Tag: U.S. House

Top 5 Revelations From Ukraine Transcripts Portend Trouble For Trump

It’s been reported for weeks now that Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee in exchange for $400 million in military defense funds that Congress promised the country for its fight against Russia. A meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky was also predicated on Ukraine announcing the investigations.

The rough phone transcript Trump released, text messages between top Trump administration officials, and even an explicit admission from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney all confirmed the existence of a quid pro quo.

The four witness depositions released last week by the House Intelligence Committee add further direct confirmation of that arrangement.

View the complete November 10 article by Emily Singer on the National Memo 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.

Democrats set stage for Watergate-style TV hearings

The Hill logoThe trio of witnesses called to testify next week in the first public impeachment hearings are some of the biggest names and most significant players in the Democrats’ sprawling six-week probe into allegations President Trump pressured a foreign power to investigate his political rivals.

House Democrats know that millions of Americans will be tuning in to watch the impeachment inquiry for the first time now that weeks of closed-door depositions are giving way to televised Watergate-style hearings that are set for next Wednesday and Friday.

The hearings could be held in one of the Capitol complex’s larger rooms, such as the cavern

View the complete November 6 article by Scott Wong on The Hill website here.

Impeachment Probe Eyes Mulvaney’s Office in Early Effort to Hold Up Ukraine Aid

When the Trump administration first decided to send anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, Mick Mulvaney’s OMB put a mysterious, previously-unreported hold on the sale.

When the Trump administration first decided to sell Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) moved to temporarily pause the effort, according to multiple sources briefed on the matter.

The unusual move didn’t just foreshadow the huge fight that has President Donald Trump now facing impeachment. It also caught the eye of congressional investigators in the impeachment inquiry. This summer, OMB delayed the provision of a second shipment of military aid to Ukraine. An Intelligence Community whistleblower pointed to the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily hold up the aid as a source of concern about alleged efforts to extort Ukraine. Democrats responded by opening an impeachment inquiry.

In 2017, with the enthusiastic support of Defense Sec. Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Trump administration moved to greenlight sending of over $40 million worth of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Kyiv. But enthusiasm for the move wasn’t unanimous; in late 2017, as the interagency process moved forward, OMB temporarily gummed it up.

View the complete November 1 article by Betsy Swan and Sam Brodey on the Daily Beast website here.

House Democrats advance federal student aid overhaul

Bill would expand grants, push back on Trump’s for-profit schools agenda

The House Education and Labor Committee on Thursday voted 28-22 to approve a massive overhaul of federal student loans and other higher education programs that they touted as an overdue move to address the costs of higher education.

The 1,165-page measure earned no Republican support at the end of a markup that began Tuesday. Among numerous other provisions, it would expand Pell Grants, tweak the Federal Work-Study Program, direct more aid to minority-serving institutions, emphasize campus safety and set several new requirements designed to impose tougher standards on for-profit colleges. It would also use federal aid to encourage states to offer tuition-free community college educations.

The measure represents the increasing importance of addressing student debt as a plank of the Democratic agenda. Throughout the debate on amendments, which concluded on Wednesday, Democrats praised the bill as a long-awaited solution to a $1.5 trillion student debt crisis and a necessary crackdown on schools with predatory practices.

View the complete October 31 article by Caroline Simon on The Roll Call website here.

House approves Trump impeachment procedures

The Hill logoThe House on Thursday took its first major step toward making Donald Trumpjust the third president in history to be impeached, approving procedures for an inquiry likely to burst into full public view in weeks.

The measure, which establishes rules for open hearings and the questioning of witnesses by members and staff, passed in a 232-196 party-line vote with just two Democrats voting against it and no Republicans supporting it.

The Democrats who voted no were Reps. Collin Peterson (Minn.) and Jefferson Van Drew (N.J.), who both represent districts won by Trump in the 2016 election.

View the complete October 31 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

White House official corroborates diplomat’s account that Trump appeared to seek quid pro quo

Washington Post logoA White House adviser on Thursday corroborated key impeachment testimony from a senior U.S. diplomat who said last week he was alarmed by efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate President Trump’s political rivals in exchange for nearly $400 million in military aid.

Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on President Trump’s National Security Council, told House investigators over eight hours of closed-door testimony that the “substance” of his conversations recalled by William B. Taylor Jr., the acting ambassador to Ukraine, was “accurate,” according to his prepared remarks and people familiar with Morrison’s testimony.

In particular, Morrison verified that Trump’s envoy to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, conveyed to a Ukrainian official that the military aid would be released if the country investigated an energy firm linked to the son of former vice president Joe Biden. Morrison, who announced his resignation the night before his testimony, said he did not necessarily view the president’s demands as improper or illegal, but rather problematic for U.S. policy in supporting an ally in the region.

View the complete October 31 article by Carol D. Leonnig, John Hudson, Karoun Demirjian and Rachael Bade on The Washington Post website here.

House calls for Bolton deposition as part of impeachment inquiry

The Hill logoHouse investigators on Wednesday invited former national security adviser John Bolton to give a voluntary deposition next week as part of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, in what could be key testimony on President Trump‘s contacts with Ukraine.

Democrats are seeking Bolton’s closed-door testimony on Nov. 7, according to a source familiar with the impeachment proceedings, a move that comes following reports that his lawyers are negotiating with three House committees about possibly testifying.

Bolton’s attorney Chuck Cooper told The Hill Wednesday that his client would not appear voluntarily and would need to be subpoenaed.

View the complete October 30 article by Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

Appeals court delays House’s access to Mueller grand jury secrets

The D.C. court granted the Justice Department’s request while it considers whether to grant a longer stay.

A federal appeals court has put a temporary hold on a judge’s order requiring the Justice Department to give the Democratic-led House grand jury material from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that could be fodder for the ongoing impeachment effort against President Donald Trump.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order Tuesday granting the Justice Department’s request for an administrative stay of Chief Judge Beryl Howell’s ruling Friday, in which she concluded House lawmakers were entitled to the usually secret grand jury information.

Howell also had rejected a key White House argument: The impeachment investigation is unconstitutional because no House vote has been taken to initiate it.

View the complete October 29 article by Josh Gerstein on the Politico website here.

Ex-Trump official’s refusal to testify escalates impeachment tensions

The Hill logoThe refusal of a key former White House official to testify Monday in the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry raises new questions about the pace and effectiveness of the investigation into allegations of wrongdoing swirling around President Trump.

Democrats were quick to argue that the decision by Charles Kupperman, who was a deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton, to defy a congressional subpoena will do nothing to slow down their hard-charging probe into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Just hours later, Democratic leaders announced they will vote Thursday on legislation outlining the next phases of the process, to consist of public hearings as they weigh whether to introduce articles of impeachment.

Yet Kupperman’s strategy to seek court authorization before participating in the probe could prove to be a model for future witnesses, both public and private, stirring new doubts about which Trump officials will appear on Capitol Hill as the proceedings evolve.

View the complete October 28 article by Olivia Beavers and Mike Lillis on The Hill  website here.