Trump news: Second staffer claims to have heard previously undisclosed call, as Pelosi says president admitted committing bribery
Trump petitions the Supreme Court to shield his tax returns from federal prosecutors as he hosts another rally in the Louisiana governor's race
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has said he “doesn’t remember” a compromising call he allegedly had with Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, which top diplomat Bill Taylor raised at the House impeachment inquiry on Wednesday, saying a member of his staff had overheard Mr Trump asking Mr Sondland about “the investigations”.
House investigators heard from Mr Taylor and State Department official George Kent yesterday, with both men describing the administration’s “irregular” dealings with Ukraine as the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his allies pushed for an anti-corruption probe into domestic political rival Joe Biden.
Republican counsel Steve Castor was ridiculed for his part in proceedings.
While the president entertained Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House and said he was not following the drama unfold, a federal appeals court in DC cleared the path for Congress to pursue Mr Trump’s tax records, setting up a potential Supreme Court battle.
On Thursday, the president petitioned the Supreme Court to shield his tax returns from federal prosecutors.
The news arrived as he boarded Air Force One for yet another rally in Louisiana to boost support for a Republican running against the state's Democratic governor.
The upcoming legal battle will likely test the limits of Mr Trump's presidential powers.
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Meanwhile, in Louisiana, the mayor of Shreveport, which neighbours Bossier City, is being attacked by the state's Republicans, alleging that he is withholding security protection for Trump's visit.
The state's Attorney General Jeff Landry suggested Shreveport's Adrian Perkins is depriving rally attendees of their "health and safety" — but Shreveport isn't in Bossier City.
Cities with stretched-thin budgets across the US have warned that Trump's visits, which don't include policy meetings with local officials, end up costing taxpayers significantly for the president's security costs.
Mayor Perkins wrote back: "Please understand that the President is not coming to Shreveport. His campaign is flying into Barksdale Air Force Base and the rally will be held at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City ... The City is providing first responders and intends to follow all laws."
Breaking now:
Trump is asking the Supreme Court to shield his tax returns from federal prosecutors.
The legal battle will likely test the limits of Trump's presidential powers.
The president has refused to release his tax returns, which has been a tradition among candidates. A Manhattan DA issued a subpoena to release eight years' worth of those documents, setting off an ongoing legal battle that's now headed to the nation's high court.
That decision could determine whether sitting presidents can be prosecuted, or investigated.
His request follows last week's federal appeals court decision that rejected the president's persistent argument that his presidency effectively renders him immune.
The Independent's Andrew Buncombe breaks down the president's fight over his tax returns. Read it here.
In the filing, his lawyers argued that as president, he was immune from criminal investigation while he remained in office.
"For the first time in our nation’s history, a state or local prosecutor has launched a criminal investigation of the president of the United States and subjected him to coercive criminal process,” the filing said.
“Every time a president has asked the court to review an unprecedented use of legal process against the occupant of the office, it has done so.”
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley is on CNN, watching cringe footage of all the times she criticised Trump, then is asked what's changed. "Nothing", she says.
She also said Trump should've just named Rudy Giuliani a special envoy to Ukraine to make his role more clear:
We're closing live coverage for the day.
Stay tuned with The Independent for more from Trump's rally in Louisiana.
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