White House Will Not Cooperate With Congress' Impeachment Inquiry

In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Democrats on Tuesday, the White House said it will not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

Jonathan Karl, ABC News chief White House correspondent. (@jonkarl)

Washington Post: "White House says it will not cooperate with House impeachment inquiry; Democrats subpoena State Dept. official" — "The White House said Tuesday that it will not cooperate with House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, ratcheting up tensions between the legislative and executive branches amid an outcry from Democrats that the Trump administration is stonewalling their investigations.

"Trump personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani said earlier Tuesday that he would not cooperate with House investigators and that he “can’t imagine” that anyone from the Trump administration would appear before a Democratic-led panel investigating the president.

"Giuliani’s comments came hours after the State Department blocked a scheduled deposition by Gordon Sondland, a key figure in the Ukraine controversy, prompting three House committee chairmen to announce that they would issue a subpoena.

"The Democrats said they viewed the move as 'obstruction of the impeachment inquiry,' while President Trump sought to justify it by calling the House committees investigating him a 'kangaroo court.' "

New York Times: "Trump’s Ukraine Call Was ‘Crazy’ and ‘Frightening,’ Official Told Whistle-Blower" — "A White House official who listened to President Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine’s leader described it as 'crazy,' 'frightening' and 'completely lacking in substance related to national security,' according to a memo written by the whistle-blower at the center of the Ukraine scandal, a C.I.A. officer who spoke to the White House official.

"The official was 'visibly shaken by what had transpired,' the C.I.A. officer wrote in his memo, one day after Mr. Trump pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in a July 25 phone call to open investigations that would benefit him politically.

"A palpable sense of concern had already taken hold among at least some in the White House that the call had veered well outside the bounds of traditional diplomacy, the officer wrote."