Live updates: The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry | CNN Politics

The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

Meg Wagner

Veronica Rocha

By Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha, Fernando Alfonso III and Aimee Lewis, CNN

Updated 10:49 AM EDT, Thu October 24, 2019

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Lawmaker stormed into hearing room. See what he said to CNN afterwards

2:44 • Source: CNN

mo brooks confrontation raju

Lawmaker stormed into hearing room. See what he said to CNN afterwards

2:44

Where things stand now

The latest: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper testified for more than three hours before lawmakers behind closed doors today. Her testimony helped show that the Ukraine aid deviated from that normal process.
Republicans stormed the room: A group of conservative Republicans stormed the proceedings in protest. They were barred from today’s closed testimony because they are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry.
Giuliani’s associates: Two men who served as Rudy Giuliani’s conduit to Ukraine pleaded not guilty in federal court today to charges that they funneled foreign money to US campaign coffers.
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Our live coverage of the impeachment inquiry has ended. Head here for the latest developments on the story.

Learn about the secure room at the center of the impeachment inquiry

From CNN's Chandelis Duster

As the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump escalates on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are constantly looking at documents and interviewing key witnesses behind closed doors in a congressional secure room known as a sensitive compartmented information facility or “SCIF.”

House Republicans today, as a protest, stormed the SCIF where Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper was preparing to testify before the three House committees leading the inquiry. Some lawmakers even appeared to live-tweet from the SCIF once inside.

The political stunt caused a five-hour delay of the hearing and angered Democrats. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi requested House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving investigate the “reckless action.”

Here’s what we know about a SCIF:

What is a SCIF: A sensitive compartmented information facility is a secured place where sensitive information can be viewed and discussed without the risk of spying. The most commonly known SCIF is one of the most secured rooms within the White House – The Situation Room.
Who can enter a SCIF: Intelligence community employees with access to SCIFs receive periodic training on the proper way to safeguard sensitive information, according to Josh Campbell, a CNN analyst and former FBI agent. Regarding the SCIF that Republicans crashed on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the members who protested were not on any committees leading the investigation and were therefore barred from entering.
What is allowed inside a SCIF: No unauthorized cellphones, laptops or any other electronic devices are allowed inside a SCIF. The use of an electronic device inside the secured room could allow one to record what is taking place.
Why is a SCIF important: A secured room is crucial to protecting classified and sensitive information pertaining to US affairs from foreign adversaries. A committee official told CNN that the House Republican members violated House deposition rules by entering the SCIF.

Rep. Francis Rooney on lawmakers who stormed the hearing room: “I wouldn’t have done it”

From CNN's Manu Raju

Rep. Francis Rooney, a Republican from Florida who sits on House Foreign Affairs, called the GOP antics today a distraction.

What happened earlier: Before Cooper was scheduled to testify behind closed doors today, a group of Republicans stormed the room, known as the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, in protest.

The Republicans involved were barred from today’s closed testimony because they are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry.

The roughly two-dozen House Republicans entered the SCIF to rail against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry, a political stunt ratcheting up the GOP complaints about the process that delayed today’s scheduled deposition for five hours.

A committee official told CNN that the House Republican members violated House deposition rules by entering the SCIF.

Rudy Giuliani is looking for a defense attorney

From CNN's Erica Orden, Katelyn Polantz and Evan Pérez

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Rudy Giuliani has been approaching defense attorneys for possible representation, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The move by Giuliani is notable because last week he said he would not be seeking a new lawyer unless he needed to. His previous lawyer, John Sale, was helping him deal with congressional inquiries.

Earlier today, Giuliani said he had not heard from the FBI, US Attorneys for the Southern District of New York or any other lawyer pertaining to the Ukraine matter.

He would not directly comment this morning to CNN about whether he has hired or is in the process of hiring a criminal attorney.

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Giuliani’s business dealings in Ukraine in addition to a counterintelligence probe. Two associates of the former New York mayor were charged on campaign finance-related offenses and pleaded not guilty in a court appearance today.

As CNN previously reported, people close to Giuliani have been advising him to hire a criminal lawyer as questions linger about his connections to two of his associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Furman.

Giuliani had been resisting that advice, according to those people. Giuliani did not respond to requests for comment.

Pentagon official detailed process over how foreign aid is distributed in deposition

From CNN's Manu Raju

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Lawmakers who attended Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper’s deposition today said she gave a very technical readout of how foreign aid is disbursed.

Several lawmakers said her testimony helped show that the Ukraine aid deviated from that normal process.

More on the aid: Trump ordered a hold on nearly $400 million of military and security aid to Ukraine, officials said.

Top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, told lawmakers in a lengthy opening statement yesterday that Trump had demanded Ukraine launch an investigation to help him politically before US security aid to Ukraine would be released, undercutting White House claims there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine.

Zelensky and advisers discussed pressure from Trump weeks before taking office

From CNN's Rene Marsh

GINTS IVUSKANS/AFP/Getty Images

Two weeks before Volodymyr Zelensky was sworn in as President of Ukraine, the new leader and his team discussed the pressure they were already feeling from the Trump administration and President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to launch public investigations into “corruption” cases, including Burisma, according to a source familiar with discussions at the meeting.

The source said the meeting was originally scheduled to discuss energy issues but the meeting evolved into a discussion on how to handle the pressure from Trump’s orbit.

Among those present in the May 7 meeting were Zelensky advisers’ Andriy Yermak, Andriy Bogdan, an executive for the Ukrainian state-owned natural gas company and American Amos Hochstein, a former diplomat and energy expert.

The Associated Press first reported this story, citing three people familiar with the meeting.

About the meeting: It happened about two weeks after the Zelensky spoke for the first time with Trump. A White House readout of the call said the two leaders discussed working together to “root out corruption.” It is not clear whether the President specifically asked for investigations of Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election or Burisma, the energy company that had hired former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, on the board.

The source said even in those early weeks, Zelensky and his team realized Ukraine’s relationship with the US and a potential face-to-face meeting with Trump could be at stake if they did not support the continuation of investigations like Burisma.

The Ukrainians continued to be sensitive to the issue. Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, said during this testimony this week, a top Ukrainian official told him in July that “President Zelensky did not want to be used as a pawn in a US re-election campaign.”

Zelensky himself, during a press conference with Trump in September, denied he felt any pressure, adding: “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be involved, to democratic, open elections of the USA.”

CNN has reached out to members of Zelensky’s transition team and government.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper wraps up testimony

From CNN's Laurie Are

Patrick Semansky/AP

After about three and a half hours of testimony, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper has left the Capitol.

Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, told reporters that Cooper’s testimony included an (already public) timeline on the aid to Ukraine. He added that the aid was suspended on July 18 and reinstated on Sept. 11.

“Ukrainians didn’t know about it until way late in the process,” Jordan said.

What happened earlier: Before Cooper was scheduled to testify behind closed doors today, a group of Republicans stormed the room, known as the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, in protest.

The Republicans involved were barred from today’s closed testimony because they are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry.

The roughly two-dozen House Republicans entered the SCIF to rail against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry, a political stunt ratcheting up the GOP complaints about the process that delayed today’s scheduled deposition for five hours.

A committee official told CNN that the House Republican members violated House deposition rules by entering the SCIF.

Rep. Mark Meadows says there have been no "aha" moments in Pentagon official's testimony

From CNN's Manu Raju, Laurie Ure and Alex Rogers

Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images

Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican from North Carolina, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper has been a credible witness and is answering questions factually.

But he added there has been no “aha” moments so far.

Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, told reporters that Cooper’s testimony included an (already public) timeline on the aid to Ukraine. He added that the aid was suspended on July 18 and reinstated on Sept. 11.

“Ukrainians didn’t know about it until way late in the process,” Jordan said.

Rep. Adam Schiff: Trump's allies "are trying to make it even more difficult for these witnesses to cooperate"

From CNN's Jeremy Herb

Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, gave a short statement this afternoon about a group of conservative Republicans who stormed a closed-door deposition in protest.

Asked if he was concerned about the integrity of the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, Schiff said he was. But he would not elaborate.

What happened earlier: The conservative lawmakers, led by Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, barged into the deposition and demanded they be allowed to see the closed-door proceedings where members of three committees planned to interview Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper as part of the impeachment probe into President Trump.

Podcast: US diplomat Bill Taylor emerges as the star witness of the impeachment inquiry

CNN Political Director David Chalian covers today’s fallout from Ambassador’s Bill Taylor’s testimony in the latest episode of “The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch” podcast.

Chalian also looks at:

What Republicans plan to do in response to the Taylor testimony and if it made Trump’s job to keep the party unified more difficult?

Chalian is joined by CNN political correspondent Sara Murray and CNN political commentator Matt Lewis.

Listen to the podcast here.

After a 5-hour delay, Pentagon official's deposition has started

From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb

Patrick Semansky/AP

Laura Cooper, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, has started her testimony in the House impeachment inquiry.

Democratic Rep. Harley Rouda told reporters Cooper did not give an opening statement and they went straight into questions.

The reason for the delay: Roughly two-dozen House Republicans stormed the closed-door deposition in secure House Intelligence Committee spaces to rail against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry, a political stunt ratcheting up the GOP complaints about the process that delayed today’s scheduled deposition for five hours.

Federal judge orders State Department to release Ukraine records within 30 days

From CNN's Zachary Cohen

A federal judge granted an emergency motion from the watchdog group American Oversight today seeking the release of Ukraine-related records from the State Department, including communications between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Judge Christopher Cooper ordered lawyers for the State Department and American Oversight to come together to narrow the scope of the documents in the request, eliminating those that would likely be exempt from release, and produce documents in the next 30 days.

Cooper said that he could not think of a third party exemption that would prevent the release of correspondence between Giuliani and top State Department officials regarding Ukraine.

Committee official: GOP bringing in electronic devices to testimony was a “major security breach”

From CNN's Manu Raju

Patrick Semansky/AP

Earlier today, before Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper was scheduled to testify behind closed doors, a group of Republicans stormed the room, known as the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, in protest.

The Republicans involved are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry and are therefore barred from today’s closed testimony.

A committee official told CNN that the House Republican Members violated House deposition rules by entering the SCIF anyway.

The source also criticized the Republican Members for causing a major security breach by bringing their electronics into the SCIF.

“Although several members later removed their devices, after being advised by the Sergeant at Arms and security personnel that there were members still in possession of electronic devices, some Republican members refused to completely remove them,” the source said.

How Republicans are responding to a top US diplomat's dramatic testimony

From CNN's Ted Barrett and Ali Zaslav

Yesterday, Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, testified that he had been told President Trump would withhold military aid to the country until it publicly declared investigations that could help his reelection chances.

Taylor’s testimony appears to bolster the whistleblower report. Michigan Democratic Rep. Andy Levin called the day of the testimony “my most disturbing day in Congress so far.”

Here’s how some Republican senators are responding to Taylor’s testimony:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said he wants to wait for all of the testimony to be presented before commenting.
Susan Collins, a senator from Maine, said it’s “an important piece of evidence” but said she wants to hear more to get a full picture.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, “I’ve seen the headlines but I haven’t read anything.” She then complained that no one is hearing first hand, so it’s hard to know what to believe.
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner said, “I haven’t read it. They won’t let us see the transcripts.”
Chuck Grassley, the president pro tempore of the Senate, when asked if he had seen evidence of quid pro quo said: “No, there’s plenty to discredit, so that gets me back to the basic thing we need: transparency… How can I even answer your questions? The only person whose been transparent in this whole process is the President.”

You can read the full text of Taylor’s opening statement here.

The GOP coordinated its protest a week ago

From CNN's Dana Bash and Kevin Liptak

Rep. Matt Gaetz’s protest today has been on his calendar for about a week, a GOP congressman involved in the demonstration told CNN.

However, it was initially called as a traditional press conference. It wasn’t until it actually happened that this person – obviously not an organizer – realized they were going to go to the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF.

A key note: President Trump, who met with some of the lawmakers involved in the protest at the White House on Tuesday, had advance knowledge of the plans to attempt entry to the SCIF, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Here's what it looked like when GOP lawmakers stormed the hearing room

Earlier today, before Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper was scheduled to testify behind closed doors, a group of Republicans stormed the room in protest.

The Republicans are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry, and are therefore barred from today’s testimony.

Scott Thurman took a video of the protest, led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Watch the video below:

The Republican protesters have left the room — but they might come back

From CNN's Jeremy Herb

The House Republicans holding a sit-in inside the House room where Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper was supposed to testify have now left for the House floor, so they can participate in votes.

Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who was one of the lawmakers taking part in the protest, said they might return after the vote.

Trump calls Republican critics "human scum"

From CNN's Allie Malloy

Alex Brandon/AP

President Trump has just fired off a biting tweet about Republican support.

It is unclear who Trump is speaking about, but some Republicans have broken with Trump in recent weeks over both impeachment and his handling of Syria.

Just yesterday, some Republicans in Congress expressed concerns with Trump’s conduct following Ambassador Bill Taylor’s testimony — though others like Rep. Jim Jordan have argued Taylor did not establish a quid pro quo — as Republicans continue to press Democrats to change how they conduct the impeachment inquiry.

“The picture coming out of it, based on the reporting that we’ve seen, I would say is not a good one,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who as the majority whip is a member of Senate GOP leadership. “But I would say also that until we have a process that allows for everybody to see this in full transparency, it’s pretty hard to draw an hard and fast conclusions.”

Also noteworthy, Trump has pinned this tweet to the top of his profile.

What we know so far about Republicans' storm-the room stunt

From CNN's By Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb

Patrick Semansky/AP

A group of Republican lawmakers this morning stormed into the House room where Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper was scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry to protest the way Democrats are leading the impeachment process.

It was a chaotic scene, and some of the Republican protesters are still in the room. Here’s everything we know about the storming stunt:

What happened: About two-dozen House Republicans stormed the closed-door deposition in secure House Intelligence Committee spaces to rail against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry — political stunt ratcheting up the GOP complaints about the process that threw the deposition into doubt. The group was led by Florida’s Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Why the protesters were not allowed in: They are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry, and are therefore are barred from today’s testimony.
What they want: Republicans say they forced their way in because Democrats are holding impeachment depositions behind closed doors, denying the public the ability to see what’s being said by witnesses that could be used to impeach Trump. (Members of the committees leading the inquiry — both Republicans and Democrats — have attended the hearings.)
They brought electronics — which aren’t allowed: The Republicans walked into the hearing room with their electronics, according to Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, which is prohibited in the space, known as a SCIF — a sensitive compartmented information facility — because it’s a secure room used for discussing and handling classified information. GOP Rep. Mike Conaway, who is on the House Intelligence Committee, collected the electronics.
The protest is ongoing: Pizza and snacks were brought into the committee area, signaling the standoff might not be wrapping up anytime soon.
Where Trump stands: The storm-the-room stunt came two days after Trump said that he thought Republicans “have to get tougher and fight.” Many of the Republicans engaged in the protest were at a White House meeting yesterday, according to lawmakers in attendance, though GOP Rep. Mark Meadows said Wednesday’s protest was not raised at the meeting.

Trump's lawyer attacks House impeachment inquiry and diplomat's testimony

From CNN's Sam Fossum

Rick Diamond/Getty Images for GMA

The President’s personal attorney, Jay Sekulow, continued to attack the House impeachment inquiry on his daily radio broadcast, calling it “political theater.”

He claimed that the inquiry violates President Trump’s due process rights. Sekulow also attacked Ambassador Bill Taylor’s bombshell testimony.

“That’s his view of a conversation he wasn’t involved in,” Sekulow said of Taylor’s testimony.

Sekulow, who also heaped praise on Sen. Lindsey Graham, discussed the South Carolina Republican’s plan to introduce a resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry, as the President’s allies ratchet up their attacks on the impeachment process rather than the substance of the Democrats’ inquiry.

Sekulow and his son, Jordan, also continued to push the incorrect claim that Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and his staff helped the whistleblower write the complaint.

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