Trump impeachment news: Democrats release damning report accusing president of obstruction, as he has tense exchanges with world leaders at Nato summit
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump sparred with Emmanuel Macron during a televised bilateral meeting at the two-day Nato summit in London, as House investigators released an explosive report on the impeachment inquiry back home in Washington.
It was a whirlwind news cycle during the president’s visit to the UK: as Mr Trump met with world leaders overseas, House investigators released their report finding “a months-long effort by President Trump to use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election”.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said the House had "overwhelming evidence of the president’s misconduct" and suggested the president's actions posed "a threat to the integrity of the upcoming election" as Mr Triump meanwhile denounced the timing of the next phase of the process, arguing it has been scheduled to embarrass him.
Mr Trump, who arrived in London on late Monday for two days of meetings, called the trip “one of the most important journeys that we make as president” before departing Washington and noted Democrats had long known about the meeting.
The president lashed out at Democrats again soon after arriving in the UK. He said on Twitter that he had read the Republican report designed to counter Democrats’ impeachment case on his flight. The report called Mr Trump’s hesitation to provide military aid to Ukraine “entirely prudent.”
“Prior to landing I read the Republicans Report on the Impeachment Hoax. Great job! Radical Left has NO CASE. Read the Transcripts", Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. “Shouldn’t even be allowed. Can we go to Supreme Court to stop?”
It was not immediately clear under what legal grounds the president was calling for the high court’s involvement.
Mr Trump’s trip comes amid ongoing quarrels over defence spending by NATO allies and widespread anxiety over the president’s commitment to the alliance.
The president said his trip would be focused on “fighting for the American people".
But in the more than two months that the impeachment inquiry has been underway, he has constantly drifted back to what he frames as the Democrats’ unfair effort to overturn the results of his 2016 election.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday on the constitutional grounds for impeachment before Mr Trump wraps up at the NATO meeting.
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our live blog to load
Trump border wall contract handed to company run by Republican donor
A construction company owned by a Republican donor has been given a $400m (£308.5m) contract to build sections of Trump’s US-Mexico border wall.
The Department of Defence has announced Fisher Sand and Gravel Co, from North Dakota, will build new barriers in Arizona following reports that Trump repeatedly pushed for the company to be given the contract, despite concerns from engineering officials, after enjoying CEO Tommy Fisher's appearances on Fox.
Conrad Duncan reports.
Nancy Pelosi defies Trump over Paris climate change agreement
The House speaker is in Madrid at present to attend a UN convention on climate change and assured attendees that the president would not have the last word on America withdrawing from the 2015 Paris accord: “By coming here we want to say to everyone we are still in, the United States is still in.”
Aked about Trump himself, she commented: "When we travel abroad, we don't talk about the president in a negative way. We save that for home."
Clark Mindock has more.
Facebook chief denies Trump lobbied him at White House dinner
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has denied that Trump tried to lobby him when they met for dinner at the White House in October in a new interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning.
What did they talk about?
"Things that were on his mind, and, um, some of the topics that you’d read about in the news around, um, our work."
Andy Gregory has more.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway trolled by own husband on Twitter
George Conway may have gone too far this time...
Here's Chris Riotta to explain.
Bloomberg reporters blocked from covering Trump's 2020 campaign over owner's candidacy
Bloomberg News reporters have been barred from covering events on Trump's re-election bid due to alleged "biases", campaign chiefs said on Monday. The decision to no longer give credentials to Bloomberg reporters comes a week after the news service's founder, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
Bloomberg News, which the former New York City mayor founded in 1990, has also said it will not investigate Bloomberg or his Democratic rivals but would continue to probe the Trump administration, as the sitting government.
Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale called it a troubling decision to "formalise preferential reporting policies", and said Bloomberg reporters would no longer be credentialed to cover campaign events until the policy is rescinded. "As President Trump's campaign, we are accustomed to unfair reporting practices, but most news organisations don't announce their biases so publicly," Parscale said.
Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said the accusation of bias could not be further from the truth. "We have covered Donald Trump fairly and in an unbiased way since he became a candidate in 2015 and will continue to do so despite the restrictions imposed by the Trump campaign," he said.
The Trump campaign's action illustrates the difficult position Bloomberg's candidacy has imposed on the news organisation. By saying reporters could not investigate Bloomberg or his Democratic rivals, some critics have said this would prevent the news organisation from conducting in-depth reporting on the campaign. Bloomberg officials say it is a position the news service has navigated before, when Bloomberg was mayor.
(Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
"This is my nightmare come true," said Kathy Kiely, a University of Missouri journalism professor who quit as Bloomberg political director when he was considering a run for the 2016 presidential nomination. Journalists at Bloomberg would have been better served if he had made clear he was stepping away from his company for the campaign, Kiely said, adding Bloomberg - and any candidate for president - was fair game for any kind of stories that Bloomberg News reporters could dig up. "It's unfortunate that this is creating a perception that this is how journalism works, that journalists are manipulated by their bosses," she said.
In a memo sent to staff members following Bloomberg's announcement, Micklethwait said he would continue the organisation's policy of not investigating Bloomberg, his family or his foundation, and "will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries". If Bloomberg was chosen as the candidate against Trump, the policy would be reevaluated, Micklethwait said at the time.
Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, also criticised the Trump campaign's move. "Bloomberg News is one of the largest and most influential news organisations in the world," Baquet said. "We condemn any action that keeps quality news media from reporting fairly and accurately on the presidency and the leadership of the country."
Tucker Carlson tells Americans to back Russia over Ukraine, as Rudy Giuliani threatens to sue Steve Hilton
Over on Fox News, Tucker Carlson has backed Russia over Ukraine for the second time in a week and suggested some US journalists hate America more than Vladimir Putin.
Carlson said the US should “probably take the side of Russia” in a dispute between Putin’s country and Ukraine, even though the latter is an American ally.
On Monday night, Republican congressman Jim Jordan denied suggestions that Trump is helping Russia by pointing out that the Trump administration has placed sanctions on the country. Carlson said he he “totally opposed” those sanctions "...and I don’t think we should be at war with Russia… I think we should probably take the side of Russia, uh, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, another Fox anchor, Neil Cavuto devoted a section of his show on Monday night to reading out the abusive letters he had received after he had had the temerity to criticise the president by telling him "I don't work for you" and arguing on air that Trump was unable to distinguish between "fake news" and stories he just doesn't like (see below).
Cavuto had returned from his Thanksgiving to such messages from Trump supporters as: "So, you’re not dead? Well, we can only hope. Careful, Cavuto. It’s still icy out there!" Cold indeed.
Also at Fox, Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has threatened to sue Steve Hilton - an adviser to British PM David Cameron many moons ago - after the latter branded him a "toxic chump", accused the ex-NYC mayor of trying to "enrich himself" by association with the president and urged Trump to get rid of him.
Rudy responded angrily on Twitter, calling Hilton a "wild card":
Here's Conrad Duncan on Tucker.
Meme roundup: The most hilariously brutal responses to Trump's arrival in London
Following his Stoltenberg sitdown this morning, Trump has been meeting with supporters at the InterContinental London Park Lane for a (highly lucrative) roundtable before returning to the ambassador's residence for lunch and meetings with Macron and Trudeau.
For Indy100, Joanna Taylor has this roundup of the funniest reactions to his latest visit to London.
President claims not to know how NHS rumour started
Trump said earlier in his Q&A with Jens Stoltenberg that he did not know where the rumour the NHS was on the table in post-Brexit trade talks had come from.
Spoiler alert: He started it.
Greg Evans has more for Indy100.
Trump giving press conference with Emmanual Macron, latter 'stand by' disparaging Nato comment
Trump is currently sitting down with Macron, whom he attacked earlier today as "very, very nasty", on the sidelines of the Nato summit.
The Frenchman says he "stands by" his suggestion the alliance is "brain-dead", a line that was sharply criticised by his US counterpart.
Trump has continued to bash Nato member states on the organisaiton's 70th anniversary and suggested easing off on Russia (!)
He also appeared to back off on those big French import tarrifs.
But things are not altogether friendly...
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