Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland was supposed to be at the House Tuesday for a deposition, but at the last minute, the White House blocked him from appearing. Sondland is the latest in a string of White House attempts to obstruct the impeachment inquiry, and House Democrats have said they will regard such efforts as obstruction, itself an impeachment-worthy offense.
Sondland is a key witness to Donald Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to dig for dirt on his political opponents. He’s the guy who shows up in former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker’s text records saying things like, “I think POTUS really wants the deliverable”—the investigation into the Bidens—and confirming that an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky knew what Trump wanted. He was not just a witness to the extortion; he was part of it.
You can see why the House needs to hear from Sondland, and why the White House would want to block him. Though the White House isn’t blocking only Sondland. Instead, it’s a more comprehensive effort to reject the validity of the impeachment inquiry at all. Yes, it is obstruction of justice, and no, it is not Trump’s first obstruction rodeo.
The House needs to start holding people in contempt, now.