Our live coverage of the impeachment inquiry has ended. Learn more about the latest developments below.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke tonight about the impeachment resolution ahead of an expected vote on the House floor Thursday, saying, “Mr. Clyburn, our Whip, has given me a very good report about our vote tomorrow.He’s the Whip, the vote counter, thank you Mr. Clyburn.”
Pelosi was being honored at the LBJ Liberty & Justice for All Award ceremony at the Mellon Auditorium in DC.
Earlier today: The House Rules Committee advanced the resolution tonight to establish procedures for Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Trump ahead of Thursday’s expected vote on the House floor.
The resolution, unveiled earlier this week, establishes procedures for public impeachment hearings, the release of deposition transcripts and outlines the Judiciary Committee’s role in considering potential articles of impeachment.
It will be the first vote the full House has taken on the impeachment inquiry since Democratic leaders launched the probe related to an intelligence community whistleblower complaint that raised concerns in Congress about President Trump’s conversations with Ukraine.
The House Rules Committee advanced a resolution to establish procedures for Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Trump tonight ahead of an expected House floor vote on Thursday.
The resolution, unveiled earlier this week, establishes procedures for public impeachment hearings, the release of deposition transcripts, and outlines the House Judiciary Committee’s role in considering potential articles of impeachment.
It will be the first vote the full House has taken related to the impeachment inquiry since Democratic leaders launched the probe after an intelligence community whistleblower complaint raised concerns in Congress about Trump’s conversations with Ukraine’s president.
Key Republican senators told CNN the Senate should conduct a fulsome trial of President Trump — assuming the House soon sends over articles of impeachment, as is expected — and not try to jam through a motion that would allow them to dismiss the case quickly on a partisan vote.
A motion of dismissal was attempted in the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton when his Democratic allies in the Senate, led by the powerful institutionalist Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, tried and failed to get that case dismissed. Even though Byrd rounded up some support from Republicans who controlled the chamber, his effort fell short and the trial went on for about three more weeks before Clinton was acquitted.
In the Trump matter, some of the GOP senators who argued against dismissing the case are close allies of the President, who might otherwise be inclined to assist him politically by helping the spectacle go away. Others have been critical of him at times but are unhappy that the House has conducted its investigation in private, with routine leaks of information damaging to the President, and without due process for him.
They argued a comprehensive and public examination of the charges would be best for the President, who wants to clear his name and stay in office, best for American people, who deserve to learn what happened, and best for the Senate as an institution, to demonstrate that even in these harshly partisan times, a careful examination of the charges can be conducted.
Sen. David Perdue, a Republican from Georgia who is close to Trump, said there’s been so much “inuendo and stuff done behind closed-doors” during the House impeachment inquiry that he “personally would welcome an open and fulsome debate.”
The attorneys for the anonymous whistleblower who ignited the impeachment investigation said members of the media have a role “in protecting those who lawfully expose suspected government wrongdoing,” according to a statement.
Attorneys Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid would neither confirm nor deny the identity of the intelligence community whistleblower in their statement.
The identity of the whistleblower has been a point of contention after Democrats accused Republicans of trying to goad Lt. Col Alexander Vindman into revealing the identity of the whistleblower with their questions yesterday during his testimony in the ongoing impeachment probe.
More about the whistleblower: President Trump has repeatedly derided the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint alleges the President abused his official powers in a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “to solicit interference” in the 2020 election.
Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, said last month that whoever had provided the whistleblower with information about his call with Zelensky is “close to a spy,” adding that in the old days spies were dealt with differently. The comments prompted lawyers for the whistleblower to send a letter to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire outlining “serious” safety concerns for their client as Trump continues to take aim at the whistleblower.
The House Intelligence Committee had issued a subpoena to compel Christopher Anderson, a State Department official who worked for Ukraine diplomat Kurt Volker, to testify today.
Anderson complied with the subpoena and appeared today before lawmakers, an official working on the impeachment inquiry told CNN.
Former national security adviser John Bolton will not appear at his deposition without a subpoena, his lawyer Charles Cooper tells CNN.
It is not clear if Bolton would show up even if he was subpoenaed. He shares an attorney with a former aide who has gone to court to seek a decision on whether he needs to testify given the White House insistence that the President’s immunity be protected.
Earlier this afternoon: Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he hopes Bolton will testify before his committee and wouldn’t say whether he would issue a subpoena
According to a source familiar, Bolton was invited to appear next week on Nov. 7.
The Department of Justice said it tried and failed to reach an agreement where former White House counsel Don McGahn could testify to the House.
The Justice Department notes that it approached the House to try to reach an agreement where McGahn could testify. The White House has blocked this testimony by asserting immunity over its officials.
The House had originally approached the White House counsel’s office to make a deal, they wrote. The DOJ took issue with the characterization that President Trump’s administration has been stonewalling.
Still, “the parties’ negotiations have now reached a stage at which it is clear that fundamental disagreements remain between the parties and that, under the present circumstances, it appears unlikely the parties will reach a mutually acceptable accommodation,” the DOJ lawyers wrote.
A hearing is scheduled Thursday afternoon on whether McGahn must testify.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has raised concerns over the testimony Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman gave yesterday in the impeachment inquiry.
Vindman was the first witness to offer testimony in the inquiry who listened to the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Vindman told lawmakers that he tried to make changes to the White House’s rough transcript of the July phone call, including that Trump mentioned tapes of former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Grisham challenged Vindman today, saying the President “released a full and accurate transcript of his call with President Zelensky so the American people could see he acted completely appropriately and did nothing wrong.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said that he hopes John Bolton will cooperate and testify before his committee.
Schiff wouldn’t say whether he would issue a subpoena should Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, not voluntarily appear for his deposition.
According to a source familiar, Bolton was invited to appear next week on Nov. 7. They have also invited John Eisenberg and Michael Ellis to testify on Monday, the source said.
Gen. Joseph Dunford, the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called Lt. Col Alexander Vindman a “professional, competent, patriotic, and loyal officer” following criticism the top White House Ukraine expert has received following his testimony yesterday in the impeachment inquiry.
Dunford added that he came into regular contact with Vindman while he was on the joint staff.
Why this matters: Dunford’s comments come after Republicans criticized Vindman this week. On Tuesday, former GOP Rep. Sean Duffy said about Vindman: “It seems very clear that he is incredibly concerned about Ukrainian defense.” Trump also claimed, without evidence, that the White House’s top Ukraine expert is a “Never Trumper.” Trump repeated this unfounded claim this morning on Twitter.
Vindman served multiple overseas tours as a US infantry officer, including a deployment to Iraq where he received a Purple Heart after being wounded in an IED attack. He has served in Trump’s National Security Council since 2018.
Tim Morrison, the top White House official on President Trump’s National Security Council for Europe, will be leaving his job soon, according to a source familiar with his move.
The news comes on the eve of Morrison’s testimony behind closed doors as part of the House impeachment inquiry. The departure, however, was Morrison’s decision and it has been “planned for some time,” the source added.
Morrison was recruited to join the NSC by former national security adviser John Bolton, and his departure has been expected since Bolton was fired in September. A number of Bolton’s other allies at the NSC left around the time that he did.
Morrison is still finalizing his date for departure but the source said that he will still be a current White House official when he testifies tomorrow.
“After more than a year of service at the National Security Council, Mr. Morrison has decided to pursue other opportunities — and has been considering doing so for some time. We wish him well,” a senior administration official said.
About Morrison: He has been at the NSC for about 15 months. He was initially the senior director of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Biodefense and over the summer he took over the Europe job.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
Republicans on the House Rules Committee are offering up close to 20 amendments to the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry resolution, an aide familiar tells CNN.
So far the committee has debated six GOP amendments and all have gone down along party line votes.
The committee is on a break for House floor votes, but expect to take up the remaining amendments later this evening.
A look at some of the amendments: The first amendment Republicans offered up came from Georgia Republican Rob Woodall. The amendment would get rid of the parts of the resolution dealing with the House Intelligence Committee and leave the procedures concerning the House Judiciary Committee intact.
Woodall seemed to argue that the resolution should require the intelligence committee to hold only public hearings and no more private depositions. But there was confusion among members in the room about why he is seeking to get rid of everything related to the intel committee, especially the procedures for releasing deposition transcripts and holding public hearings.
The amendment failed on a party line vote, 4-9.
Rep. Debbie Lesko introduced an amendment to allow the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee to issue subpoenas to the same number of witnesses that the Democratic chairman subpoenas — and without consent from the Democratic chair of the committee.
In the Democratic resolution, Republicans would be able to subpoena witnesses only if Schiff agrees to it or if a majority of the committee approves it.
That amendment also failed on a party line vote.
In the latest episode of “The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch” podcast, CNN’s Marshall Cohen looks at:
Cohen is joined today by Kylie Atwood, CNN’s national security reporter, and retired Rear Admiral John Kirby, a CNN military and diplomatic analyst.
Sen. Lindsey Graham was asked by reporters today about Democratic House impeachment investigators inviting former national security adviser John Bolton to testify behind closed doors next week.
Here’s what Graham said:
About the invitation: According to a source familiar, Bolton was invited to appear next week on Nov. 7. They have also invited John Eisenberg and Michael Ellis to testify on Monday, the source said.
Top White House Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman told congressional investigators he was convinced President Trump was personally blocking $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to force that country to publicly announce an investigation into Joe Biden and his family, two sources present at the deposition told CNN.
Vindman, a decorated Army officer, on Tuesday testified that he was convinced that a quid pro quo existed by July 10, which was before Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call that is now at the heart of the House’s impeachment inquiry. Trump has repeatedly said he did nothing improper on the call and has cited it as the sole reason for the impeachment inquiry.
The sources at the deposition said Vindman believed the existence of a quid pro quo was clear during a July 10 meeting between American and Ukrainian officials. In his opening statement, Vindman wrote that date is when US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told Ukrainian government officials that they would need to deliver “specific investigations in order to secure the meeting” with Trump that they so desired.
In a separate meeting of US officials immediately afterward, “Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma,” Vindman testified.
But the fact that the $400 million in aid, including desperately needed military assistance, was also being used by the President didn’t become clear until the next month, Vindman testified.
House impeachment investigators have invited John Bolton to appear next week on Nov. 7, according to a source familiar.
Bolton is Trump’s former national security adviser. The President fired him in September.
They have also invited John Eisenberg and Michael Ellis to testify on Monday, the source said.
A House Intelligence spokesman declined to comment.
When asked about a subpoena for Bolton to testify in impeachment probe, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel said: “We hadn’t done that yet. It’s something that we would consider.”
He also said he doesn’t know if next week is the final week of depositions but added: “We are getting close”
Students of relatively recent impeachment history will recall that a main backer of impeaching Bill Clinton for his adulterous affair was Bob Livingston — heir apparent to Newt Gingrich, who was leaving his role as House Speaker in 1998.
That is, until Livingston’s shock resignation and admission that he had engaged in his own adulterous affairs.
It wasn’t a crisis of conscience that led Livingston to resign, but rather the fact that Hustler Magazine’s Larry Flynt offered $1 million to anyone who could prove an affair with a high government official. He apparently got multiple takers who fingered Livingston. You can read a CNN report from 1998 about Livingston’s fall.
This was stunning at the time: He apologized to his wife and family on the House floor and had anger in his voice when he said, “So I will set the example that I hope President Clinton will follow.”
He stopped pursuing the Speakership and didn’t run for reelection.
Why on earth are we talking about this right now? It turns out that Livingston — who played such a big role in the impeachment of Bill Clinton — has a bit part in the impeachment inquiry against Trump.
Livingston has repeatedly called Catherine Croft, a State Department official who testified in closed doors today about pressure she felt to oust Marie Yovanvotich, now the former US ambassador to Ukraine.
Who was Livingston working for? As CNN reported yesterday: Livingston’s lobbying firm has worked for Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko, a top but unsuccessful candidate in the country’s most recent election, according to its federal foreign lobbying disclosure. In December 2018, the Livingston Group disclosed she was introduced to Rudy Giuliani. It’s unknown if Livingston’s calls to the NSC were connected in any way to his work for the Ukrainian official or his firm’s contact with Giuliani.
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Christopher Anderson, a State Department expert on Ukraine, has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify before lawmakers today.
He is one of two State Department officials meeting with House impeachment investigators behind closed doors today. Catherine Croft, a state Department official who worked for Ukraine diplomat Kurt Volker, testified this morning.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are meeting now to discuss next steps in the impeachment probe, according to several members.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said the purpose of the meeting was to make sure “everyone is on the same page.”
Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and David Cicilline told CNN they hope to learn more about the next steps of the impeachment process in the meeting, but members were clear that the chairman called this meeting and it wasn’t precisely clear what all the meeting would entail.
This comes as the House is scheduled to vote Thursday on their resolution outlining the rules for the next phase of the impeachment probe.
