The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

Our live coverage on the impeachment probe has moved – follow the latest updates here.

Bill Taylor, a top US diplomat to Ukraine.

House Democrats have requested a deposition from Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the issue told CNN.

However his interview has not yet been formally scheduled, the source said.

The request is expected to be met with opposition from the White House and State Department, and could present a quandary for Taylor, according to former State Department officials who know him.

Those officials suggested that if Taylor was made to choose between staying on to guide US policy as charge d’affaires in Kiev – a post he came out of retirement to take – or resigning to be able to testify, he would choose the former.

What’s his role in all this? Taylor was thrust into the public eye following the release of his text exchanges with Kurt Volker, former special envoy for Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, Trump’s appointee for US ambassador to the European Union, 

In the texts, Taylor repeatedly questioned the decision to stall hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine as a potential quid pro quo, calling it “crazy.”

Will he actually testify? It appears unlikely. On Tuesday, just hours before he was due to appear, the State Department instructed Sondland not to testify at his scheduled hearing. Of the five diplomats scheduled to testify by the House, only Volker has been deposed. He resigned from the State Department days before his congressional appearance in order to testify – an option that Taylor could take.

Former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was unexpectedly removed from her post in May 2019.

Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch was the top US diplomat in Ukraine before she was unexpectedly removed from her post in Kiev in May.

However she now finds herself increasingly ensnared in the scandal as new developments come to light.

What’s her role in all this? Yovanovitch is scheduled to be deposed by House committees in the impeachment inquiry on Friday.

Here’s why: Two associates of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, were arrested for federal campaign finance violations. The two are also reported to have been involved in helping Giuliani try to find damaging information on former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine. They allegedly played a role in pushing Yovanovitch’s ouster while she was still US ambassador to Ukraine.

Her removal: Trump personally ordered Yovanovitch’s removal, according to the Wall Street Journal. She was accused of trying to undermine the President and blocking efforts to investigate Democrats like Biden.

What’s Trump saying now? Trump signaled today that he may not let Yovanovitch testify on Capitol Hill on Friday, continuing the White House’s efforts to force a House vote on impeachment.

Read more about her here.

Fiona Hill, President Trump’s former top Russia adviser, is set to testify before Congress next week – and will explain that she unaware of some aspects of the Ukraine scandal, according to a source close to Hill who spoke with her Thursday.

Who is she? Hill officially departed the Trump administration in August. She had internally handed over most of her responsibilities in mid-July, but was involved as Rudy Giuliani was making public pronouncements about Ukraine. 

What might she say? Democrats have had trouble scheduling witness interviews and subpoenaed Hill. But since she left the administration, she presumably would be freer to speak to the committees than current administration officials and State Department employees.

When is she speaking? She is expected to be interviewed behind closed doors Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Hill has been keeping a low profile in England with her mother in recent weeks. CNN has reached out to her attorney.

H.R. McMaster at the White House on April 3, 2018, shortly before he left the Trump administration.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s former national security adviser, said on Thursday it was “absolutely not” appropriate for a president to ask other countries to interfere in American politics.

He was attending an event at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies when a reporter asked if it was appropriate for a president to solicit foreign interference in the US political process.

“No, it’s absolutely not,” McMaster replied.

McMaster also said Thursday he had never witnessed Trump soliciting foreign assistance.

He served under Trump as national security adviser from early 2017 until April 2018, when he was replaced by John Bolton.

Some context: The comment comes as Trump faces an impeachment inquiry, centered on a July phone call in which he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

During that call, Trump also asked Zelensky to investigate the 2016 election, leaving at least one White House official “shaken” by events.

Michael McKinley, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is leaving his post, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The sources did not reveal the reason for McKinley’s departure. However it comes as the Ukraine controversy continues to grow.

The Washington Post first reported McKinley’s departure. Citing a person familiar with the situation, it said: “Like many others, [McKinley] was disappointed in the secretary’s lack of public support for diplomats who have been named in the Ukraine controversy.”

What Pompeo has said: Pompeo said Wednesday his department and the White House would fulfill their legal and constitutional requirements in the impeachment probe.

“I’ve made clear, I think the White House has made very clear, we will ensure that we do everything that we’re required to do by the law and the Constitution. Every time,” he told “PBS NewsHour.”

But his comments, coming amid a week of silence from the rest of the State Department, offered little clarity as to whether it will allow its diplomats to cooperate with the probe.

President Trump devoted at least 20 minutes at his Minneapolis rally to railing against the Democrats, the impeachment inquiry, and the Bidens. 

His attacks against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, became personal. 

Trump complained about press coverage that says the accusations against the Bidens are “unsubstantiated.” There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden. 

He outlined a mock interview between Hunter Biden and “sleepy eyes Chuck Todd.” Trump also complained about Hunter Biden’s deal with the Chinese.

He then went off — presumably unscripted — on Hunter Biden.

“Hunter, you know nothing about energy, you know nothing about China, you know nothing about anything, frankly. Why did you get $1.5 billion Hunter?” Trump said. 

He continued: “And your father was never considered smart, he was never considered a good senator, he was only a good vice president because he understood how to kiss Barack Obama’s ass.”

Here’s what we know: A company, whose board Hunter Biden sat on, received a large investment of Chinese capital shortly after Hunter Biden visited the country with his father.

According to the New York Times, Biden’s son Hunter has a 10% interest in BHR Partners, a private-equity fund that the Chinese government-owned Bank of China has invested in. As of May 2019, both The New York Times and the Washington Post reported that Hunter had not received any money from the fund or in connection with his role as an unpaid advisory board member.

In July 2019, more than two years after his father left office, Hunter purchased an equity stake in the BHR fund, valued around $430,000, according to the Washington Post.

After Trump’s meeting with Zelensky at the United Nations, one of Hunter’s lawyers told the Washington Post that, “To date, Mr. Biden has not received any return or compensation on account of this investment or his position on the board of directors.”

The characterization of Mr. Biden as owning a $1.5 billion private equity firm funded by the Chinese, or suggesting that Mr. Biden has earned millions of dollars from the firm is a gross misrepresentation of Mr. Biden’s role with BHR.”

President Trump slammed Democrats at his rally in Minneapolis tonight, saying they are pursuing an impeachment inquiry because “know they can’t win the 2020 election.”

This is his first campaign rally since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry. 

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

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman

Two men connected to President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and efforts to dig up dirt on presidential candidate Joe Biden in Ukraine were arrested and charged with allegedly committing campaign finance violations.

Here’s what we know — and the big questions we still have — based on what’s come out today about the case against the two men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.

Here’s how the investigators say the money flowed:

What are some of the big questions we have right now...

President Trump signaled today that he may not let former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow, continuing the White House’s efforts to force a House vote on impeachment.

He went on to tout his transparency and remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today regarding what Trump described as a “perfect conversation.”

The President was later asked about a subpoena for Energy Secretary Rick Perry, which was announced moments before he came outside.

“It was a very good conversation. So I don’t know why they’d be calling Rick Perry. I don’t know why they’d be calling all these people. It’s a very bad situation for our country,” he added.

President Trump would not say today whether he was joking, as aides and Republicans have claimed, when he told reporters on the South Lawn last week that China should investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

The remarks have been defended by many Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Jim Jordan, who said Trump was joking.

CNN Political Director David Chalian covers the impact of impeachment on the 2020 Democratic race and more in the latest episode of “The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch” podcast.

Chalian also looks at:

Chalian is joined by CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash and Dan Caldwell, a political science professor at Pepperdine University and expert on Russian-American relations.

Listen to the podcast here.

Lawyers for the whistleblower negotiating testimony with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have asked about whether their client can submit written answers to Congress instead of testifying in person, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

As CNN reported Wednesday, discussions between the committees and the whistleblower’s legal team are ongoing as they consider taking extreme measures to protect the whistleblower’s identity, including considering holding the interview off site, not disclosing that it happened until after the fact or bringing the witness into a secure facility in the Capitol through passages that are off limits to the press.

Written testimony could be another option.

The format of any potential testimony has not been finalized, the source said.

President Trump told reporters this afternoon he had just learned that Trey Gowdy could not begin as his outside counsel until “sometime after January” because of “lobbying rules.”

Trump attorney Jay Sekulow announced the former congressman’s hiring Wednesday night, saying in a statement his “legal skills and his advocacy will serve the President well.”

Gowdy met with Trump in the Oval Office this week for an extended period of time.

The January timing could prove problematic since he is facing an impeachment inquiry currently that, so far, has had a rapid timeline.

Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas (second and third from left) pictured with Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani.

President Trump claims he does not know the two associates of Rudy Giuliani who were arrested trying to leave the country, despite photographs that show him meeting them.

Trump acknowledged “it’s possible” a photo of himself exists with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, but said he takes photos with lots of people at fundraisers.

The President said “maybe” the men were clients of Giuliani, and said reporters would have to ask Giuliani for more details.

Trump continued to lambaste the intelligence whistleblower and defend his telephone call with Ukraine’s president.

Former Rep. Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas, said he “could not have had” knowledge of the scheme that two of Rudy Giuliani’s associates were allegedly involved in.

Sessions said he took “no official action” after being approached “by these individuals about the strategic need for Ukraine to become energy independent.”

Some context: The US attorney for the Southern District of New York claims Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman illegally funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign money to a US political group identified in the indictment as “Committee-1.”

Parnas and Fruman were arrested last night at Dulles Airport while heading to Frankfurt, Germany. Both men had one-way tickets.

Giuliani told CNN he is not aware of any law enforcement scrutiny on his financial dealings with the men and he said he has not been interviewed by the FBI in the investigation.

Rudy Giuliani’s financial dealings with two associates indicted on campaign finance-related charges are under scrutiny by investigators overseeing the case, law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said. 

The FBI and prosecutors in Manhattan are examining Giuliani’s involvement in the broader flow of money that are at the center of the allegations against Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the sources said. The sources did not say that Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, was a target of the investigation. 

Giuliani told CNN he is not aware of any law enforcement scrutiny on his financial dealings with the men and he said he has not been interviewed by the FBI in the investigation.

House democrats have issued a subpoena to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry for documents pertaining to the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Perry must produce the documents by Oct. 18, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement.

Some background: On Oct. 2 Perry, who has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on at least three occasions, pledged to work with lawmakers looking into a whistleblower’s allegations about President Trump’s communications with the foreign leader. Perry also met in Ukraine with Zelensky’s predecessor in August 2017 and visited the country on a Baltic region tour in November 2018.

CNN’s Gregory Wallace and Kylie Atwood also contributed to this report.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — the two associates of President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who were charged today with federal campaign finance violations — will be held in detention in Virginia until they each secure $1 million bond, a judge said. 

That was the deal prosecutors and the men’s defense attorneys reached this afternoon, and the judge agreed to it, sending them back into custody until court officials can approve their paperwork. Fruman will use his residence to secure the bond, while Parnas will use a business, attorneys involved in the case said. 

Once released, they will be confined to their homes and wear GPS monitors. With approval, they can travel between the Southern District of Florida, where they live, and the Southern District of New York, where they’re charged. 

They have both surrendered their US passports — which were seized from them at Dulles Airport — and were ordered by the judge to turn over all other travel documents and passports they might have.

They pair are also not allowed to discuss the case with one another —though the judge noted that would be difficult to enforce.

US attorney Geoffrey Berman said during a press conference today that the $325,000 donation Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — two Giuliani associates charged with federal campaign finance violations — made to “committee-1” in spring 2018 was “one of the largest” donations it had received.

CNN has identified that committee as America First Action. It’s now chaired by Linda McMahon, the former head of the Small Business Administration who left the White House to join the super PAC this spring. 

Multiple other former administration officials also work there, including Sean Spicer and Kelly Sadler.

While Sadler issued a statement earlier today saying they moved that six-figure donation to a segregated account, they are now declining to say when they did so. The donation has not been used and “will remain in this segregated account until these matters are resolved,” the group said.

Here’s Sadler’s statement:

President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani had lunch with two associates just hours before their arrests, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were detained at Dulles airport outside of Washington last night. They had recently purchased one-way tickets, according to a law enforcement source.

The two men were headed to Frankfurt, Germany to connect to another flight when they were arrested, according to a law enforcement source. 

The two men were charged today with federal campaign finance violations. They are currently in custody.

Parnas and Fruman are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Both men were booked into the Alexandria, Virginia jail late yesterday evening.

Reached earlier today and asked about his associates, Giuliani said, “I can’t comment at this point.”

The two associates of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani were headed to Frankfurt to connect to another flight when they were arrested, according to a law enforcement source. 

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman purchased their one-way tickets recently, the source said.

Both men were detained at Dulles airport outside of Washington last night.

Parnas and Fruman are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Both men were booked into the Alexandria, Virginia jail late yesterday evening.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman speaks during a news conference in New York on Oct. 10, 2019. 

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announced the charges against two Rudy Giuliani-linked associates who are alleged to have committed federal campaign finance violations.

Berman said this afternoon that the two men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, illegally funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign money to a US political group identified in the indictment as “Committee-1.”

Berman went on to characterize the investigation as one about “corrupt behavior, deliberate law-breaking.”

Some more context: Parnas and Fruman are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Both men were booked into the Alexandria, Virginia jail late Wednesday evening.

Two associates of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani were attempting to leave the country when they were detained at Dulles airport outside of Washington last night.

US prosecutors did not intend on unsealing the indictment against the Giuliani associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, according to two US officials. 

Their hand was forced when Parnas and Fruman attempted to leave the country, according to officials.

Some background: Parnas and Fruman are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Both men were booked into the Alexandria, Virginia jail late Wednesday evening and are expected in court in Virginia this afternoon.

Tom Zehnle, who was with the defense team for Paul Manafort, leaves federal court in Washington, in August 2018.

Defense attorneys who represented President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort are helping Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman today at their initial criminal appearance.

Defense attorney Tom Zehnle is in the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, as is Kevin Downing.

Zehnle said he was just here to help out until Parnas and Fruman can get more lawyers.

Fruman and Parnas were detained at Dulles airport outside of Washington last night. Both associates are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Fruman and Parnas are associated with Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Downing declined to say anything in response to Parnas and Fruman’s indictment today, other than that the pair is still in detention.

Parnas and Fruman were also represented by John Dowd, former personal attorney to the President, in their dealings with Congress.

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, of New Mexico, is one of the last Democrats to publicly support the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Small published an op-ed in support of the investigation; which now leaves just six Democratic holdouts.

At least 229 House Democrats have now publicly stated their support for the impeachment inquiry into Trump, according to CNN’s latest count.

The congresswoman added, “To be very clear, I have not reached judgment on the President’s actions, nor on the appropriate response, but I need the facts to make these weighty decisions.” 

The New Mexico Democrat is one of the House Democratic freshmen who flipped a congressional seat from red to blue in the 2018 midterm elections.

Three Democratic House Committee chairmen have now formally subpoenaed two associates of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani associates who are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, and Rep. Eliot L. Engel wrote in a letter to Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman’s legal counsel today that, in addition to turning over the documents they are requesting, the committees “expect your clients to appear to testify about these matters at a later date.”

CNN previously reported that attorney John Dowd, who represents Parnas and Fruman, had written to the committees saying their original request for documents were overly broad and more time was needed.

Now the committees have issued subpoenas for them to turn over material by Oct. 16.

Parnas and Fruman were arrested last night on federal campaign finance charges and are expected to appear in court this afternoon.

Rep. Pete Sessions speaks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Oxon Hill, Maryland in June 2017.

Two associates of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani pushed a GOP congressman to seek the ouster of the US ambassador to Ukraine at the same time as the associates were helping to bankroll the congressman’s campaign, according to a federal indictment and campaign finance records.

The indictment of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, which was unsealed today, shows how they discussed with former Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas to seek Marie Yovanovitch’s ouster. Both were later accused of lying to investigators about illegal campaign contributions they made to Sessions.

The indictment alleges that a “Congressman-1” had been the beneficiary of approximately $3 million in independent expenditures by “Committee-1.”

CNN has identified the committee as America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. Global Energy Producers, a company created by Parnas and Fruman, donated $325,000 to the pro-Trump super PAC and are alleged to have concealed the true source of that money. The PAC said in a statement that they placed the money in a “segregated bank account” and have not used the funds. 

Parnas and Fruman met with Sessions at a pro-Trump super PAC event in 2018.

Sessions is not named in the indictment, nor is he charged with the crime.

Sessions did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment from CNN.

Some context: Fruman and Parnas were detained at Dulles airport outside of Washington last night and are expected to appear in court in Virginia on today. Both associates are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The case is being prosecuted by the Southern District of New York.

At least 228 House Democrats have publicly stated their support for the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, according to CNN’s latest count. There are 235 members of the Democratic caucus in total — leaving just 7 holdouts.

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who has since become an independent, has also called for an impeachment investigation, bringing the total number of representatives to 229, or more than half of the 435-member chamber.

A simple majority of the House is needed to vote to impeach the President in order to send the process to the Senate.

Why this matters: With the White House stonewalling the impeachment inquiry and tensions growing, Republicans have called on Democrats to vote to formally open an impeachment investigation. While the Constitution specifies that the House must vote in order to impeach the President, it does not require that the House must vote to open an impeachment investigation.

Igor Fruman, left, and Lev Parnas

Two Rudy Giuliani-linked associates, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, were detained at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington on Wednesday and are scheduled to appear in court this afternoon.

Also on Thursday afternoon, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York — who is prosecuting the two men for alleged campaign finance violations — will hold a press conference to formally announce the indictment in the case.

Fruman and Parnas were booked into the Alexandria, Virginia jail late Wednesday evening, around 11 p.m., according to a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. They were released to federal authorities this morning, the spokeswoman said.

John Dowd, the attorney who represented Parnas and Fruman in their dealings with Congress, has no comment on the indictment.

Both men are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Fruman and Parnas are due in court in Virginia at 2 p.m. ET.

Jay Sekulow, President Trump’s personal attorney, claims that “neither the candidate nor the campaign” have anything to do with the men arrested on criminal charges for violating campaign finance rules.

Some context: Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas were detained at Dulles airport outside of Washington last night and are expected to appear in court in Virginia on today. Both associates are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The case is being prosecuted by the Southern District of New York.

Attorney General William Barr was briefed earlier this year on the investigation into two Rudy Giuliani associates and supported the prosecution, a DOJ official told CNN.

Barr discussed the probe at Justice of businessmen Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas—who are also connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine about presidential candidate Joe Biden—in February after he took office.

Barr is scheduled to visit the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York today, for what is described as a routine visit.

The SDNY is prosecuting Fruman and Parnas. The two were taken into federal custody on charges of violating campaign finance rules.

Asked about the arrest of his two associates —who are also connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine about presidential candidate Joe Biden — President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN, “I can’t comment at this point.”

The two associates of Giuliani, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, were arrested Wednesday on criminal charges for violating campaign finance rules.

The case is being prosecuted by the Southern District of New York. You can read the indictment here.

President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has coffee with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, Sept. 20.

Two associates of Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, were arrested Wednesday on criminal charges for violating campaign finance rules, according to the spokesperson for the Southern District of New York’s federal prosecutor’s office.

Both associates are connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas were detained at Dulles airport outside of Washington and are expected to appear in court in Virginia on Thursday.

The investigation was conducted by the SDNY.

Parnas was Giuliani’s fixer in Ukraine, introducing him to current and former officials as far back as 2018, according to CNN’s reporting

The two men gave hundreds of thousands in donations to a Trump-allied super PAC, according to the Miami Herald.

President Trump is attacking Fox News this morning for their poll on impeachment, tweeting “whoever their Pollster is, they suck” adding that the network is “much different than it used to be in the good old days.”

Trump named specific Fox News hosts and analysts who he disagrees with, including Andrew Napolitano, Shep Smith and Donna Brazile.

“@FoxNews doesn’t’ deliver for US anymore. It’s so different than it used to be. Oh well, I’m President!” Trump added.

What is this all about: Fox News released a poll Wednesday night that found 51% of registered voters want Trump to be impeached and removed from office. That’s a new high in Fox’s polling, up 9 points since July, with increases coming across party lines. 

The poll also finds that 51% feel the Trump administration is more corrupt than previous administrations, up 6 points in the last month.

Asked to rate how “troubling” Trump’s dealings with the Ukrainian president are, 51% rate them extremely or very troubling, while just 26% say they are not at all troubling.

President Trump tweeted a link to a Fox News story of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying there was “no blackmail” in the controversial July phone call.

Trump adds that Zelensky’s comments should “immediately end the talk of impeachment!”

Zelesnky said Thursday morning that there was “no blackmail at all” during his phone call with US President Trump in July. 

Furthermore, Zelensky said he was unaware that US military aid was being held up at the time.

More context here: When he was asked by a journalist during a press conference in Kiev on Thursday about the US and Ukrainian transcripts of the call that was published, Zelensky said the call was strictly about improving relations between the two countries.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the US has not supplied any evidence of President Trump’s claims around corruption at natural gas company, Burisma involving Hunter Biden—who has sat on the company’s board since 2014—or election interference by the Ukraine in 2016. 

There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden or formed Vice President Joe Biden.

Asked by CNN whether the US has supplied any information regarding either Burisma or election interference in 2016, Zelensky said, “the USA gave me nothing, no details of Burisma… I didn’t get any details about involvement in your previous elections.” 

Zelensky said Donald Trump would not influence investigations in Ukraine by its independent judicial system. “He can say: ok, we’ve got details, we have a vision that Ukraine interfered in US elections 2016 but you have to be responsible with your words.”

Vice President Mike Pence is defending President Trump for asking the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden — even when faced with his past comments on foreign interference in US politics. 

In Iowa on Wednesday, CNN asked Pence if he stood by his comments during the 2016 election that foreign governments “cannot participate” in the US political process.

During the 2016 vice presidential debate, Pence attacked the Clinton Foundation for accepting donations from foreign governments while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

“This is basic stuff. Foreign donors, and certainly foreign governments, cannot participate in the American political process,” Pence said at the time. 

Some background: Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry over a July 25 phone call where he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a “favor” in investigating Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, despite no evidence of wrongdoing by both. Trump also asked Zelensky to investigate a cybersecurity company that had publicly sounded the alarm about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. The White House had released a transcript of the call last month. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media on October 1, 2019 in Kiev, Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said there was “no blackmail at all” during his July phone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump. Zelensky added that he was unaware US military aid was being held up at the time.

“No, we didn’t speak about it. I didn’t know about it. This information I got from our minister and this information I got before September, before the meeting in Warsaw with the Vice President, Mr. (Mike) Pence,” Zelensky said during a press conference in Kiev on Thursday. 

Zelensky added that the subject of military aid to Ukraine “was not the subject of the phone call.”

Trump pressured Zelensky during the July 25 phone call to investigate former US vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter, setting off an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump abused the power of his office in order to damage a political rival. Hunter Biden was once a board member of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company.

There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden, nor that Hunter Biden himself was ever under investigation.

Trump’s lawyers may have written a letter to Democrats saying that the President “remains focused on fulfilling his promises to the American people” but Trump himself has shown few signs he is redirecting focus to governing.

Similar to his erratic behavior during the Mueller probe, the President has spent hours tweeting about the impeachment and lighting up the phone lines of his allies on Capitol Hill – including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Trump is calling the Majority Leader up to three times a day and making political threats, a source says.

McConnell has told a small number of Republicans about the President’s calls.

However, a spokesperson for McConnell has denied that Trump is increasingly leaning on the Republican leader in the Senate.

Trump has been lashing out at GOP senators he sees as disloyal, according to the person familiar with the conversations, telling McConnell he will amplify attacks on those Republicans who criticize him.

McConnell faces his own dilemma of having to preserve the Republican majority in the Senate, while also placating an erratic President who demands nothing short of total loyalty. That will become harder as more details about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine trickle out.

Trump has already demonstrated his willingness to go after Republican defectors. After Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said it was “wrong and appalling” for Trump to suggest Ukraine and China investigate Joe Biden, Trump unloaded, calling Romney a “pompous ass” and suggesting Romney himself be impeached.

Trump has also been mistrustful of Republicans who are reticent to defend him publicly, often lamenting that Democrats are much better at staying in line with their party heads than his own.

Read more on this story.

Late on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump tweeted about the impeachment probe, making his signature claims about having strengthened the US economy and military.

“Impeached for what, having created the greatest economy in the history of our country, building our strongest ever military, cutting taxes too much?” he tweeted.

Earlier on Wednesday, he had tweeted that only 25% of the country supported impeachment.

Fact check: A Washington Post poll Tuesday found that 25% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents support an impeachment inquiry. But a Fox News poll, released Wednesday, found that more than half of US voters want Trump impeached and removed from office.

US President Donald Trump at the White House on October 9, 2019.

Staring impeachment in the eye, President Donald Trump has opted to obstruct House Democrats and set up a constitutional crisis.

The US system, as your history teacher taught you, is made of three coequal branches of government. When one of them stops listening to the others, there’s a breakdown.

Now, Trump has essentially stopped listening to Congress. With two branches of government preparing for political war, the question now is whether the third – the courts – will be dragged into the fray.

What the Democrats are doing: Far from using the third branch to keep him in check, the House Democrats are plunging forward with their impeachment inquiry, issuing subpoenas they now know won’t be heeded.

Pelosi does not yet want to seek help from the courts, where things might slow down or, worse yet for Democrats, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court could rewrite the definition of presidential power.

Constitutional crisis: But experts say there’s great peril for Democrats in not ticking the boxes of bipartisanship. Democratic voters and lawmakers do not equal a majority of the country or the Senate.

Democrats may use Trump’s stonewalling as evidence of impeachable offenses rather than try it in the courts. That means the executive branch is actively trying to squash the legislative branch and the judicial branch might not even weigh in – setting the stage for a constitutional crisis.

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The House continued to press forward Wednesday with the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

If you’re just tuning in, here are the key developments: