特朗普政府在周二的最后一刻阻止了民主党弹imp调查的主要证人就总统与乌克兰的往来作证，这一举动可能导致白宫弊大于利。
美国众议院欧盟大使戈登·桑德兰（Gordon Sondland）计划在国会议员闭门会议中露面，这是众议院民主党人对唐纳德·特朗普总统进行弹imp调查的一部分。原始举报人投诉中提到了主要证人桑德兰，他详细说明了特朗普与乌克兰总统有关调查政治竞争对手乔·拜登及其儿子亨特的有争议的沟通。
但是美国国务院告诉桑德兰，不要在面试前几个小时就出现在国会山上。这位大使的律师说，他的委托人“非常失望”，但别无选择，只能遵守政府的要求。
国会可以采取其他措施来确保桑德兰的证词，但立法者很可能会将白宫的行为视为妨碍司法公正，这是一项可望而不可及的罪行。
国家安全法专家布拉德利·莫斯（Bradley Moss）告诉《新闻周刊》：“下一步将是发出国会传票，毫无疑问，桑德兰大使将拒绝在同一基础上遵守传票。”
实际上，在白宫阻止桑德兰接受采访的几个小时后，众议院民主党人宣布将为大使的证词和相关文件发出传票。
莫斯解释说，但是，如果传票不动摇政府，让桑德兰讲话，众议院民主党将有三种选择。他们可以蔑视大使，然后将此事转交司法部；他们可以尝试逮捕桑德兰（莫斯说此举被民主党人视为“过度反应”）；或者他们可以在弹each文章中添加他的证词的阻碍，以阻止合法的询问。
莫斯说：“第三个选择几乎肯定是这个传奇的发展方向。”
众议院情报委员会主席亚当·希夫（Adam Schiff）在新闻发布会上对记者说，特朗普政府的“未能出示此证人”可被视为“阻碍的强有力证据”。
桑德兰在7月25日与乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基（Volodymyr Zelensky）通话之前和之后与特朗普进行了互动。上周提供给国会的短信显示，桑德兰和另一位高级官员在一份声明中表示，他们希望泽伦斯基发表声明，这将使乌克兰致力于调查拜登。
希夫说：“美国人民有权知道总统的行为是否符合他们的利益，符合国家的利益，而不是出于他狭narrow的个人政治利益。” “的确，美国人民有必要知道。”
在水门丑闻辞职之前，蔑视国会是针对理查德·尼克松总统的弹against文章之一。
但特朗普似乎对阻碍桑德兰出场的潜在后果并不感到惊讶，并于周二上午在Twitter上攻击弹imp调查。
他在推特上写道：“我很乐意派一个真正的好人和伟大的美国人桑德兰大使作证，但不幸的是，他将在一个完全妥协的袋鼠法庭上作证，共和党的权利被剥夺了。”
但是民意调查显示，自众议院于9月下旬启动调查以来，对特朗普弹each的支持正在增加。一个华盛顿邮报 / SCHAR学校调查周二公布显示了询问和弹劾，并试图罢免特朗普49％的支持率58％的支持。
HERE'S WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT AFTER WHITE HOUSE BLOCKED AMBASSADOR SONDLAND'S TESTIMONY ON TRUMP-UKRAINE MATTER
The Trump administration, at the last minute on Tuesday, blocked a key witness in the Democratic impeachment probe from testifying about the president's dealings with Ukraine—a move that may cause the White House more harm than good.
U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland was scheduled to appear before lawmakers in a closed-door meeting as part of the House Democrats' ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Sondland, a key witness, was mentioned in the original whistleblower complaint detailing Trump's controversial communication with Ukraine's president about investigating political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
But the State Department told Sondland not to appear on Capitol Hill just hours before the interview. The ambassador's attorney said his client was "profoundly disappointed" but had no choice but to comply with the administration's request.
Congress can take additional steps to secure Sondland's testimony, but lawmakers will most likely consider the White House's action as obstruction of justice, which is an impeachable offense.
"The next step will be for the issuance of a congressional subpoena, with which Ambassador Sondland will no doubt refuse to comply on the same basis," Bradley Moss, a national security law expert, told Newsweek.
In fact, hours after the White House blocked Sondland's interview, House Democrats announced they would be issuing a subpoena for the ambassador's testimony and related documents.
But if the subpoena does not sway the administration to allow Sondland to talk, House Democrats will then have three options, Moss explained. They can hold the ambassador in contempt and refer the matter to the Department of Justice; they can try to arrest Sondland (a move Moss said would be considered as "an overreaction" by Democrats); or they can add the stonewalling of his testimony to an article of impeachment for obstructing a lawful inquiry.
"The third option is almost certainly where this saga is headed," Moss said.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters in a press conference that the Trump administration's "failure to produce this witness" could be considered "strong evidence of obstruction."
Sondland interacted with Trump before and after his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Text messages provided to Congress last week show that Sondland and another senior official worked on a statement they wanted Zelensky to issue that would have committed Ukraine to investigating the Bidens.
"The American people have the right to know if the president is acting in their interests, in the nation's interest, and not in his narrow personal, political interests," Schiff said. "Indeed, the American people have a need to know."
Contempt of Congress was one of the impeachment articles considered against President Richard Nixon before he resigned amid the Watergate scandal.
But Trump appeared to be unfazed by the potential consequences of stonewalling Sondland's appearance and spent Tuesday morning attacking the impeachment inquiry on Twitter.
"I would love to send Ambassador Sondland, a really good man and great American, to testify," he wrote on Twitter, "but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court, where Republican's rights have been taken away."
But polling shows that support for Trump's impeachment is growing since the House launched its inquiry in late September. A Washington Post/Schar School survey released on Tuesday showed 58 percent support for the inquiry and 49 percent support for impeachment and attempting to remove Trump from office.
