随着民主党对唐纳德·特朗普总统的弹劾调查愈演愈烈，另一名白宫高级官员拒绝遵守诉讼程序。
代理参谋长米克·马尔瓦尼的高级顾问罗伯特·布莱尔预计将在周一为正在进行的闭门众议院情报委员会听证会作证，但布莱尔的一名律师向多家新闻媒体证实，根据白宫的指示，他不会出席听证会。
布莱尔没有被传唤，他是听取特朗普和乌克兰总统沃洛迪米尔·泽兰斯基7月25日通话的多名美国官员之一。在通话中，特朗普被指控向对手施压，要求对2020年总统竞争对手乔·拜登展开腐败调查，以换取国会批准的军事援助。
布莱尔的律师惠特尼·埃勒曼告诉记者，白宫指示布莱尔不要作证，理由是委员会不允许证人出庭时有白宫律师在场金融时报。
埃勒曼说:“布莱尔先生夹在政府两个同等部门宣称的法律责任之间，这是一场他无法解决的冲突。”。
埃勒曼补充道:“鉴于行政部门给他的明确指示，布莱尔恭敬地拒绝出庭作证。”。"然而，一旦冲突得到适当解决，他将履行他的所有法律职责."
在对以下问题的进一步评论中CNN埃勒曼说，如果被传唤，布莱尔仍将拒绝作证。
“白宫的指示，以及司法部的[的建议]涵盖了传票，”他说。
2019年5月8日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普离开白宫之前，参谋长罗伯特·布莱尔的高级顾问在南草坪散步。
布莱尔在一月份被任命为代理白宫办公厅主任时加入了白宫。他曾在马尔瓦尼手下担任管理和预算办公室(OMB)国家安全项目副主任，后者曾担任该部主任，他现在仍然担任这一职务。
在此之前，布莱尔曾担任众议院国防拨款小组委员会的工作人员主任。
到目前为止，他和其他一些人拒绝为民主党领导的对特朗普的弹劾调查作证。
周五，证实美国能源部长里克·佩里(Rick Perry)也将是拒绝作证的人之一，理由与白宫法律顾问不被允许出席的理由相同。
佩里——与美国驻欧盟大使戈登·桑德兰(Gordon Sondland)和美国前乌克兰问题特别代表库尔特·沃尔克(Kurt Volker)一道——被指派在特朗普5月解除前驻乌克兰大使玛丽·约瓦诺维奇(Marie Yovanovitch)职务后，推动美国对乌克兰的政策。
除了特朗普的俄罗斯最高顾问菲奥娜·希尔和国务卿迈克·庞贝的前高级顾问迈克尔·麦金利之外，桑德拉和约瓦诺维奇也被白宫阻止作证。
此图由提供Statista，显示了根据美国宪法第1条第2款和第3款的总统弹劾程序。
前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿和他的前副手查尔斯·库佩尔曼也被白宫告知不要遵守。
美国前代理副检察长尼尔·卡吉尔说特朗普将“陷入火海”“如果他继续阻挠正在进行的弹劾调查。
周四众议院几乎完全按照政党路线投票开始弹劾调查的下一阶段。因此，证人将很快在委员会面前公开露面，而不是闭门造车。
WHO IS ROBERT BLAIR? TOP NATIONAL SECURITY AIDE TOLD BY WHITE HOUSE NOT TO TESTIFY IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
As the Democrats' impeachment investigations into President Donald Trump gather further steam, a further top White House staffer has refused to comply with proceedings.
Robert Blair, a top adviser to acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, was expected to give testimony to ongoing closed-door House Intelligence Committee hearings on Monday, but a lawyer for Blair confirmed to multiple news outlets he will not be attending following instructions received from the White House.
Blair, who was not subpoenaed, was among a number of U.S. officials who listened to the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump is accused of pressuring his counterpart to open a corruption investigation into 2020 presidential rival Joe Biden in return for congressionally approved military aid.
The White House instructed Blair not to testify on the grounds that the committees do not allow witnesses to have White House lawyers present when they appear, Whitney Ellerman—a lawyer for Blair—told the Financial Times.
"Mr Blair is caught between the assertions of legal duty by two coequal branches of government, a conflict which he cannot resolve," Ellerman said.
"In light of the clear direction he has been given by the executive branch, Mr Blair has respectfully declined to appear and testify," Mr Ellerman added. "Nevertheless, he will fulfil all his legal duties once that conflict is appropriately resolved."
In further comments given to CNN, Ellerman said Blair would still refuse to testify if subpoenaed.
"The direction from the White House, and the advice [from the Department of Justice] on which it is based, covers subpoenas," he said.
Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff Robert Blair walks on the South Lawn prior to U.S. President Donald Trump’s departure from the White House May 8, 2019.
Blair joined the White House when Mulvaney was appointed as acting White House Chief of Staff in January. He had served under Mulvaney as associate director for national security programs in the Office of Management of and Budget (OMB) where the latter had served as director of the department, a position he still holds.
Prior to that, Blair served as staff director on the House Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations.
He joins a handful of others who have so far refused to testify to the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against Trump.
On Friday, it was confirmed that U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry will also be among those declining to give a deposition, citing the same reason that White House legal counsel would was not permitted to be present.
Perry—alongside Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special representative for Ukraine—was assigned to drive American policy toward Ukraine after Trump removed the previous ambassador to the country, Marie Yovanovitch, in May.
Sondland and Yovanovitch have also been blocked by the White House from testifying, in addition to Trump's top Russia adviser Fiona Hill and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's former senior adviser, Michael McKinley.
This graphic, provided by Statista, shows the presidential impeachment process according to Article 1, Section 2 and 3 of the U.S. Constitution.
John Bolton, the former National Security Adviser, and Charles Kupperman, his former deputy, were also told by the White House not to comply.
Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general of the U.S., said Trump will go "down in flames" if he continues his attempts to stonewall the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted almost entirely along party lines to start the next phase of the impeachment inquiry. As a result, witnesses will soon appear in public before committees instead of behind closed doors.
