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U.S. State Department officials ordered Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, to avoid a deposition scheduled for Tuesday morning as part of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry in President Donald Trump’s deadline in Ukraine.

Not long after Sondland’s attorneys announced he’d been directed against attending, Trump chimed in with a tweet saying that he’d like for Sondland, “a great American,” to testify, but that he would be going before a “compromised kangaroo court.”

Yet as promised, Democrats acted quickly and by Tuesday evening had subpoened the Portland businessman turned diplomat at the center of the political scandal. Three House committees are demanding he appear at an Oct. 16 deposition and produce documents, including communications from his personal device that have been turned over to the State Department but not to Congress.

Trump has made no apologies for his request of Ukraine and publicly asked the Chinese for investigative help as well. And by Tuesday night, The White House upped the ante, declaring it would not cooperate with the “illegitimate” impeachment inquiry by House Democrats, sharpening the constitutional clash between Trump and Congress.

Texts released by Sondland’s colleague, Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine, seemed to show Sondland acting as an intermediary as Trump appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his family.

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.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2019

Rep. Adam Schiff, the head of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters at an early-morning press conference that Congress and all Americans were “being deprived” of Sondland’s testimony, as well as text messages on his personal device. Schiff continued, saying that “the failure to produce this witness, the failure to produce these documents we consider yet additional strong evidence of obstruction of the constitutional functions of Congress.”

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden also had responded on Tuesday morning, arguing in a tweet that “love of country” should be more important to Sondland than “obedience to Donald Trump.”

Love of country is more important than obedience to Donald Trump. Despite Trump and Pompeo's desperate attempts to stop him from testifying, Gordon Sondland can choose to come before the House Intelligence Committee and provide all relevant documents and devices. https://t.co/mxAuCvbiui — Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) October 8, 2019

Sondland’s Portland-based lawyer, Jim McDermott, said the order not to testify came from the State legal adviser, the top lawyer at the State Department.

“Early this morning, the U.S. State Department directed Ambassador Gordon Sondland not to appear for his scheduled transcribed interview before the U.S. House of Representatives joint committee,” according to a statement provided by McDermott. He “is profoundly disappointed he will not be able to testify today. As the sitting ambassador to the EU and employee of the State Department, Ambassador Sondland is required to follow the department’s direction.”

The statement continued that Sondland “believes strongly that he acted at all times in the best interests of the United States and he stands ready to answer the committee’s questions fully and truthfully.”

McDermott told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Sondland planned to fly back to Brussels.

Sondland, the hotelier appointed ambassador to the EU after donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration in 2016, has emerged as a key figure in the Ukraine controversy. A whistleblower’s report first brought to light a possible quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Ukraine’s new president. The administration cut off military aid to Ukraine and seemed to dangle it as bait for the Ukraine leadership if they agreed to investigate the Biden affair.

Volker resigned as the political heat grew. In testimony before three congressional committees last week, Volker released a series of texts among himself, Sondland and Zelensky’s top adviser that revealed the diplomats efforts to carry out Trump’s wishes in Ukraine.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.