The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

Our live coverage on the impeachment probe has moved – follow the latest updates here.

Bill Taylor, a top US diplomat to Ukraine.

House Democrats have requested a deposition from Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the issue told CNN.

However his interview has not yet been formally scheduled, the source said.

The request is expected to be met with opposition from the White House and State Department, and could present a quandary for Taylor, according to former State Department officials who know him.

Those officials suggested that if Taylor was made to choose between staying on to guide US policy as charge d’affaires in Kiev – a post he came out of retirement to take – or resigning to be able to testify, he would choose the former.

What’s his role in all this? Taylor was thrust into the public eye following the release of his text exchanges with Kurt Volker, former special envoy for Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, Trump’s appointee for US ambassador to the European Union, 

In the texts, Taylor repeatedly questioned the decision to stall hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine as a potential quid pro quo, calling it “crazy.”

Will he actually testify? It appears unlikely. On Tuesday, just hours before he was due to appear, the State Department instructed Sondland not to testify at his scheduled hearing. Of the five diplomats scheduled to testify by the House, only Volker has been deposed. He resigned from the State Department days before his congressional appearance in order to testify – an option that Taylor could take.

Former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was unexpectedly removed from her post in May 2019.

Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch was the top US diplomat in Ukraine before she was unexpectedly removed from her post in Kiev in May.

However she now finds herself increasingly ensnared in the scandal as new developments come to light.

What’s her role in all this? Yovanovitch is scheduled to be deposed by House committees in the impeachment inquiry on Friday.

Here’s why: Two associates of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, were arrested for federal campaign finance violations. The two are also reported to have been involved in helping Giuliani try to find damaging information on former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine. They allegedly played a role in pushing Yovanovitch’s ouster while she was still US ambassador to Ukraine.

Her removal: Trump personally ordered Yovanovitch’s removal, according to the Wall Street Journal. She was accused of trying to undermine the President and blocking efforts to investigate Democrats like Biden.

What’s Trump saying now? Trump signaled today that he may not let Yovanovitch testify on Capitol Hill on Friday, continuing the White House’s efforts to force a House vote on impeachment.

Read more about her here.

Fiona Hill, President Trump’s former top Russia adviser, is set to testify before Congress next week – and will explain that she unaware of some aspects of the Ukraine scandal, according to a source close to Hill who spoke with her Thursday.

Who is she? Hill officially departed the Trump administration in August. She had internally handed over most of her responsibilities in mid-July, but was involved as Rudy Giuliani was making public pronouncements about Ukraine. 

What might she say? Democrats have had trouble scheduling witness interviews and subpoenaed Hill. But since she left the administration, she presumably would be freer to speak to the committees than current administration officials and State Department employees.

When is she speaking? She is expected to be interviewed behind closed doors Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Hill has been keeping a low profile in England with her mother in recent weeks. CNN has reached out to her attorney.

H.R. McMaster at the White House on April 3, 2018, shortly before he left the Trump administration.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s former national security adviser, said on Thursday it was “absolutely not” appropriate for a president to ask other countries to interfere in American politics.

He was attending an event at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies when a reporter asked if it was appropriate for a president to solicit foreign interference in the US political process.

“No, it’s absolutely not,” McMaster replied.

McMaster also said Thursday he had never witnessed Trump soliciting foreign assistance.

He served under Trump as national security adviser from early 2017 until April 2018, when he was replaced by John Bolton.

Some context: The comment comes as Trump faces an impeachment inquiry, centered on a July phone call in which he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

During that call, Trump also asked Zelensky to investigate the 2016 election, leaving at least one White House official “shaken” by events.

Michael McKinley, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is leaving his post, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The sources did not reveal the reason for McKinley’s departure. However it comes as the Ukraine controversy continues to grow.

The Washington Post first reported McKinley’s departure. Citing a person familiar with the situation, it said: “Like many others, [McKinley] was disappointed in the secretary’s lack of public support for diplomats who have been named in the Ukraine controversy.”

What Pompeo has said: Pompeo said Wednesday his department and the White House would fulfill their legal and constitutional requirements in the impeachment probe.

“I’ve made clear, I think the White House has made very clear, we will ensure that we do everything that we’re required to do by the law and the Constitution. Every time,” he told “PBS NewsHour.”

But his comments, coming amid a week of silence from the rest of the State Department, offered little clarity as to whether it will allow its diplomats to cooperate with the probe.

President Trump devoted at least 20 minutes at his Minneapolis rally to railing against the Democrats, the impeachment inquiry, and the Bidens. 

His attacks against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, became personal. 

Trump complained about press coverage that says the accusations against the Bidens are “unsubstantiated.” There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden. 

He outlined a mock interview between Hunter Biden and “sleepy eyes Chuck Todd.” Trump also complained about Hunter Biden’s deal with the Chinese.

He then went off — presumably unscripted — on Hunter Biden.

“Hunter, you know nothing about energy, you know nothing about China, you know nothing about anything, frankly. Why did you get $1.5 billion Hunter?” Trump said. 

He continued: “And your father was never considered smart, he was never considered a good senator, he was only a good vice president because he understood how to kiss Barack Obama’s ass.”

Here’s what we know: A company, whose board Hunter Biden sat on, received a large investment of Chinese capital shortly after Hunter Biden visited the country with his father.

According to the New York Times, Biden’s son Hunter has a 10% interest in BHR Partners, a private-equity fund that the Chinese government-owned Bank of China has invested in. As of May 2019, both The New York Times and the Washington Post reported that Hunter had not received any money from the fund or in connection with his role as an unpaid advisory board member.

In July 2019, more than two years after his father left office, Hunter purchased an equity stake in the BHR fund, valued around $430,000, according to the Washington Post.

After Trump’s meeting with Zelensky at the United Nations, one of Hunter’s lawyers told the Washington Post that, “To date, Mr. Biden has not received any return or compensation on account of this investment or his position on the board of directors.”

The characterization of Mr. Biden as owning a $1.5 billion private equity firm funded by the Chinese, or suggesting that Mr. Biden has earned millions of dollars from the firm is a gross misrepresentation of Mr. Biden’s role with BHR.”

President Trump slammed Democrats at his rally in Minneapolis tonight, saying they are pursuing an impeachment inquiry because “know they can’t win the 2020 election.”

This is his first campaign rally since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry. 

A lot happened today in the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Let us catch you up.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman

Two men connected to President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and efforts to dig up dirt on presidential candidate Joe Biden in Ukraine were arrested and charged with allegedly committing campaign finance violations.

Here’s what we know — and the big questions we still have — based on what’s come out today about the case against the two men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.

Here’s how the investigators say the money flowed:

What are some of the big questions we have right now...

President Trump signaled today that he may not let former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow, continuing the White House’s efforts to force a House vote on impeachment.

He went on to tout his transparency and remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today regarding what Trump described as a “perfect conversation.”

The President was later asked about a subpoena for Energy Secretary Rick Perry, which was announced moments before he came outside.

“It was a very good conversation. So I don’t know why they’d be calling Rick Perry. I don’t know why they’d be calling all these people. It’s a very bad situation for our country,” he added.

President Trump would not say today whether he was joking, as aides and Republicans have claimed, when he told reporters on the South Lawn last week that China should investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

The remarks have been defended by many Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Jim Jordan, who said Trump was joking.

CNN Political Director David Chalian covers the impact of impeachment on the 2020 Democratic race and more in the latest episode of “The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch” podcast.

Chalian also looks at:

Chalian is joined by CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash and Dan Caldwell, a political science professor at Pepperdine University and expert on Russian-American relations.

Listen to the podcast here.

Lawyers for the whistleblower negotiating testimony with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have asked about whether their client can submit written answers to Congress instead of testifying in person, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

As CNN reported Wednesday, discussions between the committees and the whistleblower’s legal team are ongoing as they consider taking extreme measures to protect the whistleblower’s identity, including considering holding the interview off site, not disclosing that it happened until after the fact or bringing the witness into a secure facility in the Capitol through passages that are off limits to the press.

Written testimony could be another option.

The format of any potential testimony has not been finalized, the source said.

President Trump told reporters this afternoon he had just learned that Trey Gowdy could not begin as his outside counsel until “sometime after January” because of “lobbying rules.”

Trump attorney Jay Sekulow announced the former congressman’s hiring Wednesday night, saying in a statement his “legal skills and his advocacy will serve the President well.”

Gowdy met with Trump in the Oval Office this week for an extended period of time.

The January timing could prove problematic since he is facing an impeachment inquiry currently that, so far, has had a rapid timeline.

Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas (second and third from left) pictured with Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani.

President Trump claims he does not know the two associates of Rudy Giuliani who were arrested trying to leave the country, despite photographs that show him meeting them.

Trump acknowledged “it’s possible” a photo of himself exists with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, but said he takes photos with lots of people at fundraisers.

The President said “maybe” the men were clients of Giuliani, and said reporters would have to ask Giuliani for more details.

Trump continued to lambaste the intelligence whistleblower and defend his telephone call with Ukraine’s president.

Former Rep. Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas, said he “could not have had” knowledge of the scheme that two of Rudy Giuliani’s associates were allegedly involved in.

Sessions said he took “no official action” after being approached “by these individuals about the strategic need for Ukraine to become energy independent.”

Some context: The US attorney for the Southern District of New York claims Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman illegally funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign money to a US political group identified in the indictment as “Committee-1.”

Parnas and Fruman were arrested last night at Dulles Airport while heading to Frankfurt, Germany. Both men had one-way tickets.

Giuliani told CNN he is not aware of any law enforcement scrutiny on his financial dealings with the men and he said he has not been interviewed by the FBI in the investigation.

Rudy Giuliani’s financial dealings with two associates indicted on campaign finance-related charges are under scrutiny by investigators overseeing the case, law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said. 

The FBI and prosecutors in Manhattan are examining Giuliani’s involvement in the broader flow of money that are at the center of the allegations against Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the sources said. The sources did not say that Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, was a target of the investigation. 

Giuliani told CNN he is not aware of any law enforcement scrutiny on his financial dealings with the men and he said he has not been interviewed by the FBI in the investigation.

House democrats have issued a subpoena to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry for documents pertaining to the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Perry must produce the documents by Oct. 18, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement.

Some background: On Oct. 2 Perry, who has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on at least three occasions, pledged to work with lawmakers looking into a whistleblower’s allegations about President Trump’s communications with the foreign leader. Perry also met in Ukraine with Zelensky’s predecessor in August 2017 and visited the country on a Baltic region tour in November 2018.

CNN’s Gregory Wallace and Kylie Atwood also contributed to this report.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — the two associates of President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who were charged today with federal campaign finance violations — will be held in detention in Virginia until they each secure $1 million bond, a judge said. 

That was the deal prosecutors and the men’s defense attorneys reached this afternoon, and the judge agreed to it, sending them back into custody until court officials can approve their paperwork. Fruman will use his residence to secure the bond, while Parnas will use a business, attorneys involved in the case said. 

Once released, they will be confined to their homes and wear GPS monitors. With approval, they can travel between the Southern District of Florida, where they live, and the Southern District of New York, where they’re charged. 

They have both surrendered their US passports — which were seized from them at Dulles Airport — and were ordered by the judge to turn over all other travel documents and passports they might have.

They pair are also not allowed to discuss the case with one another —though the judge noted that would be difficult to enforce.