The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

Republicans leaving a mock session spoke to reporters about what they expect tomorrow when public hearings begin in the impeachment inquiry.

Rep. Scott Perry said today’s meeting was “to make sure we all kind of know what’s at play here.” He said part of the discussion was focused on witnesses.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said “we just want to make sure the facts get out” when leaving the meeting. Scalise, a close ally of President Trump, said the President knows “he did nothing wrong.”    

Many of the members in the meeting are on the House Intelligence Committee, but other Republican members and leadership were also in attendance.    

More details on tomorrow’s hearing: Diplomats George Kent and Bill Taylor will testify tomorrow in the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry. The hearing, which will start at about 10 a.m. ET, will be held in the largest room in the House of Representatives. Chairman Adam Schiff and ranking member Devin Nunes (or their designated committee employees) will get up to 45 minutes each. They are the only two authorized to ask questions during this round. Following this extended questioning, there will be 5-minute rounds of questioning alternating between Republican and Democratic members.

House GOP Whip Steve Scalise would not answer directly when asked if he thinks top diplomat Bill Taylor is a credible witness.

He went on to attack House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. When asked again about Taylor, Scalise said there was nothing wrong with President Trump’s call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.  

What’s this all about: Taylor is scheduled to testify tomorrow in the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, followed by Rep. Mike Quigley, walks out to talk to reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, November 6.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff plans to “lay out the scope” of the impeachment investigation with his opening statement tomorrow, Democratic aides told reporters on a conference call ahead of hearing.

The aides also explained why they paired Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of State, at the first hearing, saying both “were witness to the full storyline of the President’s misconduct.”

“The two of them saw the full scope or certainly the full timeline of the President’s misconduct this year,” one aide said.

The aides said former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was testifying at Friday’s hearing as the “first victim of the President’s scheme.”

One aide said they were telling “a very simple story” in the public hearings that President Trump abused his office and his presidential powers.

One thing to note: The aides would not say when future hearings would be announced or when the final transcripts would be released, beyond saying they were likely “in the coming days.” Asked about discrepancies with the testimony of US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s testimony, one Democratic aide said Sondland was still an “open question” for future hearings.

The aides said additional logistical information for the first public hearing was likely to be released either later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Lawmakers are on Capitol Hill gearing up for tomorrow’s first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Here what’s happened today in the inquiry:

Two Republican lawmakers, who were involved in closed-door depositions, were split today on whether diplomat Bill Taylor is credible.

New York Rep. Lee Zeldin said he’s not because he was relying his testimony on “second- and third-hand info.” Taylor is scheduled to testify in a public hearing tomorrow.

When pressed about Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on the National Security Council, backing up Taylor’s testimony of a quid pro quo, Zeldin said that he since was relying on what US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, another key witness, told him, the committees need to ask Sondland about what President Trump said — not Taylor or Morrison.

Zeldin wouldn’t say if the transcripts are accurate, saying they should be less redacted to be more accurate.

But Texas Rep. Mike Conaway, breaking with Trump, said the transcripts are accurate. He also said that Taylor is credible. But he said Taylor’s testimony is “hearsay” and would not be admissible in a court of law.

The court hearing set this afternoon related to a bid by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to fight his subpoena to testify in the impeachment inquiry has been canceled, following his notice that he no longer plans to sue the House.

Earlier today, Mulvaney informed the court that he no longer plans to sue in federal court over his House subpoena in the impeachment probe.

Instead, his attorneys told a federal judge this morning that he’s planning to obey the White House and Justice Department’s direction for him not to testify. 

Mulvaney had attempted to ask the court for help as a way to hold off being held in contempt, according to his legal arguments over the past four days.

Bill Taylor, the top U.S. Diplomat to Ukraine, leaves Capitol Hill on October 22, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Ahead of his public appearance before the impeachment probe into President Trump, Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, penned an op-ed in a Ukrainian news magazine this week emphasizing the United States’ “committed partnership and support” to the country. 

The op-ed appeared in “Novoye Vremya” Sunday, according to a post from the embassy — just days before Taylor’s expected appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Taylor, according to a transcript from his private testimony to the House committees, was a fierce and persistent critic of withholding security aid to Ukraine, particularly because of Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory. 

In his opinion piece, Taylor, who serves as charges d’affaires in Kiev, reaffirmed that the US “is firmly committed to Ukraine’s success — your success is our success.”

Read more here.

An official working on the impeachment inquiry shared a schedule for tomorrow’s hearing with CNN:

Remember: All times are approximate and will depend on any procedural matters.

Following opening statements, questions will begin. Chairman Adam Schiff and Ranking Member Devin Nunes (or their designated committee employees) will get up to 45 minutes each, at the discretion of the chairman. They are the only two authorized to ask questions during this round.

Additional extended questioning rounds, at the discretion of the chairman, can be added.

Following this extended questioning, there will be 5 minute rounds of questioning alternating between Republican and Democratic members.

The hearing is expected to conclude between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, when the witnesses are dismissed by the chairman.

Tomorrow’s impeachment inquiry hearing will happen in the largest room in the House of Representatives.

Watch more:

In a memo about how tomorrow’s public impeachment inquiry hearings will play out, House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff issued a warning about the handling of whistleblowers.

He said members “shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House,” and added that House Ethics contends that includes “violations of law and abuses of one’s official position.”

He added that the committee will not “facilitate any efforts by President Trump or his allies to threaten, intimidate, or retaliate against the whistleblower who courageously and lawfully raised concerns about the President’s conduct.”

Some context: President Trump and some Republicans have repeatedly called for the whistleblower — whose complaint is at the center of the impeachment inquiry — be identified.

A lawyer for the whistleblower has sent a letter to the White House warning the President to “cease and desist” attacking his client.