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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Here's Senator Lindsey Graham once again effectively echoing Donald Trump's morning comments about the drug cartels in Mexico:
Gordon Sondland remembered his own interactions with an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after reading transcripts from other impeachment witness testimonies -
Donald Trump is calling his base "Club 45" while thanking his voters for their support in a new tweet -
A top US diplomat told impeachment investigators that Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine involved a quid pro quo, and that the receipt of military aid was dependent upon Kiev launching a corruption probe of Joe Biden and his son.
In testimony released on Capitol Hill as part of the Democratic-led impeachment investigation, the United States ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, said he was aware that US aid to Ukraine was dependent on such an undertaking. He also said he suspected the parallel outreach undertaken by Rudy Giuliani, the president personal lawyer, may have been illegal.
Meanwhile, testimony from another diplomat, the former special envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, reveals he told investigators he thought the threat to withhold military aid, intended to help support Ukraine against Russia, was “unusual”.
This tweet from late October is particularly interesting (not to mention, essentially inaccurate) given the release of a transcript from Gordon Sondland's testimony:
Democrat Jamie Raskin made pretty clear where he stands on the compelling evidence put forward by multiple impeachment witnesses in recent weeks:
The impeachment inquiry is turning into something of a tennis game, where both sides are using the same exact same stroke every singe day.
I say that because the White House has responded to the newest testimony, and they have stuck to a familiar script — that there is nothing to see here, in spite of the mounds of evidence Democrats are puling up.
"Both transcripts released today show there is even less evidence for this illegitimate impeachment sham than previously thought," said White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement. "No amount of salacious media-biased headlines, which are clearly designed to influence the narrative, change the fact that the President has done nothing wrong."
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer lashed out at his colleague, senator Rand Paul, today for urging the media to disclose the name of the whistleblower who is at the centre of the House impeachment inquiry.
Mr Paul had made that call during a rally alongside the president on Monday in Kentucky, where he claimed that "we also now know the name of the whistleblower", and that the individual must come forward "as a material witness".
Mr Schumer thought that was a dangerous call for a senator to be making on a politically charged campaign platform: "I cannot stress just how wrong this is. We have federal whistleblower laws designed to protect the identity and safety of patriotic Americans who come forward to stand up for the Constitution," Mr Schumer said on the Senate floor.
With the news that Mr Trump spoke by phone with a woman who has accused him of sexual assault — and spoke during a time in which she alleges the assault occurred — here's a look back at all the women who have accused him of unwanted behaviour:
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