Trump news: Released impeachment testimony describes Ukraine quid pro quo, as White House chief of staff called to testify
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Your support makes all the difference.A key witness has agreed to cooperate with congress’ impeachment inquiry, as the president faces increasing congressional scrutiny over his behaviour.
Lev Parnas, an indicted businessman who has been linked to the Ukraine scandal is prepared to provide testimony and records to congress, his lawyer said.
Mr Parnas has close ties to Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.
The news of Mr Parnas's plan to participate came on a busy day in Washington, including revised testimony from US ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who described an effort by the Trump administration to secure a quid pro quo in Ukraine.
The amended testimony essentially reversed his previous testimony on the matter, and prompted the White House to claim that nothing had changed — and maintain that there was no quid pro quo, or anything concerning about his 25 July phone call with Ukraine.
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The president spoke at a Kentucky rally on Monday evening, during which he repeatedly criticised Hunter Biden, suggested he could serve 21 years in the Oval Office and attacked the media.
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Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone.
The 67-year-old was arrested in January 2019 and charged with seven counts, including lying to congress, witness tampering and obstruction.
Mr Stone has been friends with the president for decades and served as an adviser to Mr Trump during the 2016 campaign.
His trial is expected to last around three weeks.
Lev Parnas, a key witness at the heart of the Ukraine scandal, has agreed to co-operate with the congressional impeachment inquiry.
The indicted Ukrainian-American businessman will testify before politicians and provide testimony, his lawyer said on Monday.
Mr Parnas is closely linked to Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer.
The two men are reported to have tried to find compromising information about Joe Biden, the Democratic 2020 frontrunner.
“We will honor and not avoid the committee’s requests to the extent they are legally proper, while scrupulously protecting Mr. Parnas’ privileges including that of the Fifth Amendment,” Joseph Bony, the businessman's lawyer, said in a statement.
The Trump administration has begun to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement.
The White House said on Monday that it had filed paperwork to withdraw the country from the landmark climate pact.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, confirmed the step on Twitter.
The move comes as part of a broader strategy by Mr Trump to roll back climate protections in the US.
"Donald Trump has said US special forces forces gave Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi a 'one way ticket to hell'," reports Joe Sommerlad.
"Speaking to supporters in Lexington, Kentucky, he said US forces had killed al-Baghdadi and his successor.
“'Even on a Monday night is there anything cooler than being at a Trump rally,' he asked the audience, which cheered its support.
"The president was appearing in support of Republican governor Matt Bevin, whose facing an election tomorrow against Democratic challenger, state attorney general Andy Beshear."
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The former US ambassador to Ukraine has said she was told to watch her back before Donald Trump and his allies decided to remove her from her post.
Marie Yovanovitch told a congressional investigative panel that a senior Ukrainian official told her "I really needed to watch my back".
The full transcript of Ms Yovanovitch's testimony was released on Monday.
The former ambassador has been at the centre of the Ukraine scandal since it emerged Mr Trump criticised her during a 25 July call with the Ukrainian president.
In the call, the president said she was "bad news" and that the ambassador would "go through some things."
“I didn’t know what it meant. I was very concerned. I still am," Ms Yovanovitch said.
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The president is being sued for defamation by a journalist who alleges that he raped her at a department store in the 1990s.
E Jean Carroll has fired a lawsuit which says Mr Trump "smeared her integrity, honesty, and dignity" after she came forward earlier this year.
Mr Trump denied he had ever met the writer, even after a photograph emerged of him speaking to her at an event.
He called her a liar, and suggested she was working with the Democratic Party to smear him.
Ms Carroll is seeking damages for emotional pain, and negative effects on her career.
More now from the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch, who claims she was told to tweet praise of the president to help her keep her job.
"Concerned about what the claim was doing to her reputation, she says, she turned to Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, one of the Trump allies working with Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, to uncover evidence of corruption by Joe Biden, a frontrunner to face Mr Trump in next year's election," reports Phil Thomas.
"At the impeachment hearing she was asked what Mr Sondland had told her.
"She said: 'He hadn’t been aware of it, that the story had shifted, and he said, you know, you need to go big or go home. You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president, and that all these are lies and everything else.'"
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The US president appeared at a rally in Lexington, Kentucky on Monday evening as voters in the state and in Mississippi head to the polls on Tuesday to choose their next governors.
Voters in Virginia and New Jersey will also participate in state legislative elections.
All four races will be closely watched for hints as to how the 2020 election contest could unfold.
Mr Trump appeared in Kentucky on behalf of Republican governor Matt Bevin, whose is facing an election against Democratic challenger, state attorney general Andy Beshear.
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