WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration directed a U.S. ambassador not to appear for a scheduled deposition as part of the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into the president Tuesday.
Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, was scheduled to answer questions Tuesday from three House committees, part of a series of planned depositions this week that is also expected to include Marie Yovanovitch, who was abruptly ousted in May from her job as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Democratic leaders have warned that attempts by the Trump administration to slow the impeachment inquiry could, themselves, form grounds for an impeachment charge of obstruction.
Sondland took part in a series of text messages that were released last week by House Democrats conducing the probe into President Donald Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to help him win reelection in 2020 by investigating former vice president Joe Biden.
The messages came out after a 10-hour interview with one of the diplomats, Kurt Volker, who stepped down as special envoy to Ukraine amid the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.
In the text messages, top U.S. diplomats including Sondland appeared to encourage Ukraine's president to conduct an investigation into Biden's family in exchange for release of military aid vital to Ukraine's defense and a visit to Washington with Trump.
In the exchange, Sondland said Trump "really wants the deliverable," referring to Ukraine's commitment to conduct an investigation.
Since the inquiry was announced, the president's allies have resisted Democrats' demands for documents and testimony. Democratic leaders have said they won't accept White House efforts to impede the probe.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said at a news conference last week that the investigation will challenge attempts from the White House to stonewall the investigation.
"The White House needs to understand that any action like that that forces us to litigate or have to consider litigation will be considered further evidence of obstruction of justice," Schiff said.
He added that any such action could signal that officials are trying to conceal facts that would corroborate allegations in a whistleblower complaint that triggered the inquiry into Trump.
"They just need to know that even as they try to undermine our ability to find the facts around the president's effort to coerce a foreign leader to create dirt that he can use against a political opponent, that they will be strengthening the case on obstruction if they behave that way," Schiff said.
