Tag: U.S. House

Sondland testimony looms over impeachment hearings this week

The Hill logoDramatic testimony from U.S. diplomats working in Ukraine have significantly raised the stakes for this week’s impeachment inquiry appearance from Gordon Sondland, the mega-donor to President Trump who is now the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

Sondland is expected to come under tough questioning from Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday after shifting his initial statement in the inquiry to acknowledge it was his belief that Trump linked Ukrainian security assistance to that country announcing investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Testimony last week from William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, has also put a new spotlight on Sondland. Taylor testified that one of his staffers overheard Sondland speaking with Trump about the desired investigations into Biden and 2016 election interference.

View the complete November 18 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

Legality of Wolf, Cuccinelli appointments to DHS questioned

Key House Democrats cite new documents in request for review

The leaders of the House Oversight and Homeland Security panels on Friday challenged the legality of recent top appointments at the Department of Homeland Security, including newly installed acting secretary, Chad Wolf.

Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., the acting Oversight and Reform Committee chairwoman, have asked the U.S. Comptroller General to conduct an “expedited review” to determine whether the Trump administration acted legally when it appointed both Wolf and his predecessor, Kevin McAleenan, as acting DHS secretary. They also question Wolf naming Ken Cuccinelli to serve as deputy director.

Both Democrats support their claim with new documents that show the administration may have violated succession rules when it placed McAleenan next in line after former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was pushed out in April, simply because it failed to change them.

View the complete November 15 article by Tanvi Misra on The Roll Call website here.

Lawmakers spar over upcoming Sondland testimony

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s allies and critics on Sunday took differing views of the implications of U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland‘s testimony in the House’s impeachment inquiry, with Democrats saying Sondland’s upcoming appearance will show that Trump solicited a bribe and Republicans disputing his statements about a quid pro quo.

Sondland is scheduled to testify in front of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that Sondland’s public testimony will demonstrate that Trump solicited a bribe.

View the complete November 17 article by Zack Budryk on The Hill website here.

4 takeaways from Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony

Washington Post logoMarie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was ousted from that job in April amid a smear campaign, testified Friday in the second public impeachment hearing into President Trump.

Below are some takeaways from what happened in the hearing.

1. Trump’s alleged ‘witness intimidation’ — and GOP blowback

Perhaps the most colorful moment in the hearing came in the 10 o’clock hour. President Trump — whom the White House had said would not be watching the hearing beyond Republican Devin Nunes’s (Calif.) opening statement — tweeted about Yovanovitch.

View the complete November 15 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Yovanovitch impeachment testimony gives burst of momentum to Democrats

The Hill logoDemocrats’ impeachment inquiry received a boost of momentum from the Friday testimony of Marie Yovanovitch, who faced public attacks by President Trump as she detailed in personal terms how a shadowy smear campaign successfully led to her removal as the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine.

In a moment that would’ve been perfect for television split screens, Yovanovitch was in the midst of describing the “terrible” feeling of learning she was being abruptly recalled from Kyiv when Trump issued a tweet attacking her diplomatic record, describing her as having a reverse-Midas touch when it came to foreign policy.

“Honestly, after 33 years to our country — it was terrible, it was not the way I wanted my career to end,” Yovanovitch testified during the second public impeachment inquiry, shaking her head and closing her eyes as she recalled the moment.

View the complete November 15 article by Olivia Beavers and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Rep. Phillips Makes The Case For Carbon Pricing In Testimony Before Select Committee On Climate Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) testified before the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis about the urgent need for climate action. In Congress, Phillips is member of the New Democrat Coalition Climate Change Task Force and is a strong advocate for H.R. 763, the bipartisan Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.

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Click here to watch Rep. Phillips’s testimony before the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis

Below are Rep. Phillips’s remarks as prepared:

Thank you for the invitation to offer testimony this afternoon on this urgent problem. Continue reading “Rep. Phillips Makes The Case For Carbon Pricing In Testimony Before Select Committee On Climate Crisis”

There’s a Surprisingly Plausible Path to Removing Trump From Office

It would take just three Republican senators to turn the impeachment vote into a secret ballot. It’s not hard to imagine what would happen then.

By most everyone’s judgment, the Senate will not vote to remove President Donald Trump from office if the House impeaches him. But what if senators could vote on impeachment by secret ballot? If they didn’t have to face backlash from constituents or the media or the president himself, who knows how many Republican senators would vote to remove?

A secret impeachment ballot might sound crazy, but it’s actually quite possible. In fact, it would take only three senators to allow for that possibility.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will immediately move to hold a trial to adjudicate the articles of impeachment if and when the Senate receives them from the House of Representatives. Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution does not set many parameters for the trial, except to say that “the Chief Justice shall preside,” and “no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.” That means the Senate has sole authority to draft its own rules for the impeachment trial, without judicial or executive branch oversight.

View the complete November 12 article by Juleanna Glover on the Politico website here.

Democrats sharpen their message on impeachment

The Hill logoIn a last-minute move, Democrats are shifting their impeachment rhetoric and talking points just days before the first public hearings into President Trump’s handling of foreign policy in Ukraine.

The televised hearings mark a crucial phase in an investigation conducted thus far behind closed doors, as Democrats seek to swing public opinion — and by extension, that of Republicans — behind the central inference of their impeachment inquiry: that Trump broke the law and should be removed from office.

As part of that outreach effort, many well-placed Democrats are dropping the opaque Latin phrase that has dominated the seven-week impeachment investigation — “quid pro quo” — and embracing distinct legal terms like “extortion” and “bribery” that are explicit in their reference to criminality and easier for the public to digest.

View the complete November 12 article by Scott Wong and Mike Lillis 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.

Why the first 3 impeachment witnesses to publicly testify are too credible for Trump supporters to attack: GOP strategist

AlterNet logoHouse Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump is entering a new phase this week, with three witnesses set to publicly testify (all of the previous testimony took place in closed-door hearings). Inevitably, Trump supporters will do everything they can to try to discredit their testimony, but according to GOP activist and Never Trump conservative Susan Del Percio, the witnesses are too credible for Trump allies to successfully discredit.

The three witnesses are diplomat William Taylor, who handled Ukraine-related matters for the Trump Administration; George Kent, an official for the U.S. State Department; and Marie Yovanovitch, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Taylor and Kent are both scheduled to testify on Wednesday, while Yovanovitch’s testimony is set for this Friday, November 15.

Appearing on MSNBC, Del Percio told host Ayman Mohyeldin, “We’ve seen some of what the Republicans have up their sleeves. They are going to try and discredit the witnesses. But as (journalist) Sam Stein said, they are unimpeachable witnesses. These are all government servants, people who have dedicated their lives not just to their post, but in Taylor’s case, he served in Vietnam. These are very accomplished people.”

View the complete November 11 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.