And Schiff said 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 a possible impeachment case.
Trump indicated on Tuesday morning that it was his decision to stop the deposition, tweeting that he would “love to send Ambassador Sondland” to testify, “but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court.”
Democrats believe that Sondland, who donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, could provide valuable information, and on Tuesday evening, Schiff, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel and House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings subpoenaed Sondland for testimony and for documents — including additional communications on a personal device that he has turned over to the State Department.
Schiff said the department is withholding those communications.
A whistleblower’s complaint and text messages released by another envoy last week portray Sondland as a potentially important witness in allegations that the Republican president sought to dig up dirt on a Democratic rival in Ukraine and other countries in the name of foreign policy.
Democrats want to ask Sondland about the text messages because they show him and two other U.S. diplomats acting as intermediaries as the president urged Ukraine to investigate the origins of the 2016 U.S. election and a gas company linked to Joe Biden’s family.
He also spoke directly to Trump ahead of a text message in which he assured another envoy that there was nothing untoward about their plans, and then added: “I suggest we stop the back and forth by text,” according to a person familiar with the exchange who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the conversation.
There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son.
Pelosi said thwarting the witness testimony on Tuesday was an “abuse of power” in itself by the president.
Top Republicans generally have criticized Schiff and defended the president. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said Tuesday that Trump was simply “doing his job” to prevent corruption in Ukraine.
A senior administration official told reporters that no additional witnesses under its purview will be permitted to appear in front of Congress or comply with document requests, saying the policy under the current circumstances is that the administration will have “a full halt” because “this is not a valid procedure” for an impeachment inquiry.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s position.
The letter mounts a sweeping and aggressive attack on the House proceedings and signals a battle ahead over whether the president is receiving the legal protections he and his lawyers believe he deserves.
The White House is claiming that Trump’s constitutional rights to cross-examine witnesses and review all evidence in impeachment proceedings extend even to House investigations, not just a potential Senate trial.
It also is calling on Democrats to grant Republicans in the House subpoena power to seek evidence in the president’s defense.
The White House letter came as a federal judge heard arguments Tuesday in a separate case on whether the House had undertaken a formal impeachment inquiry despite not having taken an official vote and whether the inquiry can be characterized, under the law, as a “judicial proceeding.”
That distinction matters because while grand jury testimony is ordinarily secret, one exception authorizes a judge to disclose it in connection with a judicial proceeding. House Democrats are seeking grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation as they conduct their impeachment inquiry.