Trump's refusal to cooperate could expedite impeachment vote: Analyst

US President Donald Trump's refusal to cooperate could expedite an impeachment vote because the impeachment process is getting to be like a runaway train for his administration, a political analyst in Maryland says.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused President Trump of trying to “cover up” his dealings with Ukraine after the White House said it would not cooperate with an impeachment inquiry against the president.

The House launched its formal impeachment inquiry into Trump late last month over a whistle-blower's complaint alleging that he had called on Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic front-runner in the 2020 election.

PressTV-Pelosi: Trump trying to 'cover up' Ukraine dealings

Outraged by the White House move to block an impeachment inquiry into the US president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Trump is trying to "make lawlessness a virtue."

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday, “President Trump has been stonewalling all investigations of him from the beginning of his presidency. This latest declaration of not cooperating any further should come as no surprise. Often they say the cover up is worse than the crime and the best advice is to let all things come out in the open early to avoid appearances of impropriety and to show a level of transparency, which often fools many parties involved.”

“However, the impeachment investigation is more like a runaway train for the Trump administration and refusing to cooperate only adds to his woes. He might, in the short term, gain some political benefit and give his base the red meat they need, and it also might hurt the Democrats as they could easily be seen as operating a vendetta on him for their humiliating defeat in 2016,” he stated.

“Like a cover up, the lack of cooperation in itself would be considered a political crime, one that would be included in impeachment articles. In many ways, except for the fact that the House might see taking this up with the courts, which buys time for Trump, this refusal to cooperate can expedite a final decision by the House to vote on impeachment,” he noted.

“The political fallout will happen in 2020 but in the short term, leading up to this, Trump will be forever painted as a failed president and the House will be seen by many for two things: finally living up to their Constitutional obligations, which has been invisible from Day 1; and also having their payback moment, not just for their loss in 2016, but the impeachment of President Clinton by the Republicans,” he said.

“As all runaway trains go in Washington, there will always be unintended consequences and more and more people will be seen on the Sunday morning talk shows pontificating over the demise of our Republic, with of course their chosen party as the way back to restoring ‘civility’ and the rule of law,” the analyst concluded.

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