Congress has the power to provide oversight of the Executive Branch, and to call witnesses to testify as part of that oversight process. This is not in dispute. It is a foundational feature of our system of checks and balances. Congress makes laws and appropriates money to fund government functions. It must monitor how government is functioning, and how taxpayer money is being used, and whether the Executive is enforcing—and complying—with the laws it has passed. This has been affirmed by the Supreme Court. It is settled law. While every presidential administration pushes back on congressional oversight, Donald Trump and his crew are now making the argument that Congress simply has no such power.

This has been going on for some time now, as pretty much every department of the Executive Branch has stonewalled perfectly lawful investigations from House Democrats. There is a lot to investigate, you see. Mostly, this has proven effective, as Democrats have been reluctant to force the issue by holding people in contempt. When Corey Lewandowski showed up and made a mockery of proceedings, Democrats basically wilted. Many of their subpoenas are tied up in the federal courts while Trump's lawyers make absurd anti-constitutional arguments for why he cannot under any circumstances be held accountable.

One witness slipped through the cracks last week, however: the former U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, testified against the expressed instructions of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and in the process dropped off some texts between himself and other diplomats that pretty much laid out a quid pro quo—actually, multiple—in Trump's dealings with the Ukrainians. Perhaps the key player in the exchanges was a guy named Gordon Sondland, a former hotelier who donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration and then, in completely unrelated news, became the United States Ambassador to the European Union. Congress now wants to speak with Mr. Sondland, but Pompeo's State Department is once again attempting to block him from testifying because...well, they're not really saying why. Sondland's lawyer claims that he wants to testify, but because he's a current State Department employee, he's got no choice but to comply.

Oh wait. Here's the president announcing why on the Tweet Machine.

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. Importantly, Ambassador Sondland’s tweet, which few report, stated, “I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo’s of any kind.” That says it ALL!

Needless to say, this is a giant pile of manure. Republicans' rights have not been taken away, it's not a kangaroo court, but anyway, none of that shit is relevant! Congress has the power to subpoena witnesses in the course of exercising its oversight powers. That's it. That's why Hillary Clinton testified for 11 hours before the Benghazi committee, an actual kangaroo court. If Congress wants to talk to you, you go talk—particularly if you are named in a possible criminal conspiracy within the Executive Branch, like Sondland is.

Trump and Pompeo really do not want Gordon Sondland to testify. DANIEL MIHAILESCU Getty Images

Oh, and it appears Trump meant Sondland's text when he called it a "tweet" up there. The brain is good! Here's the text exchange in question. Bill Taylor was acting as the top American diplomat in Ukraine after the Trump administration pulled our Ukrainian ambassador because she was not cooperating with the shady shit that Giuliani and Co. were up to over there.

[9/9/19, 12:31:06 AM] Bill Taylor: The message to the Ukrainians (and Russians) we send with the decision on security assistance is key. With the hold, we have already shaken their faith in us. Thus my nightmare scenario.

[9/9/19, 12:34:44 AM] Bill Taylor: Counting on you to be right about this interview, Gordon.

[9/9/19, 12:37:16 AM] Gordon Sondland: Bill, I never said I was “right”. I said we are where we are and believe we have identified the best pathway forward. Lets hope it works.

[9/9/19, 12:47:11 AM] Bill Taylor: As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.

[9/9/19, 5:19:35 AM] Gordon Sondland: Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop the back and forth by text If you still have concerns I recommend you give Lisa Kenna or S a call to discuss them directly. Thanks.

Here you can see Taylor, a career diplomat, was determined to get the shady shit they'd been talking about over the phone on the record. He laid out the quid pro quo for all to see: if the Ukrainians wanted to get the military aid they needed to defend themselves against Russian aggression, they'd need to ratfuck Joe Biden for Trump's personal political benefit. (Again, this is the second such quid pro quo that shows up in the texts.) Sondland did not respond for close to five hours, at which point he showed up with a press release that debuts what would become the official Trumpist line on all this: NO QUID PRO QUO! These guys are not exactly MI6, which is why Sondland spilled the beans towards the end there:

I suggest we stop the back and forth by text.

Translation: Please abide by The Stringer Bell Rule.

Thanks to The Wall Street Journal on this fine Tuesday, we now know what Sondland was up to in those five hours he was thinking about his text response.

The next day, Mr. Taylor told Mr. Sondland: “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

Mr. Sondland called Mr. Trump before texting back less than five hours later, according to the person familiar with his activities.

“The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind,” Mr. Sondland said. He added: “I suggest we stop the back and forth by text.”

That press-release text may well have been dictated by the president! It's a callback to Trump Junior's obviously absurd statement on the Trump Tower Meeting. They came up with the NO QUID PRO QUO! defense right then and there, but more to the point, this would appear to directly implicate El Jefe. This whole thing is so achingly obvious it defies belief. It's the kind of thing we can only assume Trump was up to for decades in his shady-ass business dealings, which never came to light because he would lawyer people to death before it ever got to that point. Now, though, he's in the great arena. It's going to come out. He has subjected himself to the greatest scrutiny our world has to offer. There's no going back, and for the sake of the republic, there is no way Gordon Sondland can be allowed to avoid testifying.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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