Trump impeachment inquiry: parties divided as more hearings loom – live

Democrats say Bill Taylor and George Kent’s testimonies tied Trump to efforts to pressure Ukraine while Republicans say they proved nothing

Trump promised after the August mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton that his administration would propose policies to curb gun violence.

However, the president has yet to release any gun-control proposals, and he has reportedly abandoned the plan in recent weeks.

Trump has been counseled by political advisers, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, that gun legislation could splinter his political coalition, which he needs to stick together for his reelection bid, particularly amid an impeachment battle.

The president no longer asks about the issue, and aides from the Domestic Policy Council, once working on a plan with eight to 12 tenets, have moved on to other topics, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.

A nearby hospital said it had received two patients in critical condition from the shooting at a high school near Los Angeles, with three more victims en route.

#SaugusHighShooting: We have received 2 patients in critical condition, 3 en route. We will provide updates as they become available.

Santa Clarita is in California’s 25th congressional district, which currently does not have a member in Congress following Katie Hill’s resignation. https://t.co/LpJiHG84Z6

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Trump’s defender v his nemesis: the battle at the heart of impeachment hearings

Beyond the tussle between Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican Devin Nunes is the big question – will party interest reign supreme?

The battle for American hearts and minds in the unfolding impeachment drama is, at its core, a battle between two very different Californian congressmen.

In the red corner is Devin Nunes, a Republican former dairy farmer from the state’s agricultural Central Valley, who long ago threw his lot in with Fox News talking-point orthodoxy and has never hesitated to defend Donald Trump, no matter how much the rest of the political establishment – and the factual record – was arrayed against him.

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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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Trump cared more about investigating Biden than Ukraine, key witness reveals

House begins public hearings with testimonies from Bill Taylor and George Kent as president struggles to prevent investigation

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.

Related: Lights, camera, impeachment: TV phase of inquiry carries pluses and pitfalls

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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 fumes as Democrats get ready for ‘sober and rigorous’ public hearings

  • TV crews move into halls of Capitol for first public testimony
  • Trump calls on Republicans to defend him from ‘total scam’

Only three times in the history of the American republic has Congress initiated public testimony that could result in the removal of the president by impeachment. The tally will rise to four on Wednesday.

Related: Lights, camera, impeachment: TV phase of inquiry carries pluses and pitfalls

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Lights, camera, impeachment: TV phase of inquiry carries pluses and pitfalls

Televised hearings allow Democrats to put the case against Trump to the public but also gives Republicans a chance to muddy waters

The opening phase of the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump has required investigators to methodically depose witnesses behind the closed doors of a secure facility in the Capitol basement.

Related: 'A circus and a hoax': how rightwing media are covering impeachment

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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, the whistleblower and the comic: key players in the Ukraine scandal

Trump’s request that Ukraine help find dirt on Joe Biden has led to an impeachment inquiry – and drawn in multiple people

Democrats announced an official impeachment inquiry into Trump on 24 September following a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump’s interactions with the president of Ukraine. A White House summary of a 25 July call shows Trump pressed Volodymyr Zelenskiy to work with the US attorney general and Rudy Giuliani, to investigate his political rival Joe Biden in the run-up the 2020 US election. Trump told Zelenskiy to look into unfounded and debunked allegations that Biden helped remove a Ukrainian prosecutor who investigated a company tied to his son Hunter.

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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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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: Bolton hints at meetings inquiry doesn’t know about – as it happened

Lawyer for former US national security adviser says there are ‘many relevant conversations’ that House impeachment investigators don’t know about

Quiet ending to a not-so-quiet day.

The team behind Michael Bloomberg has said that “if we run”, they would bypass the four early-voting state - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - and focus on doing well on Super Tuesday and beyond.

NEW Bloomberg statement: "If we run, we are confident we can win in states voting on Super Tuesday and beyond, where we will start on an even footing."

In a statement, Iowa Democratic Party chair @troymprice tells me: "It’s disappointing to hear that Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t plan on competing in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses or the other three early nominating states." pic.twitter.com/SR7wemUrhg

.@ChairmanBuckley blasts Bloomberg for potentially skipping New Hampshire. “We are disappointed and frankly very surprised that any candidate would launch a campaign for the White House where their path doesn't run through New Hampshire or any of the other early states.” pic.twitter.com/wfVhF1NO5u

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Mick Mulvaney: new testimony draws Trump chief of staff into Ukraine scandal

Congress hears Mulvaney approved Trump-Zelenskiy meeting on condition Ukraine announced investigations tied to Joe Biden

Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney approved a White House meeting with the president for the Ukrainian president on condition Ukraine announced investigations tied to Trump’s political rival Joe Biden, according to testimony released on Friday.

Related: Trump impeachment inquiry: Mick Mulvaney implicated in released transcripts – live

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Trump’s attacks on whistleblower could do lasting damage to system, experts say

Various legal protections exist but the president’s aggressive response risks eroding a crucial check on official wrongdoing

Donald Trump and his allies have publicly attacked a whistleblower who filed a complaint about the president’s dealings with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and triggered a chain of events that led to an impeachment inquiry of the president.

Related: Ukraine crisis put on ice by Trump staff busy working out how to buy Greenland

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Biden, Clinton, investigations: the three words Trump wanted to hear on Ukraine

Senior state department official George Kent says the president had a very specific demand for his Ukrainian counterpart

Donald Trump wanted to hear three words out of the Ukrainian president’s mouth, according to newly released testimony in the US impeachment inquiry: “investigations”, “Biden” and “Clinton”.

Related: Michael Bloomberg reportedly preparing for presidential run – live

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Trump ordered to pay $2m for charity foundation misuse – live

Lawsuit exposed ‘shocking pattern of illegality’ in Trump’s personal charity, while John Bolton fails to show for deposition on Capitol Hill – follow live

Bloomberg is preparing to enter the Democratic presidential primary, the New York Times reports. He’s expected to file paperwork designating himself as a candidate in Alabama this week.

From the Times:

Mr. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire businessman, has been privately weighing a bid for the White House for weeks and has not yet made a final decision on whether to run, an adviser said. But in the first sign that he is seriously moving toward a campaign, Mr. Bloomberg has dispatched staffers to Alabama to gather signatures to qualify for the primary there. Though Alabama does not hold an early primary, it has a Friday deadline for candidates to formally enter the race.

Here’s a summary of where things stand:

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