Live updates: Trump impeachment inquiry today | CNN Politics

The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

Meg Wagner

Veronica Rocha

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

Updated 10:23 PM EST, Thu November 14, 2019

Top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor Jr. testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald J. Trump, on Capitol Hill November 13, 2019 in Washington, DC.

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Hear what Bill Taylor said to the House during impeachment

3:35 • Source: CNN

Top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor Jr. testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald J. Trump, on Capitol Hill November 13, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Hear what Bill Taylor said to the House during impeachment

3:35

Where things stand now

The latest: President Trump said he’ll release a transcript of a second call with Ukraine’s leader today.
Public hearing: Diplomats Bill Taylor and George Kent testified together on Capitol Hill yesterday. Taylor mentioned a previously unknown call conversation in which Trump asked about Ukraine opening investigations that would help him politically.
Tomorrow: Former US Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch will testify in a public hearing on Friday.
Sign up for CNN’s Impeachment Watch newsletter here.

36 Posts

Our live coverage of the impeachment inquiry has ended for the day. Read up on the latest news below.

Justice Department asks to dismiss Kupperman subpoena lawsuit

From CNN's Katelyn Polantz

The Justice Department, speaking for the White House, has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from a former national security official over whether he should testify under House subpoena.

The new filing is the first time the administration had formally taken a position in this lawsuit after former administration official Charles Kupperman sued, claiming he was torn between his House impeachment inquiry subpoena and the White House’s assertion of immunity. He still has not testified.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) calls the House subpoena power a “grave threat” to the confidentiality of the presidency in the filing tonight.

Kupperman, in this case, has been widely considered a stand in for former national security adviser John Bolton, and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney late last week tried to join Kupperman’s lawsuit, before ducking out of it.

The lawsuit is not expected to be resolved until, at earliest, after a mid-December court hearing. At this point, the White House is aligned with the House in its ultimate goal of dismissing the case.

Trump claims the impeachment inquiry has been hard on his family

From CNN's Nikki Carvajal

A combative President Trump mocked Democrats and lamented how hard impeachment proceedings have been on his family tonight at a rally in Louisiana, but also said that Republicans have asked him to “keep this sucker going for a while”

Trump added that Republicans have, “really stuck together, it’s a beautiful thing to see.”

He claimed the proceedings have been so good for the party that Republicans want to keep them going.

Trump incorrectly takes credit for liquefied natural gas facility in Louisiana

From CNN's Daniel Dale

President Trump said the whole country is doing well economically, but said Louisiana is doing poorly compared with other states even after, he said, “I gave you” a $10 billion liquefied natural gas facility he visited earlier in the year.

The Cameron LNG facility received its permits during President Barack Obama’s tenure, as the facility’s website explains.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he was responsible for getting these permits. He did not have anything to do with them.

Trump makes false claims about the Bidens and Ukraine

From CNN's Daniel Dale

President Trump recounted two of his regular false claims about the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine tonight during a rally in Louisiana.

Trump claimed there is evidence of “corruption” in the 2018 video of former Vice President Joe Biden explaining how he pressured Ukrainian leaders to fire the country’s prosecutor general.

There is no evidence of corruption in the video; the prosecutor was widely considered ineffective or corrupt and Biden was executing official US policy.

Trump also claimed that this prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was investigating Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. There is no evidence Hunter Biden was ever under investigation, and Shokin’s former deputy has said that even the probe into the owner of Burisma, the company where Hunter Biden sat on the board, was dormant at the time Joe Biden applied his pressure.

Trump employs his "sir" refrain tonight at rally in Louisiana

From CNN's Daniel Dale

President’s Trump’s long history of telling stories in which he has unnamed people referring to him as “sir” has been reported in the past and was a talking point once again tonight at a “Keep America Great” rally held in Louisiana.

Trump told another “sir” story at the rally, saying Republicans are approaching him to urge him to prolong the impeachment saga because it is helping them politically.

Trump’s account of the supposed conversation: “‘Sir, our poll numbers are going through the roof, do you think we could keep this going?’ I said, ‘Do me a favor, let’s get it ended.’ They said, ‘But let’s keep it going, President, it’s so great.’”

As has been repeatedly documented, there is no sign of an impeachment spike in Trump’s own approval numbers despite his claims otherwise.

Budget official will testify in inquiry if subpoenaed, his lawyer says

From CNN's Sara Murray

Mark Sandy, an official at the Office of Management and Budget, will testify in the House impeachment inquiry if he is subpoenaed, his lawyer said today.

The House Intelligence Committee scheduled a closed-door deposition for Sandy on Saturday.

“If he is subpoenaed, he will appear for the deposition,” his lawyer Barbara “Biz” Van Gelder said.

Van Gelder said he has not received a subpoena yet. The common practice in these proceedings has been the House committees deliver the subpoena the morning of the day of scheduled testimony.

The Washington Post first reported.

A diplomat who overheard a call between Trump and the EU ambassador is scheduled to testify tomorrow

From CNN's Kylie Atwood and Nicole Gaouette

Mark Makela/Getty Images

A US diplomat who overheard President Trump ask the US Ambassador to the European Union about the status of “investigations” during a cellphone conversation in a Kiev restaurant is set to appear before the House impeachment inquiry behind closed doors tomorrow.

David Holmes, the counselor for political affairs at the US Embassy in Ukraine, overheard the conversation between Trump and Gordon Sondland the day after Trump spoke with the Ukrainian president by phone in July, according to testimony Wednesday from Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in the country.

Taylor did not name Holmes, but sources tell CNN that he is the member of the embassy staff Taylor was referencing.

What we know about Holmes: He is a career foreign service officer who arrived in Ukraine in 2017, according to a source who knows him and describes him as a “sharp guy.” He joined the foreign service in 2002, according to the American Foreign Service Association, and has previously served in Kabul, New Delhi, Kosovo, Bogota and Moscow.

Holmes has also served as a special assistant for South and Central Asia to former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns and spent time on the National Security Council staff at the White House as director for Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012.

As political counselor, his main job is to determine what is going on in Ukrainian politics.

Holmes often accompanied top US officials to meetings with Ukrainians as the note-taker in the last few years. It would not be unusual for him to accompany Sondland to these meetings, or for the two grab a meal in-between or after, the second source said.

Podcast: In a political fight, the truth might be a sideshow

In today’s episode of “The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch” podcast, CNN Political Director David Chalian looks at diplomat Bill Taylor’s testimony and his new revelation alleging a direct link between President Trump and a Ukraine pressure campaign.

Chalian also covers:

How Trump and the GOP are dismissing the testimony as hearsay
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comments that impeachment is about patriotism, not politics
Whether a public testimony can cut through partisan media bubbles
Why Rudy Giuliani isn’t nervous about the inquiry

Chalian is joined today by CNN White House reporter Stephen Collinson and CNN political commentator Matt Lewis.

Listen to the podcast here.

Pelosi argues Trump has admitted to "bribery" in Ukraine scandal

From CNN's Clare Foran

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi argued today that President Trump’s actions in the Ukraine scandal constitute “bribery” and he has admitted to it himself, the latest and most high-profile Democrat to use that word when describing Trump’s conduct.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that his now-famous July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “perfect.”

Pelosi’s comments come a day after the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry, which featured testimony from the top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent.

Public hearings mark the start of the next phase in the inquiry, where House Democrats will be under increasing pressure to make a compelling case to the American public about the President’s actions.

Here’s what else we know about the call: During the conversation, which is now at the center of the House impeachment inquiry, Trump asks the Ukrainian president for “a favor” and goes on to suggest that Ukraine look into the family of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a publicly released transcript, and foreign interference in the 2016 US election.

Asked to explain what she believes the bribe was in the case of the President’s contacts with Ukraine, Pelosi said, “The bribe is to grant or withhold military assistance in return for a public statement of a fake investigation into the elections. That’s bribery.”

Democrats privately concede major shift in public opinion on impeachment is unlikely

From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

House Democrats are publicly holding out hope that historic impeachment hearings will persuade a vast majority of the American public that President Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors — but privately, many acknowledge that it’s unlikely to happen.

In a private meeting this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants were skeptical about the prospects of a dramatic shift in opinion even as public impeachment hearings began this week, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The upshot, the sources said, is that Democrats need to move forward with impeachment proceedings, even if the politics are murky. The sources noted that even during Richard Nixon’s impeachment proceedings most of the public was divided until soon before he was forced to resign.

Democrats have made a concerted effort to shift their rhetoric to clearly convey to the public a more concise message: That Trump engaged in “bribery, which is cited in the Constitution on impeachment, when he pushed Ukrainian officials to investigate his political rivals in exchange for $400 million in military aid the country desperately sought — a message Pelosi conveyed today, a day after the first public impeachment proceedings.

Yet Democrats say there’s still a challenge in convincing a large majority of the public that what Trump did amounts to an abuse of power.

“Abuse of power is not necessarily a concept that most Americans run around thinking about,” said Rep. Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. “The point is we are all working to try to make a fairly unusual concept to most Americans — abuse of power — understandable.”

White House is sizing up the next round of impeachment witnesses

From CNN's Jim Acosta

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A White House official said aides to President Trump are already sizing up the next round of witnesses in the impeachment inquiry.

The official raised questions about the next witness scheduled to appear at a public hearing, former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, noting the diplomat was not on Trump’s July 25th phone call with the Ukrainian leader and arguing she could not lend any validity to allegations of a quid pro quo.

Anticipating that Yovanovitch will tell lawmakers about an alleged smear campaign against her, the official asked how that could add weight to the impeachment inquiry.

As for the overheard phone call between Trump and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, the official threw cold water on the newsworthiness of that revelation, exclaiming “stop the presses.”

The official said the transcript of the first phone call with Ukraine’s president has cleared all of the necessary hurdles to be released to the public.

“The first transcript is ready to go and awaits the go ahead of the President,” the official said.

Democratic congressman says former Ukraine ambassador's testimony will show "corrupt shakedown scheme"

From CNN's Manu Raju

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Pushing back on GOP plans to portray former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch as out of the loop, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said her testimony “represents a President abusing his office to remove an ambassador to clear the decks to run a corrupt shakedown scheme.”

Other Democrats have echoed this as well.

Trump showed GOP senators transcript of first call with Ukraine

From CNN's Ted Barrett

President Trump showed a group of GOP senators the transcript of his first call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer told CNN.

Cramer said he along with GOP Sens. Ted Cruz, Mike Enzi, Steve Daines, Deb Fisher and Ben Sasse were among those who attended the meeting with the President at the White House today.

Trump referenced the call “a couple of times,” Cramer said, and then asked the senators if they wanted to see it.

Cramer described the transcript as “short” and consisting of about one page of “real text.” He characterized the content of the call this way:

He said there was no mention of aid to Ukraine or US support of Ukraine, although he scanned it quickly.

Trump told reporters yesterday he would likely release the transcript of the call — which happened before the July call that launched the impeachment investigation — today.

A diplomat testified an ambassador called Trump from a Kiev restaurant. It was likely intercepted by Russian spies.

From CNN's Zachary Cohen and Kevin Collier

US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s cell phone call to President Trump from a restaurant in Ukraine this summer appears to be a shocking security breach that raises significant counterintelligence concerns, according to several former officials.

The officials told CNN there is a high probability that intelligence agencies from numerous foreign countries, including Russia, were listening in on the conversation.

What we know about the call: Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, revealed during the first public impeachment hearing yesterday that a member of his staff — who was accompanying Sondland to meetings in Kiev — saw the ambassador call Trump from his cell phone and overheard the President asking about “the investigations.”

“I cannot remember in my career any time where an ambassador in a high counterintelligence environment like Kiev would have such an unsecure conversation with a sitting president. This just should not happen,” he said.

8 more witnesses will testify publicly next week

Yesterday marked the first public impeachment inquiry hearing — and more are coming next week.

The House intelligence panel announced it would hold five impeachment hearings next week over three days.

Here’s who is scheduled to testify:

Tuesday morning: Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council aide
Tuesday afternoon: Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, a National Security Council aide
Wednesday morning: US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland
Wednesday afternoon: Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense and David Hale, the under secretary of State for political affairs
Thursday morning: Former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill

Here's how tomorrow's hearing with Marie Yovanovitch will work

From CNN's Devan Cole and Phil Mattingly

Former US Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is scheduled to testify in a public hearing tomorrow.

That hearing will work similarly to yesterday’s hearing. Here’s what you can expect, after the hearing gavels in and committee leadership and witnesses give their opening statements:

The first round of questions: Both the chairman of the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, and the top ranking Republican member, Rep. Devin Nunes, also of California, will evenly divide 90 minutes of questioning at the start of the hearing. They can take as much consecutive time as they want, so long as the other side is provided equal time out of that 90 minutes. So expect each to take 45 minutes.
The staff lawyers: While Schiff and Nunes will speak and may interject from time to time, the resolution makes clear that this will be a staff-led questioning, as each member can delegate his time to counsel on the committee.
For the Democrats: On the Democratic side, the opening lines of questioning will be spearheaded by Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor with the Southern District of New York who joined the committee in March and led the questioning in the closed-door depositions.
For the Republicans: On the GOP side, it will be Steve Castor, the chief investigative counsel for the House oversight panel who has been detailed over to the House Intelligence Committee, along with his boss, Rep. Jim Jordan.
Members’ questions: At the conclusion of 90 minutes, the rest of the panel’s members will each have five minutes to question the witnesses.

If the House votes to impeach Trump, don't expect the Senate to quickly dismiss it

From CNN's Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox

There has been some speculation that Senate Republicans would quickly dismiss a possible impeachment trial if the House votes to impeach President Trump.

Here’s the reality: This will not happen.

Republicans don’t have the 51 votes necessary to do this even if they wanted to, and majority of GOP senators CNN has spoken to say there’s far more merit to holding a serious trial – which they all still believe will lead to acquittal – than short-circuiting thing at the start.

Here’s another rather important voice on the matter: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He told reporters yesterday, “My own view is that we should give people an opportunity to put the case on. The House will have presenters. The President will no doubt be represented by lawyers as well.”

GOP congressman says Trump's behavior is not impeachable

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise told reporters the President’s behavior is not impeachable, citing yesterday’s “star witnesses” who he said couldn’t name a single impeachable offense.

Scalise left amid questions as to why yesterday’s witnesses, Bill Taylor and George Kent, would be the arbiters of impeachment.

We're not sure how a possible impeachment trial in the Senate would play out

From CNN's Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox

An official ticket to watch the impeachment trial of US President Bill Clinton.

An official ticket to watch the impeachment trial of US President Bill Clinton.

WILLIAM PHILPOTT/AFP via Getty Images

The US Senate does not currently have a timeline or structure set for a potential impeachment trial, senators and aides have made clear to CNN.

Neither party – from the leadership level down – has coalesced about a specific timeline or structure it would prefer either.

There are preliminary discussions, a lot of internal conference and caucus conversations about precedent and past trials, and no shortage of opinion pieces.

But nothing is set, or close to being set. In fact, one aide close to the process told CNN this week that staffers themselves are still trying to understand the actual options ahead.

Remember: The House hasn’t voted to impeach the President yet, and likely won’t for a number of weeks. A trial would not happen in the Senate until the House votes to impeach,

As one Democratic aide framed it, even though everyone is keenly aware of what’s coming, “it’s not quite ripe yet” for the real discussions – and negotiations. That time is coming, but it hasn’t happened yet.

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