Stephen Miller: white nationalist and, still, Trump’s immigration guru

The revelation of an email trove in which the White House aide trafficked in far-right ideas provoked outrage but little surprise

The extraordinary email leak came with a sense of inevitability. The senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller promoted white nationalist articles and books in emails to a writer at Breitbart, who after leaving the hard-right website leaked 900 messages to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

It was a discovery that would end the careers of most political figures. But among calls for Miller’s resignation, a common theme emerged: a lack of surprise that the architect of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda endorsed white supremacist views.

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Trump impeachment: released documents reveal Giuliani-Pompeo links

Cache published under FOI act show paper trail between Trump’s lawyer and secretary of state to enable Ukraine smear plot

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in contact with secretary of state Mike Pompeo in the months before the US ambassador to Ukraine was abruptly recalled, according to a cache of documents released by on Friday.

The state department released the documents to the group American Oversight in response to a freedom of information lawsuit. They show that Pompeo talked with Giuliani on 26 March and 29 March.

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Donald Trump on impeachment: ‘I want a trial’ – video

Donald Trump told Fox & Friends he wants to go on trial, which means he would like to be impeached. The president complained that Republicans couldn’t call witnesses during the House impeachment hearings, and suggested a trial would enable him to quiz the whistleblower and Adam Schiff, House intelligence committee chair 

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Impeachment testimony takeaways: Fiona Hill says Ukraine scheme ‘very clear’

The former National Security Council official provided some of the most explosive testimony yet

The fifth, and possibly final, day of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump was one of the most explosive. Here are five key takeaways:

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Fiona Hill: stop ‘fictional narrative’ of Ukraine meddling in US election

Former expert on Russia attacked debunked conspiracy theory used to defend Trump against allegations of bribery

Republicans loyal to Donald Trump must stop pushing the “fictional narrative” that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election because it plays into Vladimir Putin’s hands, the White House’s former top expert on Russia has told the impeachment inquiry in dramatic testimony.

British-born Fiona Hill, appearing in Washington on Thursday, attacked a debunked conspiracy theory used by Republicans to defend the US president against allegations that he sought to bribe Ukraine for his own political gain.

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The US policy shift on Israeli settlements will not stop Palestinians persevering | Raja Shehadeh

Palestinians are surrounded by settlers and abandoned by the west, but this latest setback will only boost support for their cause

The day before US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s announcement that the United States now considers the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be legal, I accompanied an American group of writers on a tour of the settlements around Ramallah.

It was organised by Breaking the Silence, a group formed by Israeli veterans who oppose the occupation. Yehuda Shaul, the co-founder of the organisation, led the tour. He said that, from 1967 on, the settlement project was state-driven, neither prompted nor led by the settlers. Since then, the US position had been that settlement building in the occupied territories was contrary to international law. And yet no material action has ever been taken by any US administration to force Israel to stop building – except for one moment, in 1991, when president George Bush refused to provide a guarantee for $10bn in loans to Israel over settlement expansion. So what is new about Trump’s announcement?

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Trump impeachment inquiry: key moments from Sondland’s explosive testimony – video

Day four of impeachment hearings saw the most explosive testimony so far as Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, claimed Donald Trump had directed a quid-pro-quo with Ukraine through his personal lawyer Rudi Giuliani.

Sondland asserted that an Oval Office meeting with Trump was conditional on Ukraine announcing investigations into Burisma, a gas company linked to the son of the former vice-president Joe Biden, and a widely discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine planted evidence on a server of the Democratic party to show that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

'We followed the president’s orders,' said the Trump appointee in remarks that sent shockwaves through Washington and elicited a furious response from the president.

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Democratic presidential hopefuls back Trump impeachment inquiry in debate – video highlights

Democratic presidential contenders backed the Donald Trump impeachment inquiry during the fifth televised debate on Wednesday, saying his efforts to press Ukraine to investigate the former vice-president Joe Biden was an example of his administration's corruption. The debate came hours after a senior US diplomat gave explosive testimony that directly implicated the president in a quid pro quo deal with Ukraine

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Sondland tells Trump impeachment inquiry ‘there was a quid pro quo in Ukraine scandal’ – video

A star witness at the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump has testified to the existence of a quid pro quo with Ukraine and insisted: 'We followed the president’s orders.' Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, said in bombshell evidence that he was forced to work with Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, against his will, and criticised the White House and state department for failing to provide records.

'Everyone was in the loop,' Sondland testified in opening remarks. 'It was no secret'

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Trump press secretary backtracks claim Obama officials left ‘You will fail’ notes

Stephanie Grisham retracted claim she and her colleagues encountered notes after rejection from ex-Obama staffers

The White House press secretary has backed down from her claim that Obama administration officials left behind notes for Trump staffers saying “You will fail” and “You aren’t going to make it”, after a number of aides denied the allegation.

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham said she and her colleagues had encountered the notes upon entering White House offices.

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Gordon Sondland: witness White House fears most to testify

Sondland will face questions on Wednesday over a key phone call with Trump at a restaurant in Ukraine

Donald Trump’s own words will take centre stage at the impeachment inquiry on Wednesday when his ambassador to the European Union faces questions about a phone call with the US president in a Ukrainian restaurant.

Gordon Sondland is the witness who most alarms officials at the White House, according to US media reports, fueling speculation that the ambassador could plead the fifth amendment to protect himself from self-incrimination.

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Key witnesses tell of concern over Trump’s ‘inappropriate’ Ukraine call

Kurt Volker, witness requested by Republicans, says the investigations Trump requested amounted to ‘conspiracy theories’

Two witnesses in the impeachment inquiry have described their concern over an “unusual” call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president in July, in which Trump ignored official talking points about fighting corruption to instead “demand” an investigation tied to Joe Biden.

Related: Donald Trump has dragged America's global reputation to an all-time low | Simon Tisdall

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Vindman tells impeachment hearing he reported ‘improper’ Trump call immediately – live

Key witness testifies publicly on Trump’s Ukraine call and says ‘vile’ character attacks on those testifying ‘reprehensible’ – follow the latest live

Republican representative Chris Stewart pressed Lt Col Alexander Vindman on why he corrected Devin Nunes after the GOP ranking member incorrectly called the Iraq war veteran “Mr Vindman.”

“You always insist on civilians calling you by your rank?” Stewart asked. Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient, replied that he considered the correction appropriate given that he is in his military uniform and because he has been the subject of attacks meant to “marginalize” his service.

Okay guys can we please stop making this a thing? Active duty service members are literally required to wear their dress uniforms when appearing on Capitol Hill in an official capacity. https://t.co/DWXD9LchoU

Lt Col Alexander Vindman testified that after he reported his concerns on Trump’s July call with the Ukrainian president, he was excluded from several meetings he usually would have attended in his capacity as the top Ukraine expert on the NSC.

Vindman says that after he reported on the July 25 call he was excluded from several meetings & “it was out of the course of normal affairs” to not have him participate.

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Trump impeachment inquiry: highlights from day two – video

The second day of impeachment hearings featured compelling testimony from Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine who was sacked by Trump. Yovanovitch evidence drew links between corrupt elements in Ukraine and the Trump administration's push to force her from her post. She said she was 'shocked and devastated' by Trump's personal attacks on her. As she spoke, Donald Trump attacked her on Twitter, prompting the Democrat chair of the hearing, Adam Schiff, to read the tweets to Yovanovitch in real time. 'The effect is intimidating,' she said, as Democrats accused the president of witness intimidation on a day of high political drama 

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Marie Yovanovitch calls Trump’s disparaging tweet ‘intimidating’ – video

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, read out a tweet by Donald Trump disparaging Marie Yovanovitch as the former US ambassador to Ukraine testified to the president's impeachment hearing. When Schiff asked whether she thought the tweet was intended to intimidate her, Yovanovitch replied: 'I can’t speak to what the president is trying to do, but I think the effect is to be intimidating.'

Schiff replied: 'I want to let you know, ambassador, that some of us here take witness intimidation very, very seriously.'

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Impeachment hearings go public with a flurry of pomp, drama and tension

As key diplomats testified in an open session, Democrats hoped to overcome the polarization that has defined Trump’s presidency

Shortly after 10am on Wednesday, a single sharp rap of the gavel launched the House intelligence committee’s first public hearing into the impeachment of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States.

In the vaulted chambers of the ways and means committee, the House’s grandest and most ornate meeting room, the day’s witnesses – William Taylor, the top American diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a senior state department official in charge of Ukraine policy – rose to their feet and solemnly raised their right hands to be sworn in.

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Trump impeachment inquiry: highlights from day one – video

Donald Trump cared more about investigating his political rival Joe Biden than the fate of Ukraine, according to dramatic testimony from a key witness in the first impeachment inquiry hearing before the American public. As Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair, gaveled the House intelligence committee into session, cameras from every major network carried the proceedings to millions of Americans, some of whom were encountering the allegations against Trump for the first time

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Donald Trump says US military presence in Syria ‘only for the oil’ – live

Bill Taylor and George Kent testify in first day of public impeachment inquiry – follow for live updates

Some non-impeachment news courtesy of The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani:

The Guardian’s Washington correspondent David Smith:

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Ilhan Omar has been proved right: Stephen Miller is a white nationalist | Poppy Noor

Leaked emails show the Trump aide promoting white nationalist websites and touting Calvin Coolidge’s segregation-era policies

When the congresswoman Ilhan Omar called Donald Trump’s top immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, a white nationalist in April, the chorus of outrage from Republicans could not have been louder.

Donald Trump Jr tweeted: “I see that the head of the Farrakhan Fan Club, @IlhanMN, took a short break from spewing her usual anti-semitic bigotry today to accuse a Jewish man of being a ‘white nationalist’ because she apparently has no shame.”

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Donald Trump plans to make foreign aid conditional on religious freedom

President wants to apportion aid based on how countries treat religious minorities

White House officials are reportedly drafting plans to make US foreign aid conditional on how countries treat their religious minorities, in an effort that is seen as a sop to Christian evangelicals in Donald Trump’s base.

The move, which threatens to impose further constraints on a US foreign aid policy already heavily restricted under the Trump administration, was first reported by Politico after briefings from White House aides.

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