If you were wondering when America will arrive at a constitutional crisis, "it's here," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. The White House sent House Democrats an "officially bitchy eight-page letter" Tuesday informing them President Trump won't cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, he said. "Don't get him wrong — Trump would like to help with their inquiry into his conversation with Ukraine, but tragically, he has developed phone spurs."
"You can't just not participate in your own impeachment," Colbert said. The White House letter "is full of absolutely bonkers arguments," like that House Democrats have "denied the president the right to cross-examine witnesses" — the main "witness," he noted, being "Trump's incriminating phone transcript, which he released." Also, he added, "obstruction of an impeachment inquiry is itself grounds for impeachment — this whole thing is like that MC Escher print 'Hands Cuffing Themselves.'" He laughed at Trump and his allies fixating on kangaroos and huffed helium to make a point.
It is "crazy" that the White House thinks it needn't cooperate with House investigators, Trevor Noah agreed at The Daily Show. "Trump can't just decline to participate — this isn't the Vietnam War." Trump also blocked U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland from testifying before three House committees Tuesday, he noted. "What a completely innocent thing to do! Yeah, I bet Trump was just scared that that ambassador would exonerate him too much." This is "a big deal," Noah added, because Sondland is at the middle of Trump's Ukraine efforts, and his text exchanges with fellow top diplomats "look hella suspicious."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump and his team are "also withholding text messages from Sondland's personal phone — because that's what innocent presidents do," Jimmy Kimmel said at Kimmel Live. "And while we absolutely should have the opportunity to hear his testimony, really we don't need to hear his testimony. We already have the White House's own transcript of the call with the Ukrainian president where Trump specifically asked him to investigate the Bidens, days after suddenly withholding their military aid" — something White House lawyers clearly identified as "a criminal act," according to a memo from the whistleblower. Watch Kimmel describe Trump's meltdown, and drag in Matt Damon, below. Peter Weber
-
September 3 editorial cartoonsCartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include news from the war front in Ukraine, RFK Jr. riding the Grim Reaper, and a Donald Trump cabinet meeting
-
Why high-street coffee chains may have had their dayIn the Spotlight Rising costs of coffee, energy and payroll, plus growing appetite for luxury drinks like matcha, has caused boom in independent and speciality coffee shops
-
GPS jamming: a new danger to civil aircraftThe Explainer Use of the 'invisible threat' is on the rise
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
