Trump's impeachment obstruction requires a maximal response

Bring out the handcuffs

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Anatartan/iStock)

President Trump's latest effort to obstruct the impeachment inquiry into himself came on Tuesday, with the announcement that he told U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland not to show up to his scheduled deposition with House investigators. The subject was to be his recently-revealed text messages with other diplomats discussing Trump's effort to coerce Ukraine into publicly investigating the Biden family. Sondland's lawyer said he had no choice but to obey Trump, but that's a lie — Sondland could resign and ignore Trump's order if he really wanted to. In response, House Democrats say they'll issue a subpoena for Sondland's testimony along with the emails and texts from his personal device that the State Department is reportedly withholding.

If he doesn't comply, the House should be prepared to clap this man in irons and forcibly drag him to the Capitol to testify. Trump cannot be allowed to prevent testimony into his criminal abuses of power.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.