Impeachment trial opens as watchdog says Trump broke law on Ukraine

Government Accountability Office finds suspension of of military aid at president’s direction violated law

As the Senate opened an impeachment trial in which Donald Trump will stand charged with abusing the power of his office, the president was hit with new allegations of wrongdoing by an agency within Trump’s own administration.

The Government Accountability Office released a finding on Thursday morning that the suspension last year of military aid for Ukraine at Trump’s direction violated laws governing the disbursement of congressionally appropriated funds.

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Trump impeachment trial set to begin amid damaging new Ukraine revelations – live

House prosecutors to arrive at Senate to formally open trial as Lev Parnas tells reporters president was fully aware of efforts to pressure Ukraine

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An independent government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said the White House budget office violated the law when it froze US military aid to Ukraine.

“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the president to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the report said.

Yesterday, the House voted to send articles of impeachment to the Senate, setting in motion the third impeachment Senate trial in US history.

Here’s how that looks today:

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Trump impeachment: how the day unfolded as House sends articles to Senate – video

Donald Trump faces a trial after the House of Representatives voted to send articles of impeachment against him to the Senate. Here’s how a frantic day on Capitol Hill unfolded

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Impeachment: Trump fumes as Pelosi prepares to send articles to the Senate

Whether or not Nancy Pelosi is the “absolute worst Speaker of the House in US history”, as Donald Trump insists, the Democrat said on Sunday her caucus will meet on Tuesday to decide when to transmit two articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.

Related: John Bolton impeachment testimony will be blocked, Donald Trump says

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Trump impeachment: Senator Collins working to allow witnesses at trial – as it happened

Susan Collins and other Republicans open to allowing witnesses in impeachment trial, a key sticking point in impasse between House and Senate

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Kari Paul here, logging off for the weekend! Here is a summary of the key events of the last few hours:

Two parents whose children were separated from them as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border policies are suing the federal government for $12m, claiming the children were subject to abuse and neglect while in federal custody.

“The United States government tore these families apart pursuant to a cruel and unconstitutional policy: The government intended to inflict terror and harm on these small children and their fathers, as a means of deterring others from seeking to enter the United States”, said the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court of Arizona.

According to the lawsuit, the fathers were separated from their children for more than two months, and the federal government gave little, if any, information regarding the location and safety of the children.

The families “suffered, and continue to suffer, physical, mental, and emotional harm,” the lawsuit states. More than a year after they were reunited, the lawsuit says the children exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Pelosi: I’ll send impeachment articles to Senate ‘when I’m ready’ – video

Nancy Pelosi says she wants to understand the parameters of a Senate trial before sending the articles of impeachment, but adds she does not plan to hold on to them indefinitely. 'I’ll send them over when I’m ready,' she says. 'And that’ll probably be soon.'

The Speaker says she is concerned that senators will not hold an impartial trial to determine whether Donald Trump should be removed from office

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Why is Pelosi waiting to send Trump articles of impeachment to the Senate?

Speculation and political parlor-gaming about Nancy Pelosi’s strategy have filled the informational vacuum

What is Nancy Pelosi thinking?

Related: Trump ex-adviser Michael Flynn should face up to six months in prison, say prosecutors – live

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Confusion over letter from US military signaling withdrawal of troops from Iraq – as it happened

Mark Esper says memo on US troops’ ‘onward movement’ from Iraq is not accurate and ‘there’s been no decision’

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Kari Paul here, logging off for the night. Here are today’s top events to make note of:

Pete Buttigieg is heading back to Iowa on Jan. 12 to do more campaigning ahead of the upcoming caucus there, his team announced on Monday.

According to the announcement, Buttigieg has now visited Iowa 21 times, with visits to 49 counties to hold 100 events across the state.

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McConnell and Pelosi set for showdown over next steps of Trump impeachment

  • Not clear when articles of impeachment will reach Senate
  • Pelosi threatens delay until she receives assurances of fair trial

As Washington awoke on Thursday to the realisation that it had impeached the third US president in American history, the capital remained racked with uncertainty about what will come next in an impeachment process defined by almost total partisanship and rancor.

Related: Trump impeachment charges 'absolutely made up', says Putin

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Trump’s impeachment may be just another battle in the US’s civil war

Trump will be wounded, seething, hellbent on revenge – and turn the weight of impeachment against his foes in 2020

After Donald Trump’s inaugural address, George W Bush turned to Hillary Clinton and said: “Well, that was some weird shit,” the former secretary of state confirmed earlier this month.

For nearly three years since that chilly day here at the US Capitol in Washington, Democrats (and many others) have accused of Trump using and abusing the United States like his personal punchbag. On Wednesday, that slice of America finally punched back via impeachment.

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Trump writes blistering letter to House accusing leaders of ‘war on democracy’

Letter is a thinly veiled attempt to redirect back impeachment inquiry’s findings he abused power and obstructed Congress

Donald Trump has accused Democratic leaders in the House of declaring “open war on American democracy”, on the eve of a historic vote that is likely to make him only the third president in US history to be impeached.

Trump issued the incendiary accusation in an intemperately-worded letter sent to the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday.

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Mike Pompeo stokes Kansas Senate rumours with Twitter launch

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, launched a personal Twitter account on Saturday with simple message about the big football game of the day: #GoArmyBeatNavy.

Related: What has Mike Pompeo got to swagger about and why is he doing it in Kansas?

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‘Solemn step’: Democrats unveil articles of impeachment against Trump

Democratic congressional leaders have unveiled articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, a historic move set in motion by a whistleblower complaint warning the president was using the power of his office to solicit foreign interference in a US election.

Related: Democrats unveil articles of impeachment against Trump – live

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Trump impeachment inquiry: House judiciary committee releases report

The House judiciary committee released a report on the constitutional grounds for impeachment on Saturday. Shortly after that, Donald Trump once again insisted the whole thing was a “witch hunt” and “a total hoax”.

Related: White House dismisses invitation to take part in key impeachment hearing

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Trump impeachment: Republicans dig in as hopes of bipartisan support dashed

Congressional Republicans dug deep in defense of Donald Trump over the weekend, frustrating Democratic hopes that the impeachment inquiry would build bipartisan support following weeks of testimony laying out how Trump attempted to extract a political “favor” from Ukraine in exchange for official acts.

Related: Trump impeachment: Schiff calls on Bolton to testify and slams Republicans

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Trump suggests he wants to be impeached and says ‘I want a trial’ – live

President sounded off on public hearings on Fox & Friends, praised Giuliani as ‘one of the great crime fighters’ and called Pelosi ‘crazy as a bedbug’

Joe Biden had harsh words for his former Senate colleague Lindsey Graham, who has emerged as one of the president’s most prominenet defenders against the House impeachment inquiry.

“Lindsey is about to go down in a way that I think he’s going to regret his whole life,” Biden in a CNN interview. “I say Lindsey, I just -- I’m just embarrassed by what you’re doing, for you. I mean, my Lord.”

Biden tells @donlemon he's "embarrassed by" Graham's actions after senator asks Pompeo to turn over docs related to Hunter and Ukraine

"Lindsey is about to go down in a way that I think he’s going to regret his whole life," Biden says, adding Trump is "holding power" over him pic.twitter.com/sjNjQV7Ogp

John Hendrickson, who wrote the incredible Atlantic article on Joe Biden’s history with stuttering, said in an MSNBC interview that he has received dozens of emails thanking him for exploring the topic.

Hendrickson, who also stutters, said it was his “nightmare” to be doing a television interview and acknowledged he admired Biden for for participating in presidential debates despite his history of stuttering. “I admire his courage,” Hendrickson said.

.@JohnGHendy thought this conversation would be his nightmare.
He explained to me why his new piece in @TheAtlantic about how Joe Biden is handling the challenge of stuttering is so personal to him.
Watch this: pic.twitter.com/lNlqpovnJI

Maybe you’ve heard Biden talk about his boyhood stutter. A non-stutterer might not notice when he appears to get caught on words as an adult, because he usually maneuvers out of those moments quickly and expertly. But on other occasions, like [the July debate] in Detroit, Biden’s lingering stutter is hard to miss. He stutters—­if slightly—on several sounds as we sit across from each other in his office. Before addressing the debate specifically, I mention what I’ve just heard. ‘I want to ask you, as, you know, a … stutterer to, uh, to a … stutterer. When you were … talking a couple minutes ago, it, it seemed to … my ear, my eye … did you have … trouble on s? Or on … m?’

Biden looks down. He pivots to the distant past, telling me that the letter s was hard when he was a kid. ‘But, you know, I haven’t stuttered in so long that it’s hhhhard for me to remember the specific—’ He pauses. ‘What I do remember is the feeling.’

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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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‘Disorder and chaos’: Trump and Republicans mount furious impeachment fight

A hearing room is invaded, the president’s enemies are ‘scum’. A bare-knuckle scrap has begun – but will it be enough?

Donald Trump has shown little taste for military adventure. He avoided the draft in Vietnam. He fell out with his once-beloved generals. He stunned the world by pulling troops out of Syria and abandoning America’s Kurdish allies.

Related: Blow to Trump as DoJ ordered to turn over evidence from Mueller grand jury

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Biden gains widest lead in 2020 race in months amid Trump’s smears – live

Former vice-president is attracting support of 34% of voters compared to Elizabeth Warren’s 19% and Bernie Sanders’ 16%

Trump announced in a tweet that he would deliver a statement from the White House at 11 a.m. E.T. on the situation in Syria.

Big success on the Turkey/Syria Border. Safe Zone created! Ceasefire has held and combat missions have ended. Kurds are safe and have worked very nicely with us. Captured ISIS prisoners secured. I will be making a statement at 11:00 A.M. from the White House. Thank you!

Tuesday’s developments more concretely define the size and scope of the area that Turkish soldiers will occupy, adding to pockets of northern Syria that Turkey seized from Islamic State and Kurdish fighters in operations in 2016 and 2018.

The deal was widely perceived as good news for Ankara and a poor result for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), building as it does on the US’ agreement last week that Turkey has a right to a buffer zone on its border at their expense. Most of all, it cements Moscow’s new role as prime powerbroker in the Middle East as US influence in the region wanes.

Laura Cooper – the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia – has arrived to testify in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Cooper may be able to shed more light on the delaying of military aid to Ukraine, but her appearance feels a bit anticlimactic after Bill Taylor testified yesterday that he was told Trump specifically wanted a public announcement of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election before releasing the aid.

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Trump impeachment inquiry: key testimony finally begins despite Republican sit-in – as it happened

Laura Cooper’s testimony for House Democrats underway after protest delayed her appearance by more than five hours

Here’s a recap of this evening’s developments:

Trump and his supporters have said that there couldn’t have been a quid pro quo because Ukrainians weren’t aware that aid was being witheld.

Neither he (Taylor) or any other witness has provided testimony that the Ukrainians were aware that military aid was being withheld. You can’t have a quid pro quo with no quo.” Congressman John Ratcliffe @foxandfriends Where is the Whistleblower? The Do Nothing Dems case is DEAD!

Word of the aid freeze had gotten to high-level Ukrainian officials by the first week in August, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times.

The problem was not a bureaucratic snag, the Ukrainians were told then. To address it, they were advised, they should reach out to Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, according to the interviews and records.

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