The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

Our live coverage on the impeachment probe has ended. Catch up on the latest in the posts below.

President Trump recognized Energy Secretary Rick Perry, a Texas native, during his Dallas rally tonight, telling the crowd that Perry would be leaving at the end of the year. 

Trump speculated that Perry will return home to Texas, offering praise for his Energy Secretary. 

More background: The news of Perry’s impending departure comes as acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney confirmed today that Trump asked Perry to work with Rudy Giuliani on policies related to Ukraine.

Mulvaney said this took place during a May meeting at the White House that was attended by Perry, Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine. Mulvaney said the administration was “very interested in trying to get Ukraine as an energy partner,” and said that is why Perry was involved.

President Trump attacked the impeachment inquiry and the whistleblower who set off the inquiry, asking the crowd at his Dallas rally, “who is the whistleblower? Is the whistleblower a spy?”

The President told his supporters that what Democrats were “really doing” with the impeachment inquiry was targeting the Republican party, “and what they’re really, really doing is they’re coming after you,” he said, “and we never lose.”

Trump also took aim at the way the investigation is being handled, saying that Nancy Pelosi hands subpoenas out, “like it’s cookies.”

At one point, Trump briefly went after the intelligence community’s Inspector General during his speech.

The inspector general found the whistleblower’s complaint to be both “urgent” and “credible.”

President Trump delivered one of his most aggressive attacks on the whistleblower during a rally in Dallas tonight.

For at least the 22nd time in the last two-and-a-half weeks, Trump has falsely said “the whistleblower got it all wrong.”

The whistleblower was highly accurate. As CNN has repeatedly explained, the whistleblower’s three main allegations about Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—including that Trump tried to get Zelensky to investigate the Bidens—were all accurate. 

Within minutes of kicking off his Dallas rally tonight, President Trump unleashed strong rhetoric targeting Democrats. 

Trump continued, “I really don’t believe anymore that they love our country,” prompting a chant of “four more years” from the crowd. He later said Democrats “want to destroy America as we know it.” 

Trump then went on to target House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who he called “crazy” three times, as well as Rep. Adam Schiff.

Trump suggested he wants to see Schiff testify himself. 

“I want to get him before Congress and I want to see what he has to say. They say he has immunity. Why would you have immunity from outright fraud?” Trump questioned.

The President compared the 2020 presidential election to a tree: “It’s like the roots of a tree, you plant a baby tree, it’s gotta catch,” he said, promising “more tax cuts.” 

Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced tonight in a newly released video that he is resigning effective later this year.

The video was posted on Youtube and addresses the Energy Department staff.

 “I thank President Trump for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime, I am so glad that I said ‘yes,’” Perry said.

Some context: The news of Perry’s impending departure comes as acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney confirmed today that Trump asked Perry to work with Rudy Giuliani on policies related to Ukraine.

Mulvaney said this took place during a May meeting at the White House that was attended by Perry, Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine. Mulvaney said the administration was “very interested in trying to get Ukraine as an energy partner,” and said that is why Perry was involved.

A source close to President Trump said he was not pleased with acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s press briefing today and his acknowledgement of a quid pro quo.

“He was not happy,” the source said. 

A separate White House official blamed much of Trump’s anger on the press saying the president believes the media “intentionally misinterpreted” Mulvaney’s comments. 

White House lawyers and press staff prepped Mulvaney before his press briefing today, which Trump knew and approved of, according to two White House officials, but the focus of the prep session was on questions Mulvaney would face about the selection of Trump National Doral in Florida as the site for the 2020 G7, not impeachment.

White House aides spent only a short time prepping Mulvaney on impeachment questions and did not expect he would go as far as he did in describing the freeze of aid to Ukraine.

Trump approved of Mulvaney briefing reporters on the Doral site selection and understood that Mulvaney would also take questions on Ukraine.

No sooner had the briefing ended than attorneys—both in the White House counsel’s office and on the President’s legal team—privately expressed concerns about Mulvaney’s performance.

Those concerns led to the White House’s release of a statement from Mulvaney attempting to backtrack on his confirmation of a quid pro quo involving security aid to Ukraine.

Asked about US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s concerns with the role Rudy Giuliani played in setting US policy in Ukraine, Rep. Jim Jordan defended the President’s decision, and Republicans argued that the full picture was being obscured because the testimony was behind closed doors.

Jordan and congressional Republicans went on to say there was no quid pro quo with the Ukrainian aid.

Jordan said Sondland “was very clear” with his text message.

About the text message: Sondland’s text message was sent to the top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, who raised concerns in a text to Sondland about the US withholding nearly $400 million of US military and security aid.

“As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor writes to Sondland on September 9, prompting Sondland to respond that Taylor was incorrect and that “the President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind.”

Saying he was concerned the Ukrainians could perceive a connection, Sondland told lawmakers that he responded to Taylor after he called the President directly to ask about the Ukraine aid.

“I asked the President: ‘What do you want from Ukraine?’ The President responded, ‘Nothing. There is no quid pro quo,’” Sondland said. “The President repeated: ‘no quid pro quo’ multiple times. This was a very short call. And I recall the President was in a bad mood.”

Sondland told House investigators today that his text message was only based on his conversation with Trump, according to a source with knowledge of his testimony.

After 10 hours behind closed doors, US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is done testifying on the Hill, lawmakers told CNN.  

Sondland reportedly testified that he was unaware of Rudy Giuliani’s desire to have Ukraine investigate President Trump’s potential 2020 opponent Vice President Joe Biden.

In his opening statement, Sondland testified that he wasn’t aware until “much later” that Giuliani’s agenda might have included an effort to investigate the Bidens, despite Giuliani talking about his efforts publicly in the spring.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu reacted today to acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s attempt to walk back his earlier remarks on the Ukrainian military aid, saying he thinks the White House official is lying.

Mulvaney issued the statement this evening, saying his comments during a televised news briefing at the White House were misconstrued.

At today’s briefing, Mulvaney told reporters that President Trump froze nearly $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine in part to pressure that country into investigating Democrats.

After weeks during which Trump denied the existence of any political quid pro quo in his withholding of security aid to Ukraine, Mulvaney confirmed the existence of a quid pro quo and offered this retort: “Get over it.”

“We do that all the time with foreign policy,” Mulvaney said of the influence of politics in the Trump administration.

President Trump said he has picked Rick Perry’s replacement on the same day it was reported that Perry informed the President he was resigning as Secretary of Energy. 

Trump called Perry “outstanding” and added that the two had been “talking for six months, in fact I thought he might go a little bit sooner.”

Some context: The news of Perry’s impending departure comes as acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney confirmed today that Trump asked Perry to work with Rudy Giuliani on policies related to Ukraine.

Mulvaney said this took place during a May meeting at the White House that was attended by Perry, Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine. Mulvaney said the administration was “very interested in trying to get Ukraine as an energy partner,” and said that is why Perry was involved.

White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said his comments today have been misconstrued by the media.

In a statement, Mulvaney said, “Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election.”

During a rare news conference in the White House briefing room earlier today, Mulvaney admitted President Trump froze nearly $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine in part to pressure that country into investigating Democrats.

Mulvaney insisted that he only knew of a US request to investigate the handling of a Democratic National Committee server hacked in the 2016 election, but text messages between US diplomats show efforts to get Ukraine to commit to an investigation into Burisma, the company on which former Vice President Joe Biden’s son sat. There is no evidence of wrongdoing in Ukraine by either Biden.

“That’s why we held up the money,” Mulvaney said after listing the 2016-related investigation and Trump’s broader concerns about corruption in Ukraine.

President Trump said he “wasn’t able to see” acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s remarks at the White House today.

“You know what I’ve been focused on today? Turkey and the great thing that happened in Syria,” he added. 

Trump went on to say that he thinks Mulvaney is “a good man.” He also said he has “a lot of confidence” in his acting chief of staff.

What Mulvaney said: He made a stunning admission at news briefing earlier today by confirming that Trump froze nearly $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine in part to pressure that country into investigating Democrats.

Mulvaney insisted that he only knew of a US request to investigate the handling of a DNC server hacked in the 2016 election, but text messages between US diplomats show efforts to get Ukraine to commit to an investigation into Burisma, the company on whose board former Vice President Joe Biden’s son sat. There is no evidence of wrongdoing in Ukraine by either Biden.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper is scheduled to testify behind closed doors next Thursday, according to an official working on impeachment inquiry. 

Cooper was scheduled to testify tomorrow in the House impeachment inquiry.

She is the deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia. No reason for the delay was given. 

CNN Political Director David Chalian covers the deposition of Gordon Sondland, US ambassador to the European Union, in the latest episode of “The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch” podcast.

Sondland told Congress he was directed by President Trump to work with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine, and was left with a choice: abandon efforts to bolster a key strategic alliance or work to satisfy the demands of the President’s personal lawyer.

He also looks at:

Chalian is joined by CNN reporter and producer Marshall Cohen and CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider. 

Listen to the podcast here.

House Democrats say questions are emerging over some elements of US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s testimony, particularly his contention that he was unaware of Rudy Giuliani’s desire to have Ukraine investigate President Trump’s potential 2020 opponent Vice President Joe Biden.

In his opening statement, Sondland testified that he wasn’t aware until “much later” that Giuliani’s agenda might have included an effort to investigate the Bidens, despite Giuliani talking about his efforts publicly in the spring.

Here’s what Democrats are saying about Sondland’s testimony:

What we know: Sondland’s testimony is ongoing, and lawmakers predict it will last well into the evening.

Two sources confirm to pool reporters that Energy Secretary Rick Perry notified President Trump today that he plans to resign from his post. 

Earlier today, Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley would not dispute reports that Perry was stepping down. 

This is the second time this month that rumors of Perry’s departure have surfaced.

On Oct. 4, reports in both The Washington Post and The New York Times had Perry leaving his position in December.

Perry is among one of the longest serving Cabinet members who has remained on the job since the start of Trump’s presidency.

About Perry: He was confirmed as energy secretary on March 2, 2017, with a 62-37 vote in the Senate. The former Texas governor, who has largely kept a low profile throughout his tenure, has been drawn into the impeachment inquiry.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney confirmed today that Trump asked Perry to work with Rudy Giuliani on policies related to Ukraine, but he denied doing so constituted a “shadow foreign policy,” as multiple witnesses have said Giuliani conducted.

Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, said acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s remarks that the White House conditioned aid to Ukraine on the opening of an investigation are “very damning” for President Trump. 

What Mulvaney said: He made a stunning admission at news briefing earlier today by confirming that Trump froze nearly $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine in part to pressure that country into investigating Democrats.

Mulvaney insisted that he only knew of a US request to investigate the handling of a DNC server hacked in the 2016 election, but text messages between US diplomats show efforts to get Ukraine to commit to an investigation into Burisma, the company on whose board former Vice President Joe Biden’s son sat. There is no evidence of wrongdoing in Ukraine by either Biden.

Democrats say that the existence of a quid pro quo on Ukraine aid is not required for President Trump to have committed an impeachable offense — because enlisting a foreign government to aid in your campaign is already a crime.  

That said, Democrats do believe that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s admission of an apparent quid pro quo tying the release of foreign security aid to Ukraine to an investigation into the 2016 election was significant and further evidence advancing the impeachment probe. 

But it isn’t essential for the impeachment inquiry to move forward. 

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat on the Oversight Committee, agreed. 

“I thought that was a big, almost admission, of a quid pro quo — not that you need a quid pro quo for a crime to have been committed in this instance,” Krishnamoorthi said of Mulvaney’s comments. “But the fact that he said that openly is either a brazen admission or they just don’t know the law. They just don’t know how to operate government.”

Two men charged in a federal campaign-finance case involving associates of Rudy Giuliani pleaded not guilty today in Manhattan federal court. 

The two defendants, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, were arraigned and each charged with one count of conspiring to funneling foreign money into the US election system.  

Two additional defendants in the case, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, are set to be arraigned next week. They have not yet entered a plea.

Some background: The case has received particular attention because Parnas and Fruman are linked closely to Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, having introduced Giuliani to former and current Ukrainian officials in his effort to compile what he has claimed is damaging information on Trump’s political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. 

Giuliani himself is also a subject of the ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors, who are examining his Ukrainian business dealings, CNN has reported, and that probe includes a counterintelligence component.

Rep. Mark Meadows, one of President Trump’s biggest allies, said witnesses have not testified that the Ukraine aid was held up for investigations.

Asked about Mulvaney’s remarks that the aid was tied to Trump’s wish for an investigation into the 2016 election, Meadows said: “I haven’t seen it. All I’ve seen is the headline. And I’m going to read the transcript”

Asked if he’s OK that Trump directed Gordon Sondland, US ambassador to the European Union, to talk to Rudy Giuliani, who was pursuing the investigations, Meadows said: “What I’m not OK with is adjudicating this based on half truths and partial statements.”

A source familiar with discussions inside President Trump’s legal team was baffled by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s performance today in the briefing room.

“It was not helpful,” the source said.

The source questioned what Mulvaney was talking about when he tied the aid being held up for Ukraine to investigating the Democratic National Committee hack and the 2016 election. 

Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow said the President’s “legal team was not involved in the acting chief of staff’s press briefing.” 

A source familiar with the reaction inside the President’s legal team added: “I think people are a bit stunned.”

A senior DOJ official, reacting to Mulvaney appearing to lump in the investigation by US Attorney John Durham into the origins of the Russia investigation with what Rudy Giuliani was doing in Ukraine, tells CNN, “If the White House was withholding aid in regards to the cooperation of any investigation at the Department of Justice, that is news to us.” 

Justice officials were confused and angry at the White House comments linking the Ukraine aid delay with Durham’s work.

Durham was spotted at the Justice Department headquarters today; he’s frequently in the building since Attorney General William Barr appointed him to review the 2016 election interference investigation. 

Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat on the Intelligence and Judiciary committees, reacted to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s remarks that aid to Ukraine was in fact tied to President Trump’s wish for an investigation into the 2016 election.

Swalwell reiterated that Trump still deserves a fair process even though he believes the President has confessed. 

“We have a confession from the President,” Swalwell said. “When a suspect confesses you can reduce the number of witnesses you need to call, still give them a fair process, but you know, kind of circling in on the timeline and who did what when.”

Earlier today, Rep. Adam Schiff told CNN that Mulvaney’s “acknowledgement means that things have gone from very, very bad to much, much worse.”                        

House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff said acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s comments today mean things are now “much, much worse.”

“I think Mr. Mulvaney’s acknowledgement means that things have gone from very, very bad to much, much worse,” he told CNN while leaving the Capitol Hill Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.

Earlier today, Mulvaney told reporters that aid to Ukraine was in fact tied to President Trump’s wish for an investigation into the 2016 election.

Schiff declined to answer further questions including whether he wants to speak to Mulvaney.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney confirmed that President Trump asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry to work with Rudy Giuliani on policies related to Ukraine, but he denied doing so constituted a “shadow foreign policy,” as multiple witnesses have said Giuliani conducted.

Mulvaney said this took place during a May meeting at the White House that was attended by Perry, Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine.

Mulvaney added he “wasn’t asked” to work with the President’s personal lawyer.

Mulvaney said the administration was “very interested in trying to get Ukraine as an energy partner,” and said that is why Perry was involved.

He characterized the President’s instruction as: “Yeah, go ahead and talk to Rudy.”

Asked about witness testimony about Giuliani’s “shadow foreign policy,” Mulvaney argued that is a “pejorative” term.

Mulvaney argued it was fine for the President to have made the request of Perry because Sondland, who is testifying today on Capitol Hill, and Volker were in the room. However, Ukraine is not a member of the EU and so Sondland’s outsize role, as ambassador to the EU, has come into question during the impeachment proceedings.

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters today that aid to Ukraine was in fact tied to President Trump’s wish for an investigation into the 2016 election.

When asked about the decision to withhold aid from Ukraine, Mulvaney told reporters that President Trump told him at the time, “This is a corrupt place. Everyone knows this is a corrupt place…Plus, I’m not sure that the other European countries are helping them out either.”

Mulvaney also added, “Did he also mention me in the past that the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that.”

When questioned on Mulvaney saying that the White House held up security money from Ukraine until the president got assurances, Mulvaney told reporters to “get over it” saying there are going to be political impacts on foreign policy.

A reporter then questioned Mulvaney on his explanation saying it sounds like a quid-pro-quo to which Mulvaney said: “We do that all the time with foreign policy.”

Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney appeared to confirm that the White House was conducting a review of the call between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, which was flagged in an intelligence community whistleblower report.

Mulvaney also said there is not an impeachment “war room” at the White House.

However, Mulvaney added, “Yes, we’re having lawyers look at it. Yes, we’re having our PR people looking at it. If we … weren’t doing that, we’d be committing malpractice. But I don’t think there’s anything extraordinary that we’re doing.”

Mulvaney also said the review was not part of an attempt to uncover the whistleblower. 

He later added that “no one here had any difficulty with the call. We do think the call is perfect.”

“No one raised any difficulty with me on the call at all,” he continued.

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, asked about the White House’s decision to move the Ukraine call transcript to a highly classified system, insisted the administration has not covered anything up.

“If we wanted to cover this up, would we have called the Department of Justice almost immediately and have them look at the transcript of the tape? Which we did, by the way,” Mulvaney asked. “If we wanted to cover this up, would we have released it to the public?”

Remember: The White House transcript is a rough long of the call and not a verbatim transcript.

Mulvaney continued: “Everybody wants to believe there’s a coverup. You don’t give it to the public and say, ‘Here it is,’ if you’re trying to cover something up.”

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said it is President Trump’s decision whether he keeps Rudy Giuliani as his personal lawyer.

“In light of the depositions that we’ve heard, do you believe that Rudy Giuliani’s role as an outside adviser to the President is problematic?” a reporter asked at a news briefing.

Some context: US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland today testified that he was directed by Trump to work with Giuliani on Ukraine and was left with a choice: abandon efforts to bolster a key strategic alliance or work to satisfy the demands of the President’s personal lawyer.

Mulvaney said Giuliani’s involvement is not illegal.

“You may not like the fact that Giuliani was involved. That’s great, that’s fine. It’s not illegal, it’s not impeachable, the President gets to use who he wants to use,” he said.

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, speaking to reporters today, said part of the reason why President Trump withheld money to Ukraine was “the corruption related to the DNC server.”

“The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation. And that is absolutely appropriate,” he said.

Mulvaney said the Trump administration does “that all the time with foreign policy.”

He said Trump also dislikes sending money overseas.

“President Trump is not a big fan of foreign aid. Never has been, still isn’t. He doesn’t like spending money overseas, especially when it’s poorly spent. And that is exactly what drove this decision,” Mulvaney said.

Supporters of President Trump hold a "Stop Impeachment" rally in front of the US Capitol on Oct. 17, 2019 in Washington, DC.

President Trump’s supporters are holding an anti-impeachment rally today in front of the US Capitol.

Republican congressmen are expected to join the grassroots effort led by Trump supporters.

Here’s who is expected to attend:

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney will brief reporters today at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi addressed the court battle between the House and Trump to obtain records for their impeachment inquiry, suggesting that if the President has “nothing to hide” he should cooperate.

In reference to Trump’s stonewalling, she added, “If you have nothing to hide, we’re giving you opportunity to show that you have nothing to hide.”

More context here: Last week, Trump lost his appeal to stop a House subpoena of his tax documents from his longtime accountant Mazars USA. In a 2-1 ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a lower court ruling saying the firm must turn over eight years of accounting records.  

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelsoi was just asked about the White House photo that shows her standing and pointing a finger at the President during a meeting.

Trump tweeted the photo after the contentious White House meeting with the caption “Nervous Nancy’s unhinged meltdown!” Pelosi later made the picture her Twitter cover photo.

“I think I was excusing myself from the room,” Pelosi said when asked about the image.

She said most of the meeting centered on Trump’s actions in Syria — which the House voted to disapprove — and the idea that “all roads lead to Putin” when it comes to President Trump.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about the timeline of the impeachment inquiry and if the process might bleed into the 2020 election.

She said she feels that entering into the inquiry is “about the truth and the constitution of the United States” and honoring the oath of office that her and her colleagues have taken.

“The voters aren’t going to decide whether we honor our oath of office,” Pelosi added.

In response to remarks by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that an impeachment trial in the Senate could wrap up by the end of the year, Pelosi said, “I have no idea.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she’s “very proud” of the work House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff has done on the impeachment inquiry, saying Congress is approaching the probe “very solemnly.”

“This is so solemn. None of us came to Congress to impeach a president,” she said. “That’s not what we come here to do and any such actions are to be taken very solemnly, seriously and in my view prayerfully. 

She added that the inquiry is about “patriotism for our country” — not politics.

There are documents relevant to Gordon Sondland’s testimony today, but the committee will not see them because the State Department is not handing them over.

Sondland’s legal team has publicly urged the State Department to turn over documents requested by the committee and maintained he cannot turn them over himself without the Department’s permission.

This is the list of documents, according to a source familiar:

It’s unclear how much more paper trail there is on Sondland, outside of what Volker already revealed.

Trump tweeted this White House photo showing Nancy Pelosi pointing at him saying "Nervous Nancy's unhinged meltdown!" Pelosi later made the image her cover photo on Twitter.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will hold her weekly news conference at 10:45 a.m. ET.

This comes a day after she had a contentious meeting with Trump.

Congressional Democratic leaders offered a remarkable readout of the meeting, saying that the President called Pelosi a “third-rate politician” in what they described as a “meltdown.”

Pelosi added, “What we witnessed on the part of the President was a meltdown, sad to say.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney will become the Acting Chair of the House Oversight committee following the death of Chairman Elijah Cummings, a senior Democratic leadership aide told CNN.

The Oversight Committee is one of the panels involved in the impeachment inquiry of Trump.

US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland was directed by President Trump to work with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine, he plans to tell Congress Thursday, and was left with a choice:

 Sondland plans to say he wasn’t aware until “much later” that Giuliani’s agenda might have included an effort to “prompt the Ukrainians” to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter and to involve the Ukrainians in the President’s campaign, according to his opening statement, which was obtained by CNN.

Why this matters: The revealing testimony of the President’s top diplomat showcases how Trump put on hold an effort to strengthen relations with the country until top US officials were in contact with Giuliani, who was pursuing an investigation into the Bidens, a potential political rival in Trump’s reelection campaign. And Sondland said he was “disappointed” that Trump wouldn’t commit to a meeting sought by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky until they spoke with Giuliani.

Today’s hearing with US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland will go on as scheduled despite the death of Rep. Elijah Cummings, who served as the chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Sondland is appearing behind closed doors before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.

The House will continue its impeachment inquiry into President Trump with testimony from several more State Department and National Security Council officials.

A source with knowledge told CNN these witnesses are scheduled for depositions next week:

US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland has arrived at the Capitol, where he will testify in front of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.

Sondland was initially set to testify last week on the Hill, but his testimony was derailed when the State Department blocked him from appearing. The three Democratic committee chairs then issued a subpoena demanding Sondland turn over documents and appear for a deposition.  

It’s another busy day in Washington as the House presses forward with the impeachment investigation into President Trump.

Here are the key events we’re keeping an eye on today:

US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is still planning to appear this morning behind closed doors to speak to congressional members, according to a source familiar. 

The State Department has provided a letter to Sondland that he plans to share with the committee, the source said.

Previously, CNN reported that Sondland hadn’t gotten any pushback to his testimony from the administration. According to a CNN source, even if the State Department attempts to stop him from answering questions, Sondland is inclined to answer since he is under subpoena.

Remember: Sondland was initially set to testify last week on the Hill, but his testimony was derailed when the State Department blocked him from appearing.

The three Democratic committee chairs then issued a subpoena demanding Sondland turn over documents and appear for a deposition.  

Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, finds himself in the center of the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry as he prepares to testify to the House under subpoena today.

Sondland will appear behind closed doors before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump and Ukraine. 

Some background: Sondland was initially set to testify last week on the Hill, but his testimony was derailed when the State Department blocked him from appearing.

The three Democratic committee chairs then issued a subpoena demanding Sondland turn over documents and appear for a deposition.  

President Trump has sent his first tweet of the day — criticizing democrats and making no mention of the sudden death of Congressman Elijah Cummings.

Trump instead quote tweeted Jim Jordan who wrote that “Dems’ message is weak and destructive.” With Trump adding: “This is the real story. Thank you Jim!” 

President Trump has not yet commented on the unexpected death of Congressman Cummings — someone who has clashed publicly with the President. Cummings was the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, one of the panels involved in the impeachment inquiry of Trump.

Earlier this year, Trump tweeted disparaging remarks toward Cummings and his Maryland district, which includes much of Baltimore, calling the majority black district a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.” We have cameras ready should flags be ordered to lower at the White House.

 Here’s Trump’s tweet from this morning:

The financial firm Moody’s Analytics says there is a strong chance that President Trump will win the 2020 election in a landslide due to today’s economic conditions.

Moody’s has a record as one of the most reliable forecasters in the United States. It got it wrong in 2016 because of voting numbers — not its underlying thesis.

It uses three separate models to determine how a state will vote: Data on personal finance, the stock market and unemployment. 

“Each of them looks at varying levels of economic forecast based on what we think is the most likely outcome of what the economy is going to do. And the bottom line is it doesn’t look like the economy can fall quickly enough to really turn the election towards Democrats,” Dan White, head of fiscal policy research at Moody’s, told CNN’s Richard Quest on Wednesday. 

Learn more about the Moody’s prediction in the video below:

Gordon Sondland, the United States Ambassador to the European Union, pictured in Bucharest, Romania in September.

When Gordon Sondland arrived in Brussels as the US ambassador to the European Union in July 2018, the hotel executive struck many of his European counterparts as something of a mini-Donald Trump.

He started renovating the US embassy. He freely gave interviews and was a fixture on Twitter. He threw lavish parties and boasted of his growing relationship with the US President.

In the corridors of the European Parliament, Sondland worked to build personal relationships with heads of state and diplomats, often calling officials by their first name in an attempt to build a rapport even though he knew it was a breach of protocol. Some found it off-putting in the rule-bound capital of the European Union. So did his penchant for speaking bluntly.

One veteran diplomat told CNN that Sondland would ridicule the EU for being obsessed with regulations. “At the same time, he was open and candid — just not a believer in the traditional values that have kept Europe and the US so close in the last 70 years.”

In discussing trade, Sondland would complain that the EU was “ripping off” the US, said Jeremy Shapiro, a research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, who interacted with Sondland. Shapiro says that Sondland would also threaten his European counterparts with a “Chinese-style stand-off” if they didn’t cooperate on trade.

Sondland is now a key player in an impeachment inquiry examining whether the President tried to use US military aid as leverage in his effort to get a foreign country to investigate a political foe.

On Thursday, Sondland, who remains in his post as ambassador, will testify behind closed doors to the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees that are leading the Democratic impeachment inquiry into Trump and Ukraine. 

Read more on the man who has found himself at the center of the Democrat’s impeachment investigation.

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci says he thinks that eventually there will be enough Republican senators who will say that they can’t take more of President Donald Trump’s behavior and will support removing him from office.

Talking to CNN’s Don Lemon, Scaramucci described the President as “rattled.”

President Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House on Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s frustration with the Democratic impeachment probe is boiling over, with investigators set Thursday to peel back yet another layer of what is being revealed as a broad, and possibly unlawful, behind-the-scenes scheme to pressure Ukraine for political gain.

On Thursday, Gordon Sondland, the Republican donor-turned-US ambassador to the European Union, is due to give a private deposition on Capitol Hill that could get to the root of Trump’s backdoor dealings with Ukraine.

Sondland was a go-between linking Trump’s circle to the government in Kiev, amid allegations the White House conditioned incentives – including hundreds of dollars in military aid – on Ukraine’s willingness to open an investigation into the President’s possible 2020 foe, Joe Biden.

Democratic investigators will also want to ask Sondland about details revealed by the White House’s former top Russia official, Fiona Hill reported in The New York Times. The paper reported that Hill had said Sondland revealed in a meeting that Trump would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if his government opened the investigation he wanted.

A longtime Republican fundraiser, Sondland plans to show up on Capitol Hill under a subpoena despite the administration’s policy of seeking to bar testimony from serving officials.

Sondland has been a player in Republican politics for a number of years. A hotelier and philanthropist, he was a late Republican convert to Trump’s cause and was rewarded with his current position – a lofty one for a non-diplomat.

He probably did not bargain for being caught in the middle of the biggest presidential scandal in decades, a factor, along with his neophyte status in Washington, that makes his testimony unpredictable.

Lawmakers may also want to know why he was involved in a close circle of policy making on Ukraine at all – given the former Soviet state is not a member of the European Union.

Read more of Collinson’s analysis here.

US Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (center), Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (right), and House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (left) brief the media outside the West Wing following a meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

It’s no secret that tensions between congressional Democrats and the White House have been quickly rising as Democrats have pursued an impeachment investigation into Donald Trump over his contact with Ukraine.

Those disagreements appear to have boiled over Wednesday after congressional Democratic leaders provided a dramatic readout of a meeting with the President.

The Democratic leaders were at the White House for a meeting on Syria, which came shortly after the House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan vote on a resolution opposing the Trump administration’s troop withdrawal.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the top congressional Democrats said that they walked out after the President called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “third-rate politician” in what they described as a “meltdown.”

“He was insulting, particularly to the speaker. She kept her cool completely, but he called her a third-rate politician,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, describing the interaction. “This was not a dialogue, it was sort of a diatribe. A nasty diatribe, not focused on the facts.”

Pelosi added, “What we witnessed on the part of the President was a meltdown, sad to say.”

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham described the meeting differently, saying in a statement that Trump was “measured” and “decisive” and that Pelosi “had no intention of listening.”

“The President was measured, factual and decisive, while Speaker Pelosi’s decision to walk out was baffling, but not surprising,” Grisham said.

Read the full story here.

Related article Democrats: Trump had 'meltdown' and called Pelosi a 'third-rate politician'

House Oversight and Reform Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings speaks at the National Press Club on August 7 in Washington, DC.

Rep. Elijiah Cummings of Maryland passed away Thursday morning at age 68, according to his office.

He died of “complications concerning longstanding health challenges,” his office said in a statement.

The Democratic congressman had represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District since 1996 and served as the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which is one of the committees involved in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

This story is breaking. Follow the latest developments here.

A lot happened yesterday in the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Let us catch you up.