“The big news today is that the White House has taken its fight with Congress to the next level: officially sending word that it will not participate in any aspect of the impeachment probe, which is crazy,” said Trevor Noah at the top of Tuesday night’s Daily Show. “Trump can’t just decline to participate. This is not the Vietnam War.”
Yes, on Tuesday evening the Trump White House issued a public statement saying it would not only be declining to participate in the House of Representatives’ ongoing impeachment probe but that it would be blocking any administration officials’ attempts to.
As Noah explained, “This new tactic threw everything for a loop, because today was meant to be the big day when Congress would hear testimony from Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the EU and Jeff Ross stunt double. But just before the cameras started rolling, the White House pulled the plug,” blocking Sondland’s testimony.
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“Wow. Donald Trump’s White House blocked an ambassador from testifying to Congress,” said a shocked Noah. “What a completely innocent thing to do! Yeah, I bet Trump was probably just scared that the ambassador would exonerate him too much.”
According to media reports, Sondland was Trump’s boy Friday when it came to Ukraine, and, even before Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and withheld military aid, had been working behind the scenes and pressing Ukraine to probe the Bidens.
“OK, that’s your first red flag right there. Trump’s ambassador to the EU was getting involved with a country that isn’t in the EU? That’s not his jurisdiction!” Noah exclaimed. “And the reason Congress is so intent on having Sondland testify is… because he has text messages showing what was going on behind the scenes.”
Yes, on Sept. 9, Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, texted Sondland, “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance to help with a political campaign.” In response, Sondland texted back, “I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions… The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind… I suggest we stop the back and forth by text.” Sondland also later took the Taylor correspondence off-text, demanding that he call him.
“OK, I don’t know if these guys are guilty or not, but you have to admit, those texts look hella suspicious,” said Noah. “Because the only time you say, ‘Stop texting, let’s talk on the phone’ is when something shady is going down. It’s 2019—no one talks on the phone. The only reason to talk on the phone at all is to wish your grandmother a happy birthday or to commit crimes.”
