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Article snippet: Secretary of State MORE on Tuesday warned that officials at his agency would not show up for scheduled depositions with House investigators, ramping up a heated battle with Democrats in their impeachment inquiry. Democrats responded by arguing that Pompeo’s actions may constitute witness intimidation and obstruction of Congress’s investigation, which could be used as an argument for filing articles of impeachment. The chairmen of three House committees have requested depositions with five current and former State Department officials starting this week as part of their investigation into MORE and his son’s business dealings. But Pompeo said in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman MORE (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday that the scheduled dates offered insufficient time for all of the officials to prepare. The chairmen — Engel, Intelligence Committee Chairman MORE (D-Md.) — warned that refusing to comply with their demands could be used against Pompeo as evidence of obstruction. “Any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from talking with Congress — including State Department employees — is illegal and will constitute evidence of obstruction of the impeachment inquiry. In response, Congress may infer from this obstruction that any withheld documents and testimony would reveal information that corroborates the whistleblower complaint,” Engel, Schiff and Cummings said in a joint statement. The chairmen also sent a letter to Deputy Secretary of State John S... Link to the full article to read more