Our live coverage of the impeachment inquiry has ended for the day. Read up on the latest news below.
Zachary Wolf, senior writer and publisher of the Impeachment Watch Newsletter, discusses the “Never Trumpers” rhetoric President Trump is pushing with CNN reporter and producer Marshall Cohen in today’s episode of “The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch” podcast.
Lisa Moncao, CNN senior national security analyst, also joins the conversation to offer her perspective, as a former federal prosecutor, about the case being built.
A handful of leadership aides and senior committee officials plan a busy week of deliberations behind the scenes to prepare for a momentous December that will likely lead to President Trump being impeached by year’s end.
Here’s what you can expect:
Expert after expert in the House impeachment inquiry testified about one key fact: That Ukraine had no role interfering in the 2016 elections to help Hillary Clinton. And one key witness sounded the alarm even louder.
But to House Republicans, that’s just a bunch of talk.
Asked after Hill’s testimony if he believed Ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told CNN, “I think they did.”
Remaining loyal to the President: Amid the impeachment fight where Trump is demanding loyalty from congressional Republicans, most are unwilling to break from the President – even on a matter that national security experts warn could help Russia in its efforts to undermine Ukraine.
Moreover, US intelligence officials who briefed senators in recent months have reiterated the point that Russia has been engaging in a years-long effort to shift the blame of Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election to Ukraine, a message that has been echoed during public testimony by Hill and other witnesses in the impeachment inquiry.
But even Republicans who have sat for the closed-door depositions before the impeachment probe refuse to accept the notion that Ukraine had no role in interfering in 2016. And amid Trump’s continued criticism of the country, some won’t even accept the idea that Ukraine is a “key strategic ally.”
Perry continued: “I’m not disputing that they are a key ally and a strategic ally, but it’s just interesting how you phrase that in this context like they can’t survive without a White House meeting.”
A source familiar with the White House legal team spelled out where they stand on the impeachment inquiry as the House moves towards preparing articles of impeachment.
Here’s what we know:
In a classified briefing this fall, US intelligence officials told senators and their aides that Russia has engaged in a years-long campaign to shift the blame away from Russia and onto Ukraine for interfering in the 2016 American presidential campaign, according to two US officials.
That briefing aligns closely with Thursday’s testimony from Fiona Hill, President Trump’s former top Russia expert. The message conveyed by US intelligence officials to lawmakers also takes on new relevance as many of those conspiracy theories have been increasingly repeated by Republican lawmakers.
Senators were told that the Russian disinformation operation focused on a handful of Ukrainians who openly criticized or sought to damage Trump’s candidacy — efforts that were significantly less organized than the multi-faceted election interference push ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, one US official said, confirming details first reported by the New York Times.
US intelligence officials also told lawmakers that Russia used intelligence operatives to spread now debunked conspiracies, along with established facts, to frame Ukraine for the interference in the 2016 campaign, the official said.
Russian intelligence officers conveyed that information to prominent Russians and Ukrainians, including oligarchs, to pass along to US political figures and some journalists who likely were unaware of where it came from, according to the same official.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which primarily oversees efforts to counter foreign election interference, declined to comment.
Former Vice President and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden addressed Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s role in the ongoing impeachment inquiry in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon in South Carolina today.
“They’re asking Lindsey Graham, they have him under their thumb right now,” Biden said. “They know he knows that if he comes out against Trump, he’s got a real tough road for re-election.”
Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been a vocal critic of the impeachment inquiry and recently asked the State Department for documents related to the Biden and his son Hunter’s work in Ukraine. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either of the Bidens.
Biden said that he is “disappointed” and “angered” by Graham’s push to investigate him and his son.
Asked what he would say to Graham if he could, Biden replied, “I say Lindsey, I, just I’m just embarrassed by what you’re doing for you. I mean, my Lord.”
Some background: Biden and Graham have historically had a friendly relationship, with Graham once calling Biden “the nicest person he’s ever met.”
Watch here:
President Trump is tweeting his gratitude to the two GOP leaders in the Senate and the House, respectively, as the House impeachment inquiry begins to wrap up and a potential trial is set to begin in the Senate.
More on this: This week, the House Intelligence Committee wrapped up public hearings in the impeachment inquiry. The intelligence committee and two other House panels are now working on a report that could be the basis of articles of impeachment. Democratic sources say the House could possibly vote to impeach President Trump by Christmas. If that vote passes, it would setup a possible impeachment trial in the Senate.
Democrats are “moving quickly” to impeach President Trump before Christmas, according to CNN’s congressional correspondent Phil Mattingly.
Here are the next steps for Democrats:
He also pointed out that several key witnesses, like White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, have refused to testify.
While “there could be some movement on court cases related to someone like John Bolton sometime in the first or second week of December,” Mattingly said that “Democrats have made clear they are not waiting on the courts.”
“They are moving forward, and that means likely before the end of the year, likely before Christmas, the House Democrats will vote to impeach President Trump,” he said.
President Trump didn’t answer questions on whether the whistleblower should be fired or whether he supported his lawyer Rudy Giuliani during an event today recognizing NCAA athletes.
CNN’s Pamela Brown asked the President if the intelligence community whistleblower who filed the complaint at the center of the ongoing impeachment inquiry should be fired.
Earlier in the event, Trump also said it’s been a “tremendous week with the hoax.”
“You know, they call it the impeachment hoax and that’s really worked out incredibly well and we have tremendous support,” Trump said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen support in the Republican Party like we do right now.”
The President also wouldn’t answer a question on whether he supported everything Giuliani did in Ukraine.
John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, is back on Twitter today and just tweeted that he has “liberated” his account.
Bolton added that his account was “previously suppressed unfairly in the aftermath of my resignation as National Security Advisor.”
He ended the tweet with a cryptic message: “More to come…..”
This follows an earlier tweet today — his first in more than two months — where Bolton said: “Glad to be back on Twitter after more than two months. For the backstory, stay tuned……..”
Here’s his second tweet of the day:
Some more background: Earlier this month, Bolton’s lawyer said the former adviser has “personal knowledge” of relevant meetings and conversations “that have not yet been discussed in testimonies thus far” as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
However, the lawyer added that Bolton is refusing to testify until a federal judge rules in an ongoing legal fight between House committees and the White House, according to his lawyer.
Rep. Brad Sherman said that the impeachment hearings are holding President Trump accountable — but also added that it wouldn’t hurt for the Democrats to get more information in the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
He went on to say the Democrats should not move slowly and wait for more evidence and people to testify but that “it wouldn’t hurt for us to get a bit more information.”
“The point I’m making is we shouldn’t wait,” Sherman said. “What we should do is move forward when we have the proof that he committed a particular high crime and misdemeanor. I think we have reached that point, but it wouldn’t hurt for us to get a bit more information.”
Some context: Despite speaking with 17 witnesses behind closed doors, including 12 witnesses in just a week of public testimony, Democrats have not obtained crucial documents or spoken with several key officials because the White House and State Department have refused to comply with subpoenas.
That has left top Democrats with a choice: They could fight in court to obtain potential smoking-gun documents and testimony from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser John Bolton. Or Democrats could move forward with the evidence they have.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has chosen the latter.
Yesterday, the House Intelligence Committee wrapped up its scheduled public hearings in the impeachment inquiry.
In total, 12 witnesses spoke publicly. Nine of those were this week.
Here are the key takeaways from each witness who testified in this packed week of hearings.
John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, is back on Twitter.
Here’s his first tweet after more than two months:
Some background: Earlier this month, Bolton’s lawyer said the former adviser has “personal knowledge” of relevant meetings and conversations “that have not yet been discussed in testimonies thus far” as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
However, the lawyer added that Bolton is refusing to testify until a federal judge rules in an ongoing legal fight between House committees and the White House, according to his lawyer.
During his Fox News interview this morning, Trump again went after the former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
He said he asked his team “why are you being so kind” to Yovanovitch — and he claimed he was told “she’s a woman – we have to be nice.”
“I heard bad things,” Trump said, inaccurately saying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brought her up during their call.
Remember: Trump was the one who brought up Yovanovitch during the July 25 call. At that time, Trump disparaged her, calling her “bad news” and saying, “she’s going to go through some things.”
She was recalled from her post in May.
President Trump, speaking on Fox News this morning, was pressed on Rudy Giuliani’s involvement and whether it was at odds with his State Department.
Trump called Giuliani a “great crime fighter” and a “very legendary figure.” The President said Giuliani’s credentials were helpful in “dealing with a corrupt country… it means a lot.”
Some background: Giuliani is President Trump’s lawyer. After pushing claims against former Vice President Joe Biden for months, Giuliani ultimately met with a top aide to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Madrid — days after the July 25 phone call where Trump asked Zelensky to hear Giuliani out.
President Trump said he would like an impeachment trial and continued to disparage former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch during an appearance on Fox News this morning.
He said he wants Hunter Biden and Adam Schiff to testify, claiming he knows “exactly” who the whistleblower is.
Trump also went after Yovanovitch, the former US Ambassador to Ukraine who testified publicly last week.
“The ambassador, the woman, she wouldn’t even put up, she’s an Obama person,” Trump said of Yovanovitch. He said he asked his team “why are you being so kind” to Yovanovitch and was told “she’s a woman – we have to be nice.”
“I heard bad things,” Trump said, inaccurately saying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brought her up during the call. Trump brought her up.
Trump claimed that Yovanovitch “wouldn’t hang my picture in the embassy” and “wouldn’t defend” him.
“This was not an angel, this woman, okay? And there were a lot of things that she did that I didn’t like,” he said.
Trump said he doesn’t know a number of the witnesses who have testified in the impeachment inquiry, such as Kurt Volker. As for US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, Trump said he “hardly” knows him.
Trump questioned why Sondland was working so closely with Ukraine – which was something Sondland addressed during his testimony.
“I’ve had a couple of conversations, I’ve seen him hanging around, you know, when I go to Europe, but he was really a European Union Ambassador, and all of a sudden, he is working on this, you know, ask about that,” he said.
Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working with the White House to prepare for the likely Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, coalescing around the idea that allowing Democrats to lay out their evidence may be the best course of action to protect the President.
How this works: The Intelligence Committee and two other panels are working on a report that could be the basis of articles of impeachment. Democratic sources say the House could possibly vote to impeach Trump by Christmas. After that, if the House impeaches Trump, the Senate will hold a trial and vote whether to remove him from office.
During a meeting yesterday with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, a group of Republican senators including Mike Lee of Utah, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas, spoke about how a Senate trial should be conducted.
Lawmakers discussed that Republicans should allow Democrats to make their case with a timeline of two weeks being thrown out as a potential estimate for how long that process could take.
But remember: An aide warned that the two-week timeline was not firm by any stretch and aides and members have been clear that no one is certain how long the process could take.
“It’s not on a stone tablet,” the source told CNN.
House Democrats say they are undeterred by the White House preventing first-hand witnesses from testifying before the House Intelligence Committee — and now are actively preparing for the next step in their eight-week-old investigation and the likely impeachment of President Trump.
The next steps: Privately, Democrats are anticipating a busy December that will be filed with proceedings before the House Judiciary Committee, including public hearings and a markup, and a likely vote to impeach Trump on the House floor by Christmas Day, according to multiple Democratic sources, which would make him just the third President in history to be impeached.
The House Intelligence Committee, along with two other panels, are writing a report detailing their findings, which is expected to serve as the basis for articles of impeachment that the House Judiciary Committee will consider.
Democrats say they are still debating the size and scope of the articles, which are likely to focus on abuse of power, obstruction of justice, obstruction of Congress and bribery.
Missing documents: But despite speaking with 17 witnesses behind closed doors, including 12 witnesses in just a week of public testimony, Democrats have not obtained crucial documents or spoken with several key officials because the White House and State Department have refused to comply with subpoenas.
That has left top Democrats with a choice: They could fight in court to obtain potential smoking-gun documents and testimony from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser John Bolton. Or Democrats could move forward with the evidence they have.
The House Intelligence Committee just wrapped its fifth day of testimonies in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
Committee members heard testimony from Fiona Hill, the former White House Russia expert, and David Holmes, the counselor for political affairs at the US Embassy in Ukraine.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the hearing:
