I'll take the word of seasoned veterans working on several administrations confirming this is not standard procedure over what the WH, or fox is saying.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/us/politics/sondland-trump-ukraine-impeach.html Witness in Trump-Ukraine Matter Ordered Not to Speak in Impeachment Inquiry WASHINGTON — The Trump administration directed a top American diplomat involved in its pressure campaign on Ukraine not to appear Tuesday morning for a scheduled interview in the House’s impeachment inquiry. The decision to block Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, from speaking with investigators for three House committees is certain to provoke an immediate conflict with potentially profound consequences for the White House and President Trump. House Democrats have repeatedly warned that if the administration tries to interfere with their investigation, it will be construed as obstruction, a charge they see as potentially worthy of impeachment. Democrats from the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Government Affairs committees did not immediately respond on Tuesday. But in making the decision, hours before he was scheduled to sit for a deposition in the basement of the Capitol, the Trump administration appears to be calculating that it is better off risking the House’s ire than letting Mr. Sondland show up and set a precedent for cooperation with an inquiry they have strenuously argued is illegitimate. Robert Luskin, Mr. Sondland’s lawyer, said in a statement that as a State Department employee, his client had no choice but to comply with the administration’s direction. He said Mr. Sondland had been prepared and happy to testify, and would do so in the future if allowed. “Ambassador Sondland is profoundly disappointed that he will not be able to testify today,” Mr. Luskin said. “Ambassador 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.” Mr. Sondland has become enmeshed in the burgeoning scandal into how the president sought to push the Ukrainians to investigate his political rivals. Although Ukraine is not in the union, Mr. Trump instructed Mr. Sondland — a wealthy hotelier and campaign contributor — to take a lead in relations between the Trump administration and the country. Democrats consider him a key witness to what transpired between the two countries. Mr. Sondland interacted directly with Mr. Trump, speaking with the president several times around key moments that House Democrats are now investigating, including before and after Mr. Trump’s July call with the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The president asked Mr. Zelensky on the call to do him “a favor” and investigate the business dealings of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son and a conspiracy theory about Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. Text messages provided to Congress last week showed that Mr. Sondland and another senior diplomat had worked on language for a statement they wanted the Ukrainian president to put out in August that would have committed him to the investigations sought by Mr. Trump. The diplomats consulted with Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, about the statement, believing they needed pacify him in order to allow the United States to normalize relations with the Ukrainians. Mr. Sondland was also involved in a back and forth with top American diplomats to Ukraine over text last month demonstrating that some senior State Department officials believed that Mr. Trump may have been holding up $391 million in security aid for Ukraine as leverage for getting its leaders to conduct the investigations Mr. Trump wanted. “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” William B. Taylor Jr., a top American official in Ukraine, wrote in one exchange in early September. After receiving the text, Mr. Sondland called Mr. Trump, who asserted it was false. “Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions,” Mr. Sondland wrote in the messages. “The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind.” Mr. Sondland added: “I suggest we stop the back and forth by text.” There have been conflicting accounts of Mr. Sondland’s views, however. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, told The Wall Street Journal last week that Mr. Sondland had told him in August that the release of the aid was contingent upon Ukraine opening the investigations. Mr. Johnson was alarmed and asked Mr. Trump if there was a quid pro quo involved. The president adamantly denied it, he said. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...chment-witness-key-player-ukraine/3867905002/ Impeachment: Gordon Sondland, donor-turned-diplomat, a central player in Ukraine controversy WASHINGTON – Gordon Sondland, President Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, was a controversial appointee even before the Ukraine scandal broke. He came to the post as a GOP donor with no diplomatic experience and raised eyebrows with a brash style that did not sit well in Brussels, where he is stationed. A wealthy former hotel magnate from Oregon, Sondland was tapped for the EU ambassador position after donating $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee. He made the contributions through four separate limited liability corporations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign donations.
The House has the power to detain people for not complying with a subpoena. It is not something that should be used lightly but the way Trump illegally prevents the witnesses from testifying by claiming executive privilege extends throughout the executive branch justifies it. Lock them up.
At this point, witnesses fear Trump more because he has his personal DOJ and the house has been absolutely toothless
Certainly witnesses who are currently masquerading as whistleblowers have reason to fear what is coming. They are going to be outed and if the trial goes to the senate and makes it past a dismissal motion then they are going to be cross examined along with witnesses such as Hunter Biden and Joe Biden. So far though, Congress has not even officially launched an inquiry and may or may not decide to blow the other leg off by doing so. We shall see. Just a bunch of dem committee chairs klutzing around trying to satisfy Speaker of the House Alexandra Ocasio Cortez. What happened to Jerry Nadler? He is working down at Burger King now or what? Oh I see, Adam Schiff is the new mattell action figure for the impeachment blabber now.
This a disgusting take and undermines what America is, a nation based on the rule of law. All this disinformation talk about whistleblowers being anything other than whistleblowers just undermines the entire process. Now this benefits you if you are pro authoritarian but to the rest of us that shit is just weakness plain and simple. If you can’t stand up for the law in America then you need to start rethinking if you are actually in the right country.
What chu talkin bout? The house is on a little fishing expedition. The fish aren't biting. Let Nancy from SanFranshitholecisco call for a full vote and until then, just put the house on "ignore." Problem solved.