Live updates: Democrats condemn Trump administration for blocking Sondland deposition; Trump calls panels a ‘kangaroo court’ - The Washington Post

Jabin Botsford The Washington Post President Trump arrives to speak during a signing ceremony in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Monday.

Democrats swiftly condemned a move by the Trump administration Tuesday to block a planned deposition by Gordon Sondland, a key figure in the Ukraine controversy, as President Trump sought to justify by the move by calling the House committees investigating him a “kangaroo court.”

The latest developments came as a new Washington Post-Schar School poll showed public opinion has shifted quickly against Trump, with a majority of Americans now saying they endorse an impeachment inquiry.

Meanwhile, House Democrats are weighing extraordinary steps to secure testimony from a whistleblower whose complaint centered on Trump’s July call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that sparked the inquiry.

Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, was scheduled to be deposed by three committees at 9:30 a.m. about his activities as lawmakers seek to learn more about Trump pressing Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden at a time when U.S. military assistance had been suspended.

●House Democrats consider masking identity of whistleblower from Trump’s GOP allies in Congress.

●Demoralized State Department personnel question Pompeo’s role in Ukraine crisis.

●Melania Trump seems unfazed by her husband’s possible impeachment.

Read the whistleblower complaint | The rough transcript of Trump’s call with Zelensky |What’s next in the Trump impeachment inquiry

9:50 a.m.: Trump’s Republican allies defend administration, attack Schiff

Five of Trump’s Republican allies in Congress defended the administration’s decision to block the deposition of Sondland and accused House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) of conducting an unfair investigation.

“This is a kangaroo court and Chairman Schiff is acting like a malicious Captain Kangaroo,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who joined his colleagues in speaking to reporters after Schiff made a statement on Tuesday morning.

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), another defender of the president, called the House inquiry “a political charade” and “a clown show.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asserted that the American people “have a right to know who the whistleblower is,” but added he has no plans to force their unmasking.

— Mike DeBonis

9:35 a.m.: Schiff says Sondland’s failure to appear ‘strong evidence’ of obstruction

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said the decision to block Sondland’s appearance is “strong evidence” of obstruction of Congress, potentially another article of impeachment against Trump.

Speaking to reporters, Schiff said that the State Department not only blocked Sondland’s appearance but is preventing him from turning over text messages relevant to the impeachment inquiry.

“The failure to produce this witness, the failure to produce these documents we consider yet additional strong evidence of obstruction of the constitutional functions of Congress, a coequal branch of government,” Schiff said. “The president and secretary of state are taking actions that prevent us from getting the facts needed to protect the nation’s security.”

Schiff did not take questions from reporters.

9:25 a.m.: Trump says Sondland would have faced a ‘kangaroo court’

Trump said blocking Sondland’s appearance was justified because he was scheduled to be deposed by “a totally compromised kangaroo court.”

“I would love to send Ambassador Sondland, a really good man and great American, to testify, but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court, where Republican’s rights have been taken away, and true facts are not allowed out for the public to see,” Trump said in a tweet.

9:10 a.m.: State Dept. order to Sondland draws condemnation from Democrats

The State Department’s move to block Sondland from appearing before congressional committees on Tuesday drew swift condemnation from Democrats.

“This is part of the obstructionism of the White House that has been taking place since the beginning of the year,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a Judiciary Committee member, said in an interview. “We have a lawless, runaway executive branch of government, and the president has ordered wholesale defiance of the lawful demands of Congress.”

Raskin said that the administration’s actions “can be reduced to an article of impeachment.”

“In a certain sense they are digging their own impeachment pit if they thumb their nose at the people’s representatives,” Raskin said.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said blocking Sondland amounted to “obstruction.”

“Sondland is a key witness to the President’s attempts to seek campaign interference from Ukraine,” he said in a tweet. “The President is obviously terrified of what Sondland might tell Congress.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said the Trump administration’s move showed “consciousness of guilt.”

“An innocent president allows his team to be interviewed. But a guilty one blocks testimony,” Swalwell tweeted.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) planned to address reporters about the issue at 9:30 a.m.

— Mike DeBonis

8:50 a.m.: White House blocks Sondland deposition

The Trump administration on Tuesday blocked a planned deposition by Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, who has emerged as a central figure in the impeachment inquiry.

Sondland was scheduled to be deposed by lawmakers about his activities as Trump urged Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son Hunter.

Text messages made public last week show that Sondland, whose portfolio does not include U.S.-Ukraine relations, inserted himself into the effort to obtain a commitment from Ukraine to launch the investigations. At the time, the government in Kiev was eagerly awaiting the release of nearly $400 million in U.S. military aid and the arrangement of a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Zelensky.

[Officials’ texts reveal belief that Trump wanted probes as condition of Ukraine meeting]

In one text message, Sondland wrote that Trump “really wants the deliverable,” apparently referring to a clear demonstration from Ukraine that it would undertake the investigations.

Sondland worked closely with Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, to shape U.S. foreign policy around Trump’s desire to investigate Hunter Biden, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, as well as an unsubstantiated theory that Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 presidential election to undermine Trump’s candidacy.