Live updates: The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry | CNN Politics

The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

By Fernando Alfonso III, CNN
Updated 10:05 PM EDT, Sat October 19, 2019
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GOP lawmaker on quid pro quo: It's serious and troubling
02:18 - Source: CNN

What you need to know

  • The latest: Rep. Francis Rooney, a Republican from Florida, announced today that he will not run for re-election. Rooney made headlines Friday when he said he would not rule out supporting impeachment.
  • Mulvaney fallout: President Trump defended Mick Mulvaney on Friday after the acting chief of staff said the President froze security aid to Ukraine in part to pressure that country into investigating Democrats. Mulvaney later tried to walk back his remarks.
  • Timing unknown: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has resisted on giving a timeline on how long the impeachment inquiry will take.
  • Sign up for CNN’s Impeachment Watch newsletter here.
  • Our live coverage of the impeachment inquiry has ended for the day. You can sign up for CNN’s Impeachment Watch newsletter here.
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Rep. Francis Rooney not running for re-election

From CNN's Aishvarya Kavi
Susan Walsh/AP

Rep. Francis Rooney, a Republican from Florida, announced today that he will not run for re-election. Asked by Leland Vittert on Fox News if he needed or wanted to pursue a third term in office, Rooney said, “I don’t really think I do and I don’t really think I want one.”

Rooney is serving in his second term.

Rooney added that he was tired of “intense partisanship” in Congress. Rooney has represented Florida’s 19th district since 2017 and won his last election by over 20 points.

Some context: Rooney made headlines on Friday when he first told CNN’s Poppy Harlow and then other reporters he would not rule out supporting impeachment.

The decision came after acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s admission that there was a quid pro quo involving US aid to Ukraine in exchange for support of an investigation into an unfounded theory that Kiev had been involved in the 2016 US election interference. Mulvaney later said in a statement there had not been a quid pro quo.

Mick Mulvaney is meeting with House and Senate Republicans at Camp David

From CNN's Sarah Westwood

Days after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell briefed his members on the mechanics of an impeachment trial, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is taking a small group of House and Senate Republicans to Camp David, a White House official told CNN.  

The official would not say what topics are expected to be discussed, but possible impeachment as well as the President’s much criticized move to pull out US troops from Syria are likely to be among them.

More on Mulvaney: On Thursday, Mulvaney made a stunning admission by confirming that President Trump froze nearly $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine in part to pressure that country into investigating Democrats.

Mulvaney made a stunning admission Thursday by confirming that President Donald Trump froze nearly $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine in part to pressure that country into investigating Democrats.

Hours later, Mulvaney then denied ever saying those words.

The dramatic admission came during an afternoon news conference where Mulvaney insisted that he knew only 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 whose board 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.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Kevin Liptak and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

Here are the depositions we're expecting next week

From CNN's Giulia McDonnell and Olanma Mang
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

As of Saturday, here is a list of who is expected to be deposed in the impeachment inquiry next week. This is subject to change.

  • Tuesday: Top US diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor is scheduled to testify, according to a GOP source
  • Wednesday: Philip Reeker, the Acting Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department, and Michael Duffey, OMB Associate Director for National Security Programs, are expected to testify
  • Thursday: Alexander Vindman, the director of European affairs with the National Security Council, and Alexander Vindman, director of European affairs, NSC, are expected to testify
  • Next Friday: Suriya Jayanti, a foreign service officer stationed in Kiev, and Timothy Morrison, a top Russia adviser at the National Security Council, are expected to testify 

5 key developments in the impeachment inquiry from yesterday

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Here are the latest developments in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump:

  • Mick Mulvaney’s comments: He told reporters on Thursday that the Trump administration “held up the money” for Ukraine because the President wanted to investigate “corruption” in Ukraine related to a conspiracy theory involving the whereabouts of the Democratic National Committee’s computer server hacked by Russians during the last presidential campaign. On Friday, President Trump was asked to clarify his acting chief of staff’s remarks in the briefing room. Trump responded: “I think he clarified it.” Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Mulvaney’s comments a “confession” — and said it’s an example of the administration trying to make “lawlessness normal and even make lawlessness a virtue.” 
  • Testimony on Hunter Biden: Career diplomat George Kent told congressional investigators earlier this week he had voiced concerns in early 2015 about Hunter Biden working for a Ukrainian natural gas company, the Washington Post reported Friday.
  • Republicans blast inquiry: House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy said he expects a vote to censure Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff will “come up Monday.” Republican Rep. Jim Jordan slammed the House impeachment probe as “partisan” and “unfair,” saying Schiff is “the new special counsel.”
  • GOP lawmaker on impeachment: Rep. Francis Rooney, a Republican from Florida, would not rule out the prospects of supporting impeaching the President. He called Mulvaney’s acknowledgment about withholding Ukraine aid “troubling,” saying it is “not a good thing” to do that in connection “with threatening foreign leaders.”
  • Rick Perry is resigning: The Energy Secretary yesterday said his resignation “has nothing to do with Ukraine” and he’s “looking to get back to Texas.” He said he’s leaving his post later this year.

GO DEEPER
Pelosi says Mulvaney made a ‘confession’ to wrongdoing
Rick Perry ‘didn’t see a problem’ talking to Giuliani about Ukraine and ‘doesn’t know’ if he’ll comply with House subpoena
‘A little disinformation goes a long way’: Inside the whistleblower lawyer’s fight against attempts to smear him and his client
Pompeo feels frustrated and victimized amid impeachment controversy
Washington Post: Career diplomat testifies he raised concerns about Hunter Biden’s Ukraine work in 2015

GO DEEPER
Pelosi says Mulvaney made a ‘confession’ to wrongdoing
Rick Perry ‘didn’t see a problem’ talking to Giuliani about Ukraine and ‘doesn’t know’ if he’ll comply with House subpoena
‘A little disinformation goes a long way’: Inside the whistleblower lawyer’s fight against attempts to smear him and his client
Pompeo feels frustrated and victimized amid impeachment controversy
Washington Post: Career diplomat testifies he raised concerns about Hunter Biden’s Ukraine work in 2015