A federal judge in the United States of America has ruled that President Donald Trump's aides can be made to testify in the ongoing impeachment probe.
In a 120-page decision, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia gave the Democrats another major victory in their attempt to get White House officials to testify.
The judge emphasised that no one was above the law and the president of the US was not a king.
"Presidents are not kings," the judge ruled as quoted by BBC.
“They do not have subjects, bound by loyalty or blood, whose destiny they are entitled to control,” he added.
Democrats are expected to use the ruling as a basis for summoning senior members of the Trump administration including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
This sets the stage for a vicious battle between the executive and legislative branches of government as the impeachment probe gathers steam.
The judge went on to say that the power must be split between the arms of government to guard against the prospect of tyranny.
“It is a core tenet of this nation’s founding that the powers of a monarch must be split between the branches of the government to prevent tyranny… Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that presidents are not kings, " he said according to the Guardian.