Trump news: Formal charges of impeachment revealed with president accused of ‘simple and terrible’ abuse of power
Nadler: 'Our next election is at risk... That is why we must act now'
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Your support makes all the difference.House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump on a historic day on Capitol Hill, accusing the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress ahead of a full House vote on his misconduct later this week.
"He endangers our democracy, he endangers our national security," said House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler, announcing the charges before a portrait of George Washington. "Our next election is at risk... That is why we must act now."
Mr Trump began the day pleading on Twitter that his impeachment would be "sheer Political Madness!"
His Attorney General William Barr, however, had accused the Obama Administration of being the "greatest danger to our free system" by using the "apparatus of the state ... both to spy on political opponents but also to use them in a way that could affect the outcome of an election."
Those theories were debunked in the Justice Department's recently released watchdog report but they've been repeated by Republicans in defence of the president as he face impeachment.
But nearly as soon as Democrats announced impeachment articles, they supported the Trump administration's USMCA trade agreement, a revised Nafta plan that the White House called the "biggest and best trade agreement in the history of the world". The White House will "push hard" to enact the deal before the end of 2019, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already indicated the Senate won't be taking it up until the president's impeachment trial is through, which could be January.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House, where Mr Pompeo and Mr Lavrov clashed during a post-meeting press conference over the perception of reports of interference in US elections.
Mr Lavrov said that reports of interference are "baseless" and that "there are no facts that would support that" though he admitted he read the Mueller report, which he said is not "proof of collusion".
The president ends a historic day on Capitol Hill with his supporters in Pennsylvania, where he's holding an ego-boosting Keep America Great rally.
Follow along as it happened.
President, Democrats reach tentative deal on North American trade pact
On the USMCA then, the White House has reached a tentative agreement with House Democrats and labour leaders over a rewrite of the North American trade deal that has been a top priority for Trump.
"I'm hearing very good things, including from unions and others that it's looking good. I hope they put it up to a vote, and if they put it up to a vote, it's going to pass," the president said on Monday. "I'm hearing a lot of strides have been made over the last 24 hours, with unions and others."
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kusher said earlier today that all sides were "making pretty good progress" at a Wall Street Journal event in DC and Mexico's president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has since confirmed that the US and Canada are ready to sign. Details still need to be finalised and the US trade representative will need to submit the implementing legislation to Congress. No vote has yet been scheduled.
The new, long-sought trade agreement with Mexico and Canada would give both Trump and his primary adversary, Speaker Pelosi, a major accomplishment despite the current turmoil in Washington over impeachment.
The new trade pact would replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminated most tariffs and other trade barriers involving the United States, Mexico and Canada. Critics, including Trump, labour unions and many Democratic lawmakers, branded NAFTA a job killer for America because it encouraged factories to move south of the border, capitalise on low-wage Mexican workers and ship products back to the US duty free.
Weeks of back-and-forth, closely monitored by Democratic labour allies such as the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), have brought the two sides together. Pelosi is a longtime free trade advocate and supported the original NAFTA in 1994. Trump has accused Pelosi of being incapable of passing the agreement because she is too wrapped up in impeachment.
Democrats from swing districts have agitated for finishing the accord, in part to demonstrate some accomplishments for their majority. By ratifying the agreement, Congress could lift uncertainty over the future of US commerce with its No. 2 (Canada) and No. 3 (Mexico) trading partners last year and perhaps give the American economy a modest boost. US farmers are especially eager to make sure their exports to Canada and Mexico continue uninterrupted.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau spoke on the phone with Trump on Monday about the progress being made - overcoming their recent Nato spat. Trudeau's office said they will stay in touch "through the final stages of the negotiations."
US trade representative Robert Lighthizer last year negotiated the replacement agreement with Canada and Mexico. But the new USMCA accord required congressional approval and input from top Democrats like Pelosi and Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts, who have been engaged in lengthy, detailed negotiations over enforcement provisions and other technical details.
Republicans leaders and lawmakers have agitated for months for the accord but Pelosi has painstakingly worked to bring labour on board. Democrats see the pact as significantly better than NAFTA and the endorsement by AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka (just granted) could be the key to winning significant Democratic support.
The pact contains provisions designed to nudge manufacturing back to the United States. For example, it requires that 40 per cent to 45 per cent of cars eventually be made in countries that pay autoworkers at least $16 (£12) an hour - that is, in the United States and Canada and not in Mexico.
The trade pact picked up some momentum after Mexico in April passed a labour-law overhaul required by USMCA. The reforms are meant to make it easier for Mexican workers to form independent unions and bargain for better pay and working conditions, narrowing the gap with the United States. Mexico ratified USMCA in June and has budgeted more money later this year to provide the resources needed for enforcing the agreement.
Trump accuses Chairman Nadler of lying about his campaign to pressurise Ukraine
Ah, this is more like it...
Trump repeats tired old lie about Adam Schiff
The president appears to have run out of fresh defences and is resorting to the greatest hits package.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has meanwhile issued this statement:
“Today, in a baseless and partisan attempt to undermine a sitting president, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats announced the pre-determined outcome of their sham impeachment - something they have been seeking since before President Trump was inaugurated.
“House Democrats have long wanted to overturn the votes of 63 million Americans. They have determined that they must impeach President Trump because they cannot legitimately defeat him at the ballot box. The Democrats’ use of a phone call with the president of Ukraine – with a transcript the President himself released – served as their excuse for this partisan, gratuitous and pathetic attempt to overthrow the Trump administration and the results of the 2016 election.
“The announcement of two baseless articles of impeachment does not hurt the president, it hurts the American people, who expect their elected officials to work on their behalf to strengthen our nation. The president will address these false charges in the Senate and expects to be fully exonerated, because he did nothing wrong.
“Ultimately, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats will have to answer to their constituents for manufacturing an impeachment inquiry and forcing unfounded accusations down the throats of the American people. Today, and every day, the president will continue to work on behalf of this country and will not be deterred by the rank partisan political acts of the Democrat Party.”
Speaker hails USMCA deal as 'victory for American workers'
Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, Speaker Pelosi is announcing the USMCA trade deal. You'd think on any other day Trump would be trying to horn in on this and take credit.
Here's Clark Mindock's report.
Trump among nominees to be Time's Person of the Year for 2019
This might cheer Trump up: he's been nominated for Time's Person of the Year.
The bad news is, he's up against his arch rivals Greta Thunberg, Nancy Pelosi and the CIA whistleblower! Rudy Giuliani is also nominated - him winning would seriously annoy Trump.
Here's Tom Parfitt's report.
President's lawyer tells Steve Bannon podcast to expect 'Guiliani investigation' report
Rudy got a name check by Adam Schiff in his announcement just now and rightly so: he's played a huge part in exposing his boss's wrongdoing on the world stage and deserves every credit. Arguably only the whistleblower has done more.
The former New York mayor was on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast yesterday and promised to release his own report on Ukraine (he's calling it "the Giuliani investigation") in the wake of his return from Kiev. Co-host Jason Miller responded, with some confidence, that its publication would no doubt "turn the institution on its head".
I'd ordinarily put a link in here to the interview but, honestly, why spoil things?
Lindsey Graham warns impeachment 'sad and dangerous'
The Republicans are currently holding a press conference of their own in response to the Democrats announcing articles of impeachment against the president. It's neither interesting nor well attended.
Here is Trump apologist Lindsey Graham's wholly reasonable and non-hysterical response to it all.
Republicans gaslight American public over FBI report
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy is currently pushing the same Trumpian lies about the Justice Department inspector general's report on the FBI, exactly the sort of "alternate reality" politics Stephen Colbert was joking about last night.
FBI director on dealing with Trump: 'My responsibility is to call balls and strikes'
Trump attacked FBI director Christopher Wray earlier today over his verdict on the inspector general's report.
"We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election," he reiterated on Monday after issuing a statement agreeing with Horowitz's findings and saying he had "ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the report’s recommendations".
Just yesterday he was asked by Pierre Thomas on ABC about how he responded to criticism from the persident and answered thusly:
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