The latest: President Trump held a news conference with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and addressed Syria but not the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
Testimonies continue: Former State official Michael McKinley testified that he repeatedly asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a show of support for the ousted US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, but was greeted with silence.
No impeachment vote yet: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is holding off on a full vote to authorize a formal impeachment inquiry.
Our live coverage has ended, but you can scroll through the posts to read more.
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Democrats: Trump had "meltdown" and called Nancy Pelosi a "third-rate politician"
From CNN's Clare Foran
Zach Gibson/Getty Images
Congressional Democratic leaders offered a remarkable readout of a meeting with President Donald Trump today, saying that the President called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “third-rate politician” in what they described as a “meltdown.”
Pelosi added, “What we witnessed on the part of the President was a meltdown, sad to say.”
The Democratic leaders were at the White House for a meeting on Syria.
The meeting came shortly after the House overwhelmingly passed on a bipartisan vote a resolution opposing the Trump administration’s Syria troop withdrawal.
Pelosi said that she believes Trump was “very shaken up” by the vote.
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Arraignment postponed for two Rudy Giuliani associates
From CNN's Erica Orden
Igor Fruman, left, and Lev Parnas, right
Alexandria Sheriff's Office
US District Judge Paul Oetken has postponed the arraignment and initial conference for Rudy Giuliani associates Les Parnas and Igor Fruman until Oct. 23 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The other two defendants, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, are expected to appear Thursday at 3:30 p.m, ET in a Manhattan federal courthouse for their arraignment and initial conference.
Some background: The four men were indicted last week on two counts of conspiracy, one count of false statements to the Federal Election Commission and one count of falsification of records.
The four allegedly conducted a scheme beginning in March 2018 to evade campaign finance laws, according to the indictment unsealed by New York federal prosecutors.
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Michael McKinley's impeachment inquiry interview has ended
From CNN's Manu Raju
Michael McKinley, a former top aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, leaves Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16.
Andrew Harnik/AP
The behind closed-doors interview of former State Department senior adviser Michael McKinley has concluded, House members and aides tell CNN.
The House committees running the inquiry began speaking to McKinley at around 10 a.m. ET this morning.
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Top US diplomat in Ukraine expected to testify Tuesday
From CNN's Manu Raju
Bill Taylor attends a press-conference about US-Ukrainian relations, in Kiev, Ukraine in July 2019.
STR/NurPhoto/Getty Images
The top US diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor is expected testify Tuesday before House committees in the impeachment inquiry, per a GOP source. A spokesman for the democrats declined to comment.
Taylor was thrust into the public eye following the release of his text exchanges with former Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker and President Trump’s appointee to be the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland.
In the exchanges, Taylor expressed his concerns about foreign policy moves being tied to political motives, writing that it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
CNN reported last week that House Democrats had requested a deposition from Taylor.
More about Taylor:A source familiar with his career said Taylor took the job to be a good soldier and that from reading the public text messages, theformer ambassadorappeared to be doing what a professional in these circumstances would do: keeping a record of what was going on.
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Federal investigation of Rudy Giuliani includes counterintelligence probe
From CNN's Evan Perez, Sara Murray and Shimon Prokupecz
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images
For months, investigators looking into Rudy Giuliani’s business dealings in Ukraine have dug into everything from possible financial entanglements with alleged corrupt Ukrainian figures to counterintelligence concerns raised by some of those business ties, according to people briefed on the matter.
The counterintelligence part of the investigation indicates that FBI and criminal prosecutors in Manhattan are looking at a broader set of issues related to Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, than has been previously reported.
Kenneth McCallion, a New York attorney, says that investigators first approached him earlier this year to ask about Giuliani’s ties to Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Giuliani associates indicted last week on campaign-finance related charges.
McCallion says FBI counterintelligence agents in February or March asked questions about some of Giuliani’s Ukrainian business dealings.
The counterintelligence probe hinges in part on whether a foreign influence operation was trying to take advantage of Giuliani’s business ties in Ukraine and with wealthy foreigners to make inroads with the White House, according to one person briefed on the matter.
The indictment announced last week centers on ties between the Giuliani associates and foreigners, including a Russian national with whom they did business. The indictment doesn’t mention Giuliani.
Giuliani has said he is unaware of any criminal investigation into his business dealings.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was silent after McKinley called for support for Yovanovitch
From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb
Michael McKinley, a former top aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Former State official Michael McKinley testified that he repeatedly asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a show of support for the ousted US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, but was greeted with silence, according to two sources with knowledge of his testimony.
That decision to not offer Yovanovitch support was a key reason McKinley decided to resign his job, the sources added.
McKinley testified that while Pompeo helped restore morale at the department after then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gutted the department, he was disappointed that Pompeo did not stand up for a respected professional like Yovanovitch.
McKinley did not know the reasons why Pompeo was silent, according to sources with knowledge of his testimony so far. He said Pompeo listened to the concerns but didn’t explain his thinking.
McKinley also testified about lacking knowledge about what Rudy Giuliani was up to and said he didn’t have contact with Giuliani.
Three sources say that McKinley did not turn over documents to the committee but gave those documents to State, which has not turned them over to the House.
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Trump concludes press conference without talking about impeachment
President Trump concluded a press conference at the White House this afternoon with Italian president Sergio Mattarella without addressing the impeachment inquiry.
The questions that Trump did take largely focused on the situation in Syria and criticisms of the decision to pull troops out of the country.
Trump denied giving Turkey the “green light” to go into Syria, also responding to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s criticisms about his approach to the situation.
Trump said that if anybody saw a letter he sent to Turkey after the phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, everyone would see that he did not give them the green light.
Asked about Graham’s recent comments about Trump’s behavior with Turkey, Trump said: “Lindsey Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years.”
Trump added Graham “should focus on the judiciary (committee) with the Democrats.”
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
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Trump is speaking at the White House now
Trump is holding a joint press conference with the Italian president Sergio Mattarella.
President Donald Trump arrives to a news conference with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, October 16.
Evan Vucci/AP
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Impeachment witness "commended Pompeo for restoring morale" at the State Department, GOP congressmen say
From CNN's Manu Raju and Ellie Kauffman
Rep. Mark Meadows and other Republicans arrive for a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Susan Walsh/AP
Ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs committee Rep. Michael McCaul and Rep. Mark Meadows – both Republicans — spoke to reporters upon leaving former senior adviser to the Secretary of State Michael McKinley’s closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill.
The two said the testimony so far focused on “concern from a colleague about an ambassador that he held in high regard,” referring to former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Both Meadows and McCaul reiterated the Republican position that this is not a fair process, and that Speaker Pelosi should call a vote on the floor for an impeachment inquiry.
When asked by CNN if the two members were comfortable with the role Rudy Giuliani has played in this, McCaul answered that he needs to see “all of the evidence” before he can take a position.
“I will reserve judgement until Mr. Giuliani comes in,” McCaul said. “I think his position is there’s an attorney-client privilege with the president of the United States… I think we need all the facts and evidence before us.”
Here’s what you need to know about McKinley:
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Lindsey Graham plans to ask Giuliani to appear before Senate Judiciary
From CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and Aishvarya Kavi
Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Republican Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham told reporters today that he is going to write a letter to Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, asking him to appear before the committee, adding “we’ll consider whether to subpoena him and others later.”
Some context: Giuliani is facing an investigation by federal prosecutors into whether his involvement with Ukraine violated federal lobbying laws, The New York Times reported last week.
Citing two people familiar with the inquiry, the paper builds on CNN’s previous reporting on Thursday that Giuliani’s financial dealings with two associates indicted on campaign finance-related charges were under scrutiny by investigators overseeing the case.
Law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told CNN that the FBI and prosecutors in Manhattan are examining Giuliani’s involvement in the broader flow of money that has become the focus of alleged violations that are at the center of the charges against Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
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Trump to hold press conference with Italian president soon
From CNN's Betsy Klein
President Donald Trump walks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella after welcoming him to the White House, Wednesday, October 16.
Evan Vucci/AP
President Trump will be joined by Italian President Sergio Mattarella for a press conference at the White House at noon ET.
Mattarella is in Washington for a bilateral meeting with the President. Trump is expected to encourage Italy and other NATO allies to increase defense spending. The leaders are also expected to discuss trade and cybersecurity.
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Budget officials don't plan to comply with deposition requests
From CNN's Rene Marsh & Sara Murray
Russ Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, arrives at the White House on Wednesday, October 9.
Alex Edelman/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Acting Office of Management & Budget Director Russ Vought and Michael Duffey, the OMB’s associate director for national security programs, have both been asked to appear for depositions from the three committees leading the impeachment process, according to a source familiar with the requests.
The two OMB officials have no plans to comply, according to a senior administration official.
The senior administration official said that neither Vought nor Duffey plan to cooperate:
More background here: Yesterday OMB missed its deadline to turn over the documents that impeachment committees subpoenaed. When asked about this yesterday, an OMB spokesperson pointed to the letter earlier this month from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and said that letter speaks for OMB as well. The White House letter slammed the impeachment investigation as “constitutionally illegitimate” and made clear the administration does not plan to cooperate.
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Majority of Americans support impeachment, according to Gallup poll
From CNN's Kaanita Iyer
Alex Wong/Getty Images
American adults who support the impeachment and removal of President Trump from office has reached 52%, according to a Gallup poll released today.
That’s a 7-point increase from when Gallup asked the question in June about impeachment and removal after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Support for impeachment among Democrats and independents is at 89% and 55%, respectively, with independent support climbing 9 points since June.
Republican support remains low — 6% back the impeachment effort in the new survey, down a percentage point from four months ago.
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Fourth man allegedly involved in Ukrainian campaign finance scheme in custody
From CNN's Kara Scannell
David Correia, one of the four men charged last week in the alleged campaign finance scheme, is in FBI custody, according to a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Manhattan.
Correia was taken into custody this morning after landing on a flight at John F. Kennedy airport. Correia, Igor Fruman, Lev Parnas and Andrey Kukushkin are due in court Thursday for their arraignment.
Some context: Last week Fruman and Parnas, two associates of Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, were arrested and indicted for allegedly funneling foreign money into U.S. elections. Correia and Kukushkin, two American citizens described as “businessmen” in the indictment, were charged for their involvement in the same scheme.
Coming up: Parnas and Fruman face a subpoena deadline today for documents related to communications with the White House, Ukrainian officials and Giuliani.
Parnas and Fruman introduced Giuliani to Ukrainian officials who pushed unfounded theories about corruption involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
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House GOP members not part of the impeachment inquiry want to read transcript of hearing interview
Rep. Andy Biggs attends a hearing in Rayburn Building in September 2019 in Washington.
Tom William/CQ Roll Call/AP
Rep. Andy Biggs, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, spoke at the weekly House GOP press conference about his effort to censure House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff.
Biggs added that “a group of my colleagues are going to go down and we’re going to ask for our opportunity to read the Volker transcript,” saying “We’re excluded from participating.”
On Oct. 3, former US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker told House investigators that he urged Ukraine’s leadership not to interfere in US politics in a conversation that followed the phone call between President Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, according to two sources familiar with the testimony.
House GOP Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy along with House GOP leader Liz Cheney and Steve Scalise similarly criticized Democrats over transparency at the presser.
“I think one of the really important things to recognize about they impeachment effort is the extent to which the materials are being kept in secret, not just from the public, but kept in secret from other members,” Cheney said.
“They ought to be accountable, they ought to be transparent,” Scalise said.
What’s this all about: Last month, Biggs introduced a motion to censure Schiff.
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House GOP Leader says “there’s nothing that the president did wrong” on phone call with Ukrainian leader
From CNN's Clare Foran and Manu Raju
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy leaves the deposition of George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images
At the weekly House GOP press conference, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy argued “there’s nothing that the president did wrong” when it comes to his phone call with the Ukrainian President where he pushed for an investigation into the Bidens, saying, “There’s nothing that the President did within that call that’s impeachable.”
Later he reiterated, “So no, the President didn’t do anything wrong.”
Asked if Rudy Giuliani should still be the President’s personal attorney McCarthy initially deflected, saying, “that’s a question for the President,” but then took a subtle jab at Giuliani, he added, “I think there would be other people I’d have represent myself.”
McCarthy defended Giuliani’s role in the Ukraine matter, saying, “Rudy Giuliani has a right to try to get to the bottom of it, especially when you just put America through this for more than two years. I think all of America wants to have the answer to that question, it would be appalling to me that we would not.”
McCarthy slammed the impeachment inquiry, saying that “When it comes to the President, the Democrats believe you’re guilty, until you prove your innocence.”
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Grand jury subpoenas Pete Sessions on matters connected to Rudy Giuliani
From CNN's Shimon Prokupecz, Lauren Fox, Caroline Kelly and Kara Scannell
Sessions’ subpoena suggests that investigators are looking to gather information on his interactions with Giuliani, as well as with associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman—who were indicted for allegedly funneling foreign money into US elections—as the investigation into their Ukraine dealings charges forward.
What else you need to know: CNN has reported that prosecutors allege Parnas and Fruman asked Sessions to help get the US ambassador to Ukraine fired at the same time that they were committing to raise tens of thousands of dollars for Sessions’ reelection campaign. Parnas made their request to the congressman in part at the behest of one or more Ukraine government officials, the indictment states.
The subpoena to Sessions came in the last few days after the indictment against Parnas and Fruman was made public, according to the source and another source familiar with the matter.
The second source refused to rule out that Sessions himself is not a target of the grand jury investigation, saying instead that the investigation has “not reached definitive conclusions.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Sessions had been subpoenaed.
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Michael McKinley arrives at the Capitol to testify in the impeachment inquiry
Andrew Harnik/AP
The former senior adviser to Mike Pompeo has arrived on Capitol Hill for his behind closed-doors testimony in the impeachment inquiry.
McKinley is testifying less than a week after resigning from the State Department.
What we expect he’ll talk about: Michael McKinley will give an opening statement that will focus on the reasons for his resignation, which was primarily his concern that the Department’s leadership was not supporting the career foreign service, according to a source familiar.
As of now, McKinley does not plan to release his opening statement.
CNN has previously reported that McKinley was deeply concerned with the silence in the top ranks at State in not defending former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and it was one reason he resigned.
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Former US diplomat to Ukraine Kurt Volker spotted on Capitol Hill
From CNN's Jeremy Herb and Manu Raju
Susan Walsh/AP
Former US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker just arrived at the Capitol this morning.
Volker is here this morning to review his testimony with his attorney, according to GOP sources.
Volker testified in front of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees on Oct. 3 in the impeachment inquiry.
More context: Volker told House investigators that he urged Ukraine’s leadership not to interfere in US politics in a conversation that followed the phone call between President Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, according to two sources familiar with the testimony.
Volker’s testimony behind closed doors seems to confirm the whistleblower description in the complaint that Volker and another US diplomat “provided advice to the Ukrainian leadership about how to ‘navigate’ the demands that the President made.”
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Rick Perry said he will follow the lead of his counsel on the House subpoena
PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said he would “follow the lead” of his counsel on whether he will cooperate with the House subpoena for documents relating to Ukraine.
Appearing on Fox Business today, Perry said, “the House has sent a subpoena over for the records we have. Our general counsel and the White House counsel are going through the process right now. And I am going to follow the lead of my counsel on that.”
Context: House Democrats issued a subpoena to Perry last Thursday for documents related to the Trump administration’s contacts with Ukraine as part of the ongoing House impeachment inquiry. The deadline for Perry to comply is Oct. 18.
