Tag: Trump impeachment

White House struggles to get in sync on impeachment

The Hill logoA White House that has repeatedly struggled to get in sync is sending messages of disharmony days before the first televised public impeachment hearings, which are expected to highlight the divide in the administration over President Trump‘s efforts in Ukraine.

The scattershot White House messaging and strategy is nothing new in and of itself. GOP lawmakers and some outside allies have repeatedly criticized the administration for failing to get on the same page.

But things don’t appear to be improving in the hours before House committees prepare to receive public testimony from officials who are expected to offer damaging accounts of efforts by the president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to press for investigations by Ukraine. The hearings are likely to receive wall-to-wall coverage on cable news.

View the complete November 11 article by Morgan Chalfant and Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

White House infighting flares amid impeachment inquiry

Washington Post logoA dispute erupts between the Mulvaney and Cipollone camps over how to counter House Democrats’ impeachment push

The White House’s bifurcated and disjointed response to Democrats’ impeachment inquiry has been fueled by a fierce West Wing battle between two of President Trump’s top advisers, and the outcome of the messy skirmish could be on full display this week, according to White House and congressional officials.

Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has urged aides not to comply with the inquiry and blocked any cooperation with congressional Democrats. Top political aides at the Office of Management and Budget, which Mulvaney once led, have fallen in line with his defiant stance, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about the behind-the-scenes developments.

Mulvaney’s office blames White House counsel Pat Cipollone for not doing more to stop other government officials from participating in the impeachment inquiry, as a number of State Department officials, diplomats and an aide to Vice President Pence have given sworn testimony to Congress.

View the complete November 11 article by Erica Werner, Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonnig and Rachel Bade on The Washington Post website here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: George Kent Deposition

The transcript released today of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent’s testimony debunks two false Republican talking points: (1) that Trump did not order security assistance to be withheld and (2) that he did not call on Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into his political rivals.

TRUMP DIRECTED SONDLAND TO PRESSURE UKRAINE: Kent confirmed that Ambassador Sondland was told by Trump to get Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into Trump’s political opponent.

TRUMP DIRECTED THE SECURITY ASSISTANCE TO BE WITHHELD FROM UKRAINE: Kent testified that congressionally-appropriated security assistance money to Ukraine was put on hold “at the direction of the president.”

POMPEO LIKELY LIED: Kent testified that Pompeo’s letter to the Committees inaccurately characterized interactions between the Committee and foreign service officers.

UKRAINE WAS PRESSURED TO COOPERATE EARLY ON: Volker met privately with Ukraine’s president in July, before security assistance was withheld, to underscore the importance of the messaging Ukraine needed to provide to Trump about its willingness to cooperate.

KENT BELIEVED PRESSURE FROM WHITE HOUSE WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED: Kent was so concerned that the White House was pursuing “politically motivated prosecutions” that he memorialized his conversations in contemporaneous notes.

Pentagon official cited alarm over hold on aid to Ukraine

The Hill logoA top career Defense Department official described to House impeachment investigators her dismay over the summer’s delay of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, painting a portrait of a Pentagon doing battle with the White House over the release of funding deemed “vital” to national security.

Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper, who testified late last month, said that she took part in her agency’s review of Ukraine’s progress in combating corruption, in which officials concluded that “sufficient progress has been made.”

Despite this assessment, top officials in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), guided by President Trump, felt otherwise.

View the complete November 11 article by Olivia Beavers and Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: Bill Taylor Deposition

The transcript of the testimony given by Bill Taylor, the top diplomat to Ukraine appointed by Trump, further corroborated Trump’s gross abuse of power.

“CLEAR UNDERSTANDING” OF TRUMP’S ABUSE OF POWER: It was Taylor’s “clear understanding” that security assistance money was conditioned on Ukraine pursuing investigations demanded by Trump into his political rivals.

Continue reading “KEY TAKEAWAYS: Bill Taylor Deposition”

Republicans Lose Their ‘No Quid Pro Quo’ Talking Point

Trump and Republicans manufactured a variety of excuses for his gross abuse of power in Ukraine. They doubled down on their frequently used claim — “no quid pro quo” — after  the release of Ambassador Sondland’s text message, which they cited repeatedly as proof that no extortion occurred. According to them, that means Trump is off the hook!

But in revised testimony released yesterday, Sondland admitted to a quid pro quo. Inquiring minds want to know: What will happen to Republicans’ favorite talking point now?

Donald Trump…

TRUMP:  “— the text message that I saw from Ambassador Sondland — who’s highly respected — was: There’s ‘no quid pro quo.’  He said that. He said, by the way — it almost sounded like in general — he said, by the way, there’s ‘no quid pro quo.’  And there isn’t. Now, for Biden there would be.  But listen to this:

TRUMP: There is no pro quo.  And that was the text message that I saw.  And that nullified everything.”

TRUMP: “‘The Ambassador to the European Union has already testified, he said there was no quid pro quo. He said the President had told him that.’ @kilmeade  @foxandfriends”

Kellyanne Conway…

CONWAY: “There’s been other testimony, I believe, that Ambassador Sondland–and I’m getting this from public reports, including your own–Ambassador Sondland made very clear to text the Ambassador Taylor that there–that was not the President’s intent. There was no quid pro quo intended.”

Rep. Jim Jordan…

JORDAN: “Ambassador Sondland, made his statement, where he said it’s crystal-clear… there is no quid pro quo of any kind… you guys don’t — you never highlight that one.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz…

GAETZ: “But they forget to tell you is that, when Taylor texted that to Ambassador Sondland, Ambassador Sondland expressly refuted that contention in real time. He said no, this is not a quid pro quo. The president has been very clear but there’s this linkage of aid to any future election activity.”

Rep. Mark Green…

BARTIROMO: “And so — I mean there are some congressmen who we have spoken with like Devin Nunes who were among those questioning people like Ambassador Volker and Ambassador Sondland…. these testimonies are just knocking down the whole idea of any quid pro quo.”

GREEN: “And then Sondland comes back and said no, there absolutely was no quid pro quo. I mean the President insisted there not be.” [Mornings with Maria, Fox Business, 10/22/19]

Condoleezza Rice says reports of an unofficial US policy in Ukraine are ‘deeply troubling’

The Hill logoCondoleezza Rice said on Monday that reports of an unofficial U.S. policy being carried out in Ukraine is “deeply troubling.”

The former secretary of State under President George W. Bush said she was troubled by recent reports that there were conflicting messages going to Ukraine.

She made her comments while speaking at a conference in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reported.

View the complete November 11 article by Justine Coleman on The Hill website here.

Democrats release three new transcripts as part of impeachment inquiry

The Hill logoHouse Democrats released three new transcripts from closed-door depositions Monday as they charge toward the open hearing phase of their impeachment inquiry later this week.

The release included the transcript of Laura Cooper, a top Defense Department official who oversees Ukraine. She testified about the Trump administration’s decision to withhold nearly $400 million in aid, which Democrats are examining as part of their investigation into whether President Trump pressed Ukraine to help his own reelection bid in 2020.

Democrats also released the transcripts from joint depositions with Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson, two former assistants to former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker.

View the complete November 11 article by Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

House Democrats, ex-Bolton aide ask judge to block Mulvaney from joining lawsuit

The Hill logoHouse Democrats and former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman separately asked a federal judge on Monday to block President Trump‘s acting chief of staff from intervening in a lawsuit over subpoenas related to the House’s impeachment inquiry.

Trump’s top aide, Mick Mulvaney, had filed a motion in D.C. District Court on Friday seeking to join Kupperman’s lawsuit over a subpoena in order to fight the House Intelligence Committee’s efforts to compel his own testimony.

But Democrats argued that the original lawsuit is moot since they withdrew the subpoena directing Kupperman to testify.

View the complete November 11 article by Harper Neidig on The Hill website here.

Impeachment week: Trump probe hits crucial point

The Hill logoIt all comes down to this.

House Democrats charging ahead with their impeachment investigation will hit a critical juncture this week, throwing the process into the public spotlight as they fight to convince voters of a verdict they themselves have all but ratified: that President Trump abused the office and should be sent packing.

The shift is a pivotal development in the seven-week-old investigation, one bearing enormous stakes for a Congress and country bitterly divided along partisan lines, while ensuring — even more than before — that the 2020 elections will be a referendum on the mercurial figure in the Oval Office.

View the complete November 11 article by Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.