Jim Jordan: the Republican in ‘attack dog mode’ for impeachment hearings

Trump’s loyal ally will block, deflect, and argue that impeachment evidence is lacking and challenge the legitimacy of proceedings

Perhaps the solitary defeat still stings. Jim Jordan won 150 matches and lost just one during a school wrestling career in which he was Ohio state champion four times. Now a politician, Jordan is less a wrestler and more a bare-knuckle fighter in the corner of Donald Trump and lashing out at the president’s enemies.

The world is about to become a lot more familiar with the Republican congressman’s aggressive style when televised impeachment hearings get under way on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.

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Schiff ahead of public hearings: Trump tried to scheme with Ukraine – as it happened

The House intelligence chair, Adam Schiff, pushed back against Republicans’ defense of the president in an interview with NPR

Tune in tomorrow morning for live coverage of the first public impeachment hearings.

Related: Trump fumes as Democrats get ready for 'sober and rigorous' public hearings

In the memo, posted on CNN, Democrats rebut each of the four arguments the Republicans put forth in their internal memo in the impeachment inquiry.

The July 25 call summary — the best evidence of the conversation — shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure;

President Zelensky and President Trump have both said there was no pressure on the call;

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Trump faces key test as week of impeachment hearings begins – live

It’s Veterans Day, Donald Trump is back in Manhattan and Washington is getting ready for more momentous events

The announcement of Republican representative Pete King’s retirement once again throws a spotlight on the high number of departures and defeats in the House GOP caucus since Trump took office.

When President Trump took office in January 2017, there were 241 Republicans in the House.

Since then, 101 have either been defeated/retired/otherwise left office or are retiring in 2020. (h/t @Dchinni)

One name under discussion for Rep. Peter King's seat: Democratic Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini.

Demonstrators who protested Trump’s Veterans Day speech in New York criticized the president’s treatment of veterans and called for his impeachment.

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Trump impeachment inquiry: a timeline of key events so far

Pelosi launched inquiry on 24 September over allegations that Trump sought the help of a foreign country to harm a political rival

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump on 24 September.

Since then, House committees have been taking witness testimony about an alleged plot by Trump to use the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country, Ukraine, in the 2020 election.

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Nikki Haley: Tillerson and Kelly tried to block Trump to ‘save country’

Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, has claimed former secretary of state Rex Tillerson and former White House chief of staff John Kelly tried to recruit her to work around Donald Trump in an effort to “save the country”.

Related: Trump impeachment: whistleblower will not testify in public, Democrats say

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Trump impeachment: whistleblower will not testify in public, Democrats say

The whistleblower who sparked the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump will not testify in public, House intelligence chair Adam Schiff said.

Related: Watergate to Ukraine: how TV will dictate Trump's impeachment fate

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‘We need to hear the evidence’: swing voters give their view on Trump

In this Kansas City suburb, voters who went for Trump in 2016 have their doubts about impeachment – but say the president has questions to answer

Steve Isley sees no reason not to believe what Donald Trump has to say about Congress’s impeachment investigation.

Related: Woman who gave Trump the finger elected in Virginia

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Trump impeachment inquiry: Sondland revises testimony and admits Ukraine quid pro quo – live

EU envoy acknowledges in updated testimony he told Ukraine it would likely not receive aid unless it announced investigations into Trump’s rivals

Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell appears to have bulldozed directly through protocol by forecasting, before the articles of impeachment have even been drafted in the House and Trump put on trial in the Senate, that the president will be acquitted.

“If it were today, I don’t think there’s any question — it would not lead to a removal,” @SenateMajLdr McConnell says of a potential impeachment trial in the Senate.

/2 McConnell: “I’m pretty sure I know how it’s going to end.” Says Trump will be acquitted by Senate like Clinton & Andrew Johnson

Sondland was asked, with respect to the “demands” made by Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani to investigate the 2016 election and Burisma, if “those conditions would have to be complied with prior to getting a meeting.”

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Trump rejects whistleblower offer to answer Republican questions

A day after a lawyer for the whistleblower who raised alarms about Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine said his client is willing to answer written questions submitted by House Republicans, the president tweeted: “Written answers not acceptable!”

Related: 'Quid pro quo, yes or no?' Trump allies face Ukraine question

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‘Quid pro quo, yes or no?’ Trump allies face Ukraine question

As Donald Trump repeated his demand that the whistleblower who triggered the impeachment inquiry should be identified, White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway refused to say the president did not offer the leader of Ukraine a quid pro quo involving military aid and the investigation of his political rivals.

Related: Experts on Trump's conduct: 'Plainly an abuse of power, plainly impeachable'

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Triggered review: Donald Jr proves himself the Trump kid with real political chops

The son’s book is one-eyed, loose with the facts and a crude attack on the left. In short, it’s like his dad – and it might work

In Triggered, the president’s eldest child excoriates the left for its censoriousness, but ignores his father’s repeated demands for the same. In case Don Jr forgot, Trump père is no friend of free speech or a free press.

Related: Donald Trump Jr's Triggered: a litany of trolling and insults worthy of his father

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Beto O’Rourke dropping out of 2020 presidential race  – live

The former Texas congressman has had low polling numbers and his campaign has been under financial strain

Beto O’Rourke was once a front runner in the Democratic primaries, who raised huge amounts of money from small donors across the country.

Related: Beto O'Rourke withdraws from Democratic race to face Trump

Following in the footsteps of Joan Didion, and Meghan Daum and Luc Sante – Donald Trump has penned his own version of the “Goodbye New York” essay after announcing yesterday that he had changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Mar-a-lago.

“I love New York, but New York can never be great again,” he begins. Like so many bigly figures in the literary world, Trump has written about that bittersweet feeling of leaving the iconic city.

I love New York, but New York can never be great again under the current leadership of Governor Andrew Cuomo (the brother of Fredo), or Mayor Bill DeBlasio. Cuomo has weaponized the prosecutors to do his dirty work (and to keep him out of jams), a reason some don’t want to be...

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Trump’s top Russia official to testify in impeachment inquiry after stepping down – live

Tim Morrison is at closed-door testimony following last night’s reports that the official is stepping down from his post at the White House

Nancy Pelosi rather unusually presided over the House herself this morning as members began to debate the impeachment resolution.

.@SpeakerPelosi taking the unusual step of presiding over the House herself as they begin debate on the procedures for the impeachment inquiry going forward

Tim Morrison, the national security council official currently testifying behind closed doors in the impeachment inquiry, reportedly intends to confirm Bill Taylor’s account that the White House held up Ukraine’s military assistance to push for public announcements of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

The Washington Post reports:

Morrison is expected to tell impeachment investigators on Thursday that the account offered by Ambassador William B. Taylor Jr., is accurate, particularly that Morrison alerted him to the president’s and his deputies’ push to withhold security aid and a meeting with the Ukrainian president until Ukraine announced an investigation of the Bidens and 2016 election interference, the person said on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.

Morrison will also say that 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, the person said.

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John Bolton reportedly asked to sit for impeachment deposition – live news

House committees leading the impeachment inquiry reportedly intend to call Donald Trump’s former national security adviser

The interior department is grounding its entire fleet of drones due to security concerns, the Wall Street Journal reported.

With more than 800 aerial drones, the department has one of the largest fleets in the federal government.

US officials worry that the country’s reliance on Chinese drones may be putting critical US infrastructure at risk. They are concerned the drones may be sending information back to the Chinese government or hackers elsewhere to use for cyberattacks or other offenses.

Hello, Kari Paul here in San Francisco, taking over the blog for the next few hours. More news to come shortly.

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Army officer tells impeachment inquiry of gaps in Trump’s Ukraine transcript

Lt Col Vindman reportedly said omissions included references to Joe Biden and Burisma

A decorated army officer and the top Ukraine expert on the national security council has reportedly told House impeachment investigators that the White House transcript of a call between the presidents of the US and Ukraine left out important words and phrases.

The New York Times cited three sources familiar with Alexander Vindman’s testimony on Tuesday who said the omissions included Donald Trump making reference to recordings of the former vice-president Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy making reference to Burisma, the company for which Biden’s son Hunter worked.

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Ukraine expert gives first-hand testimony on Trump-Zelenskiy call – live

Alexander Vindman to testify call made him ‘worried about the implications for the US government’s support of Ukraine’

Trump is still tweeting away, arguing that the House Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry have a “Death Wish” when it comes to next year’s elections.

However, a number of House Republicans have announced plans to retire or seek higher office in recent months, suggesting that the GOP caucus is the one with doubts about their 2020 prospects.

Nervous Nancy Pelosi is doing everything possible to destroy the Republican Party. Our Polls show that it is going to be just the oppidite. The Do Nothing Dems will lose many seats in 2020. They have a Death Wish, led by a corrupt politician, Adam Schiff!

Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, declined to attack the integrity of Lt Col Alexander Vindman but still questioned the official’s reported concerns about Trump’s Ukraine call.

The California Republican told reporters on Capitol Hill: “I thank him for his service ... but he is wrong.”

“You can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” @GOPLeader tells @nancycordes when asked whether Republicans are moving the goalposts by refusing to support a vote on impeachment procedures going forward after calling for one for weeks.

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House to vote on resolution on next steps in impeachment inquiry – live

Resolution outlining impeachment procedures specifically calls out the Trump administration for dismissing the inquiry as illegitimate

Here’s a recap of today:

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who introduced a Senate resolution denouncing the House inquiry last week, is both taking credit for House Democrats’ decision to hold a full vote on the impeachment inquiry, and saying that the vote is meaningless.

“A vote now is a bit like un-ringing a bell as House Democrats have selectively leaked information in order to damage President Trump for weeks,” he said.

There is no doubt in my mind that the overwhelming response House Democrats heard from the American people and Senate Republicans in support of my resolution forced their hand.

Today’s announcement is an acknowledgement of the success of our efforts last week.

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Pelosi plans to call House vote to formalize impeachment inquiry

Trump administration has argued inquiry is invalid because the House has not held a vote to formalize it

US House speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced she will call a vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry under way against Donald Trump.

The House rules committee was to convene on Wednesday to draft a resolution laying out the course of the inquiry moving forward, including a timeline for moving the investigation from closed-door depositions to public hearings.

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This week in the impeachment inquiry: bombshell testimony and Trump fury

After a chaotic week in Washington, even more damning testimony for Trump could lie ahead

As a watershed week full of bombshell testimony and presidential fury at the impeachment inquiry receded, Washington is now looking ahead to another week promising bombshell testimony – and more presidential fury.

For sheer spectacle, Republicans will be hard-pressed to top an invasion last week by lawmakers of the secure area where witnesses were being questioned. And for sheer malice, Donald Trump will have to sink far indeed to go lower than his claim to be the victim of a lynching.

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Trump lashes out at Kamala Harris after senator protests criminal justice award

After Kamala Harris pulled out of a South Carolina criminal justice forum because its organizer gave Donald Trump an award, the president duly lashed out.

Related: Springing the 'rat' trap: how Baltimore fought back against Trump's insults

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