Week three of the official impeachment inquiry into President Trump's dealing with Ukraine got off to a rocky start for House Democrats with the State Department ordering U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland to skip a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill Tuesday, just hours before it was scheduled to begin.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) quickly responded to the cancellation by accusing the administration of obstruction. "The failure to produce these documents we consider yet additional strong evidence of obstruction of the constitutional functions of Congress, a coequal branch of government."

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) echoed the obstruction claim in an interview with Cheddar on Tuesday, saying, "If the administration continues to not have it's administration officials come forward, that will indicate obstruction."

"Obstruction is a high crime and misdemeanor," she added.

While Democrats try to use the public forum to pressure the White House to provide information related to the impeachment inquiry, some Republican lawmakers are publicly supporting the decision to withhold Sondland. Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told reporters, "We wish [Sondland] would have been able to testify too, but we fully understand why the administration made the decision they did."

The ambassador's failure to appear before the House committees marks the first time an official has refused to come forward in regard to the inquiry. However, last week Secretary of State Mike Pompeo failed to turn over subpoenaed documents by the Friday deadline.

Schiff, along with House Foreign Affairs Chair Eliot Engel and Oversight and Reform Chair Elijah Cummings ultimately subpoenaed Sondland for failing to appear Tuesday before the committees.

Text messages released by the committees last week revealed that Sondland was among the U.S. diplomats involved in conversations with then-State Department special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor, and President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani .

Clarke began calling for the impeachment of Trump long before the Ukraine whistleblower. This latest development, she said, is "a pattern of corruption. We've seen this since 2017."

"People are recognizing the existential threat that Donald Trump is to our lives," the congresswoman added.

Share:
More In Politics
What’s in the legislation to end the federal government shutdown
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Federal Reserve cuts key rate as shutdown clouds economic outlook
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
Load More