Trump impeachment inquiry: Live updates and the latest news

Two Trump officials expected to show up for impeachment interviews

There is a good chance that David Hale, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, shows up tomorrow for his closed-door deposition with House impeachment investigators, according to two sources familiar.

Jennifer Williams, a foreign policy aide to Mike Pence, is also expected to show up for her scheduled deposition on Thursday, according to two sources familiar. 

‘Talk to Rudy’: Impeachment transcripts detail Giuliani’s outsized influence in Ukraine policy

Rudy Giuliani was mentioned more than 430 times during House impeachment investigators’ interviews with two key U.S. diplomats, transcripts released on Tuesday show, underscoring the former New York mayor’s outsized role in U.S.-Ukraine policy.

More than anyone else, Giuliani shaped Trump’s view of Ukraine and caused headaches for top State Department officials, as Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union and Kurt Volker, then the U.S. special representative for Ukraine, detailed in their testimonies last month.

Here are some of the most noteworthy references to Giuliani in those documents.

Impeachment faces first big test in Kentucky governor’s election

Graham unconcerned about new transcripts: ‘We got some guy presuming something’

Judiciary Chairman Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) spoke to NBC and CNN following the Sondland and Volker transcripts being released. On the transcripts, Graham said he hasn’t read the deposition but “bottom line, Mueller meant something to me, I’m not impressed with this whole line of impeachment,” adding “I’m not going to entertain impeaching the President over this matter, period. Done.” Graham also referred to Sondland as “some guy presuming something.” When asked if he will call Hunter Biden to testify, Graham says it doesn’t fall under his jurisdiction but he hopes Senator Risch (R-ID), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, will look at it.

Separately, NBC asked Graham if Giuliani will come in and testify before his committee, to which Graham said “I don’t think he’s coming,” adding that he spoke to him again and Giuliani “never got back” to him on that.

White House signals it won’t comply with House request for Mulvaney deposition

When asked if Mulvaney would comply with the request by House Democrats to testify, Hogan Gidley released the following statement to NBC News:

“Past Democrat and Republican Administrations would not be inclined to permit Senior Advisers to the President to participate in such a ridiculous, partisan, illegitimate proceeding – and  neither is this one.”

McConnell says Trump impeachment trial ‘would not lead to a removal’ if held today

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threw cold water on the impeachment process Tuesday, telling reporters that if a hypothetical Senate trial were held today, the upper chamber would not vote to convict President Donald Trump.

“I will say, I’m pretty sure how it’s likely to end: If it were today I don’t think there’s any question it would not lead to a removal,” the Kentucky Republican said. “So the question is how long does the Senate want to take? How long do the presidential candidates want to be here on the floor of the Senate instead of in Iowa and New Hampshire?” (Six senators, who would serve as jurors, are running in the Democratic presidential primary.)

“And all of these other related issues that may be going on at the same time, it’s very difficult to ascertain how long this takes,” McConnell added. “I’d be surprised if it didn’t end the way the two previous ones did with the president not being removed from office.”

The Inquiry: Sondland confirms quid pro quo in testimony

White House reaction to Sondland, Volker transcripts

From White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham:

“Both transcripts released today show there is even less evidence for this illegitimate impeachment sham than previously thought.  Ambassador Sondland squarely states that he ‘did not know, (and still does not know) when, why or by whom the aid was suspended.’ He also said he ‘presumed’ there was a link to the aid—but cannot identify any solid source for that assumption. By contrast, Volker’s testimony confirms there could not have been a quid pro quo because the Ukrainians did not know about the military aid hold at the time. No amount of salacious media-biased headlines, which are clearly designed to influence the narrative, change the fact that the President has done nothing wrong.”

Meadows brushes off Sondland testimony

North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, one of Trump’s most vocal Republican supporters in the House, brushed off concerns about Sondland’s testimony.

“It’s interesting that from your vantage point you’re wanting to focus on Ambassador Sondland instead of on Volker, who was the Ukrainian envoy who actually talked to the Ukrainians who actually had the responsibility when you talk to him,” he said.

Sondland changes testimony, acknowledges delivering quid pro quo message to Ukraine

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told House impeachment investigators this week that he now remembers telling a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine would not receive U.S. military assistance until it committed to investigating the 2016 election and former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a person with knowledge of Sondland’s testimony.

Sondland’s latest testimony represents an update to depositions he gave in October to the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Sondland said that by the beginning of September, he “presumed that the aid suspension had become linked to the proposed anti-corruption statement.”

Sondland also said he now remembered a Sept. 1 conversation with Andriy Yermak, a top Zelenskiy adviser, in Warsaw in which he told Yermak that “the resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks.”

Read the full story here.

source: nbcnews.com