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

State and defence departments wanted military aid restored, but the Greenland issue ‘took up a lot of energy’, new testimony reveals

After the White House cut off military aid to Ukraine, Donald Trump’s top officials scrambled to get it restored but were unable to organise a meeting with the president, in part because his staff were too busy pursuing his interest in buying Greenland, according to newly released congressional testimony.

The acting US ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, told Congress that Trump’s order in mid-July to cut off security assistance triggered a series of high-level meetings with cabinet members on how to get it resumed, given the urgency of the Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine.

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Top US diplomat observed clear Trump-Ukraine quid pro quo, testimony reveals

US officials said Trump would not ‘sign a check’ for military aid without investigation into Joe Biden, Bill Taylor tells inquiry

For a second time in two days, newly released testimony in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump has produced a firsthand account of US officials negotiating a quid pro quo in Ukraine in which military aid would be used to pay for a political hit against Joe Biden, the president’s potential 2020 adversary.

Related: Trump-Ukraine scandal: Taylor transcript details direct quid pro quo via irregular channels – live

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Impeachment inquiry: diplomat to say politics were behind refusal to defend Yovanovitch – live

David Hale will tell Congress Pompeo worried defending Marie Yovanovitch could lead to further delays in releasing military aid to Ukraine

Virginia Democrats are “promising swift action” on a host of liberal policy proposals after sweeping the state’s legislature, according to AP.

Democrats took control of the state House and Senate – they already had Ralph Northam in place as governor – on Tuesday night, and will now push through gun restrictions and raise the minimum wage. From AP:

Northam said at a cabinet meeting Wednesday morning that he’s going to push for the same gun safety laws he proposed at a special session earlier this year called in response to a mass shooting in Virginia Beach.

[Democrats] have also promised to approve the Equal Rights Amendment, making Virginia the final state needed for possible passage of the gender equality measure.

Tulsi Gabbard has repeatedly said she won’t run as a third party candidate if (when) she fails to win the Democratic nomination. That hasn’t failed to stop chatter about her potentially going rogue, however... chatter that Democrats appear keen to shut down:

NEW — DNC Chair Tom Perez said Tulsi confirmed to the DNC last week that she wouldn’t run as a third party candidate.

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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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Kafka in Foggy Bottom: impeachment transcript reveals fear of Trump tweets

Testimony of veteran diplomat Marie Yovanovitch exposes Trump’s paralysing hold on the administration

What shines through the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch is her disorientation. She is a veteran diplomat at the peak of her career, and in one of the most challenging but important posts in US foreign policy. But she had no clue what was happening inside her own government.

On 24 April this year, she received a call from Carol Perez, the director general of the foreign service, speaking to her in cryptic tones as if Yovanovitch’s life was in danger if she remained at her ambassadorial post in Kyiv. She spoke as if there was a threat too awful to describe clearly on a phone line.

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Impeachment inquiry transcripts reveal shock and concern over Trump plot

Two senior American diplomats warned congressional investigators a White House plot to manufacture political dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine had undermined US national security interests and shredded faith among foreign service personnel, according to transcripts released on Monday by committees pursuing an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.

Related: Trump rejects whistleblower offer to answer Republican questions

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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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Experts on Trump’s conduct: ‘Plainly an abuse of power, plainly impeachable’

Republicans may argue Trump’s actions were not impeachable – but scholars say it’s a solid example of a high crime

Was what he did really so bad? And even if it was bad – was it truly impeachable?

Related: 'I guess that's revealing': David Rubenstein on Trump and the weight of history

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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 says he wants to read Ukraine call transcript in TV ‘fireside chat’

  • Beleaguered president says: ‘When you read it, it’s a straight call’
  • Nancy Pelosi says impeachment process ‘very sad’ for America

Donald Trump has insisted he has “done nothing wrong” and does not deserve to be impeached, and made the extraordinary suggestion that he appear on live TV to read the full transcript of his controversial phone call with the Ukrainian president in a “fireside chat”.

Related: Trump impeachment inquiry: a timeline of key events so far

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Pelosi bangs the gavel: House votes to endorse Trump impeachment inquiry

Vote set rules for public phase of impeachment inquiry, laying out plan that could produce televised hearings within two weeks

For only the third time in the history of the modern presidency, the US House of Representatives voted on Thursday to formalize impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States.

Related: House votes to formalize impeachment process against Trump – live

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Our democracy is at stake: Nancy Pelosi on impeachment vote – video

Speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, says the impeachment resolution passed on Thursday will enable lawmakers to find out the truth about the allegations against Donald Trump. The resolution passed 232-196, clearing the way for public hearings 

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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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Alexander Vindman’s Trump-Ukraine testimony: five key takeaways

Army lieutenant colonel to describe his concerns Trump’s Biden plot was undermining US foreign policy in Ukraine

In his opening statement before congressional impeachment investigators on Tuesday, Lt Col Alexander S Vindman planned to describe his concerns that Donald Trump’s plot to undermine Joe Biden was undermining US foreign policy in Ukraine.

Related: Army officer to testify Trump-Zelenskiy call 'raised internal alarm'

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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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