United States: White House refuses to cooperate with Congressional inquiry

, Washington correspondent

This time the war is declared. The White House said on Tuesday (October 8th) that it now refused to cooperate with Congress in the "impeachment" investigation against President Donald Trump.

Presidential Advocate Pat Cipollone sent an eight-page letter to Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, in which he slashed the investigation into the Ukrainian case: "Simply put, you are trying to cancel the results of the 2016 election and deprive Americans of the president they freely chose, "he writes.

According to him, the Chamber should have held a formal vote to open the investigation. "Under these circumstances, President Trump and his administration can not participate in your partisan and unconstitutional investigation," he continues.

"Bid investigation"

A few hours earlier, the White House had blocked the testimony before the elected officials of Gordon D. Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, a key figure in the Ukrainian case. To justify this decision, Donald Trump had called the efforts of the Democrats "bogus inquiry".

Investigating parliamentary committee officials reacted in the evening by sending a formal injunction to Gordon D. Sondland, forcing him to attend a hearing on Wednesday, October 16, and forward the investigation materials.

Obstruction

Democrats cry out for abuse of power. They consider that any effort to block their investigation may be considered as "evidence" of obstruction of justice, an additional reason for the impeachment of the president. This was the case against former President Richard Nixon, who resigned before the House of Representatives took the vote.

The White House seemed hesitant in recent days about its cooperation with the investigation. His decision to go into force aims to save time while the Democrats wanted to go fast. But it seems risky, however, some Republicans worry: the opposition already accuses the president of having things to hide and this lack of cooperation could reinforce the suspicions.

If public opinion is more and more favorable to the impeachment of Donald Trump, the latter still enjoys the support of his majority in the Senate. However, once a possible indictment has been passed in the House of Representatives, it is the senators who will have to decide whether to condemn the president or not. The removal of the billionaire seems still unlikely.