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White House will not comply with Democratic impeachment inquiry

The White House "cannot participate" in the impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats last month, according to a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House committee chairs on Oct. 8.

"Put simply, you seek to overturn the results of the 2016 election and deprive the American people of the President they have freely chosen," the letter reads. "Many Democrats now apparently view impeachment not only as a means to undo the democratic results of the last election, but as a strategy to influence the next election, which is barely more than a year away."

A senior administration official told reporters on a background briefing call that the administration's current policy is to institute a "full halt" when it comes to requests or subpoenas for testimony and documents.

The letter follows the Trump administration's decision to block Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, from testifying in the inquiry. Lawyers for Sondland said in a statement that the State Department directed him not to appear on Capitol Hill, even though he had previously agreed to appear without the need for a subpoena, National Public Radio reported.

President Donald Trump tweeted that he would have loved for Sondland to testify, but, "unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court."

House Democrats opened the impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower lodged a complaint against Trump claiming the president tried to "solicit interference" in the 2020 election by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July to "look into" allegations involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.