As he did during the Russia investigation, Donald Trump has framed the impeachment inquiry against him as a biased political hit. “The Do Nothing Democrats get 3 Constitutional lawyers for their Impeachment hoax (they will need them!), the Republicans get one,” the president tweeted Monday morning. “Oh, that sounds fair!” And yet, when presented with an opportunity to defend his “perfect” actions on Capitol Hill, he has demurred, refusing to participate in House Democrats’ proceedings. “All of this is an unprecedented and extremely troubling denial of basic due process that destroys the legitimacy and credibility of your inquiry,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler late Sunday, declining to make the president available for an appearance before the panel this week.

It was the latest effort by the administration to stonewall the inquiry, which will almost certainly result in Trump’s impeachment in the House. And, as with other White House strategies, it smacked of the president’s desire to have it both ways. In his letter, Cipollone complained of the “profound procedural deficiencies that have tainted this entire inquiry,” yet complained that it is “too late to cure” them, hence Trump’s decision to stay away. He suggested that, if Democrats are “serious about conducting a fair process going forward, and in order to protect the rights and privileges of the President, we may consider participating in future Judiciary Committee proceedings if you afford the Administration the ability to do so meaningfully.”

The same sort of doublethink is evident in the White House’s treatment of firsthand impeachment witnesses. Though Trump and his allies have repeatedly complained that the testimonies of Bill Taylor, Marie Yovanovitch and others are merely “hearsay,” he has also directed a number of current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of Trump’s relations with Ukraine not to testify. Last week a federal judge called BS on that strategy, rejecting the administration’s position that ex-White House counsel Don McGahn and others should be able to ignore Congressional subpoenas. “Absolute immunity from compelled congressional process simply does not exist,” judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in his decision. “Presidents are not kings.” (The White House has promised to appeal.)

Nadler cheered the decision, and the next day invited Trump and his counsel to a hearing Wednesday where lawmakers will “discuss the historical and constitutional basis of impeachment.” Trump and his legal team could question witnesses and raise objections, Nadler said in the letter, though he threatened to “impose appropriate remedies” should the president not participate or prevent others from participating. Cipollone was unmoved, writing Sunday that “we cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the President a fair process through additional hearings.”

The refusal sets up another showdown between House Democrats and the president, who is facing a separate Friday deadline to respond to a request to appear on Capitol Hill for future hearings. Trump, of course, has good reason to limit his exposure; the evidence is stacked against him, and it’s difficult to imagine any appearance he makes will help his cause. But it’s tough to argue you’ve been denied due process when you repeatedly refuse to participate in said due process—not that that’s stopped him. “Not nice!” he tweeted Monday.

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