The standoff between Donald Trump and congressional Democrats intensified on Tuesday (October 8th). His administration has banned the US ambassador to the European Union to testify before the elected officials in the context of the impeachment proceedings against the Republican President.
"Earlier this morning, the US State Department asked Ambassador Gordon Sondland not to appear today" in the expected testimony in the House of Representatives, said his lawyer Robert Luskin.
"Bogus court"
Donald Trump justified this decision by calling the opposition's congressional hearings on the "bogus court" case in Ukraine.
By banning Ambassador Gordon Sondland, a "key player" in the Ukrainian case, to testify, "the White House is once again trying to curb and hinder Donald's dismissal investigation" Trump, have indignant the democratic leaders of the commissions in charge of the investigations. "We will issue injunctions to Ambassador Sondland" to be compelled to testify and deliver documents that the State Department refuses to deliver, they said.
Clearly passed the counter-offensive in this explosive investigation, the White House has already refused to follow up on previous injunctions of Democrats, which it accuses of conducting a biased investigation to harm Donald Trump in the run-up to the presidential election. from November 2020.
Opposite opposition insists that to prevent the Congress from advancing in its investigation could constitute an obstacle to justice. In a clear warning, the Democrats recall that this was one of the three grounds for dismissal against President Richard Nixon in 1974, prior to his resignation.
An investigation for an indictment
A successful businessman in the hospitality industry, Gordon Sondland helped finance Donald Trump's campaign and inauguration ceremony, which he became close to. Since his post in Brussels, he has participated this year in SMS exchanges between diplomats who are at the heart of the Ukrainian business.
Returned to Congress last week, these messages have confirmed the Democrats in their suspicions: the US president this summer called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to seek compromising information on his rival Democrat Joe Biden.
The Democrats suspect Donald Trump of abusing his power for personal electoral purposes and then trying to quash the affair. The president believes that this call was "perfect".
The Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced on September 24 the opening of an investigation for an impeachment of Donald Trump.
With AFP