Certainly Democratic leaders don’t want impeachment. Their argument is clear and convincing: With a presidential election next year, the party’s focus should be on defeating Trump, not impeaching him.

Rather than trapping themselves in a lengthy, almost certainly futile bid to convict and remove Trump, Democratic leaders argue that they should instead use their lesser constitutional power to investigate the president. It’s a hard sell with some members from the bluest of blue districts.

But Trump now seems determined to deny Congress that power. Trump has issued an edict that his administration will comply with none of Congress’ subpoenas rather than contesting matters individually. Trump says congressional demands are illegitimate because Democrats are trying to hurt him.

While this is probably true of some, it also provides a powerful pretext for an administration that has already many times colored outside the lines to reject even appropriate, needful oversight.