The latest: Roughly two dozen House Republicans stormed a closed-door deposition yesterday. President Trump thanked House Republicans today “for being tough, smart, and understanding in detail the greatest Witch Hunt in American History.”
GOP resolution: Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a resolution critical of the House impeachment process against President Trump. The resolution calls on the House to hold a vote to initiate a formal inquiry.
More depositions scheduled: Four US officials are scheduled to testify next week, as part of the investigation into Trump.
Our live coverage has ended, but you can scroll through the posts to read more.
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Pompeo dodges questions on impeachment inquiry
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not answer a question from KMUW Radio about whether he believed diplomat Bill Taylor was lying in his testimony when he described quid pro quo.
“I’m not going to comment on things from the inquiry. I came to Kansas today to talk about an important project, a project where we’re growing human capital,” he said Thursday.
Pompeo also deflected when asked about the White House statement suggesting Taylor and other diplomats were “unelected radical bureaucrats.” He accused the reporter of being “fixated” on the probe.
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Democrats have begun discussing the scope and scale of potential articles of impeachment
From CNN's Lauren Fox and Phil Mattingly
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Democrats are discussing the scope and scale of potential articles of impeachment into President Trump, lawmakers and aides tell CNN.
The explosive testimony House lawmakers have obtained in their month-old impeachment inquiry is only one aspect of the impeachment work taking place, they say. The discussion about the parameters of the articles of impeachment — the crux of any vote to indict Trump — has also begun among members.
“People are beginning to think of what it would look like,” said Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and member of Democratic leadership. Cicilline made clear in an interview with CNN that the talks are preliminary, but both staff and members have discussed the broad shape of what the articles may look like.
Lawmakers and aides told CNN that the work is in its early stages, and ultimately is contingent on the report filed by the committees conducting the investigation. The early work also stands to form the backbone of a complicated decision looming over House Democratic leaders — how broadly to go after the President.
“We’re having discussions about what the likely articles would be, at the committee level and I think everyone is thinking about what it will be,” Cicilline said. “But we’re obviously going to wait until the evidence is referred to the Judiciary Committee.”
Lawmakers and aides tell CNN that the focus — at the moment — is on the investigation itself with the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees taking the lead in almost-daily interviews with witnesses they hope can shed light on why nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine was withheld and whether Trump used his office to garner political favors from the new government there. But for members not part of those investigations, there is plenty of speculation about how to approach the next phase of the process: drafting the formal Articles of Impeachment.
Here's who is scheduled to be deposed in the impeachment inquiry next week
From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb
Lawmakers will hold more closed-door depositions next week as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
According to a source familiar, here is the latest deposition schedule:
Monday: Charles Kupperman, the former deputy assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Tuesday: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the Ukraine expert for the National Security Counsel
Wednesday: Kathryn Wheelbarger, the acting assistant secretary for International Security Affairs
Thursday: Tim Morrison,the National Security Council’s senior director for Europe and Russia
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Pompeo will not say if he agrees with Giuliani's efforts in Ukraine
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not say whether he agreed with Rudy Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine in an interview with a Kansas radio station Thursday, according to a transcript released by the State Department.
“Do you support the work that Rudy Giuliani was doing in Ukraine?” Stephen Bisaha of KMUW Radio asked the top US diplomat in Wichita.
Pompeo did not answer, instead launching into a description of the State Department’s “singular mission on Ukraine” — to support newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts to combat corruption and to help Ukraine combat Russian aggression.
“So was Mr. Giuliani’s efforts aligned, then, with the State Department?” the reporter pressed.
Pompeo again did not answer.
“We’ve been working tirelessly on delivering the outcomes, right?” Pompeo said. “This is a results-based administration. This is about realism. It’s about being practical. It’s about delivering on real outcomes to keep the American people safe. Our interest in Ukraine has consistently been aimed at the singular focus of what’s in America’s best interest — that is, how do we get the outcome that keeps the American people safe. A strong, less corrupt, more secure Ukrainian people helps Ukraine, it helps Europe, and in that pushes back against the threats that are from Russia that actually pose real threats to people right here in Wichita, Kansas, the reason that I came to Kansas today.”
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Podcast: Republicans wage war on the impeachment inquiry
Jones also looks at whether the aggressive strategy will pay off or ostracize voters.
She is joined by Harry Enten, a senior writer and analyst for CNN Politics, and CNN Legal Analyst Elie Honig.
What happened yesterday: Roughly two-dozen House Republicans barged into a deposition and demanded they be allowed to see the closed-door proceedings where members of three committees planned to interview Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper as part of the impeachment probe into President Trump.
Graham, critic of House Democratic process, praised depositions in 1998 impeachment proceedings
From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham and other congressional Republicans have slammed House Democrats for conducting their impeachment inquiry with depositions behind closed doors, but Republicans also used closed-door depositions during their impeachment inquiry of former President Bill Clinton two decades ago.
Then-Rep. Lindsey Graham, at a November 1998 press conference one day after special prosecutor Ken Starr publicly testified before the House Judiciary Committee, praised the Judiciary panel’s plans to hold depositions before conducting public hearings. Graham was a key Republican on the Judiciary Committee and was one of the House impeachment managers during the Senate trial that followed.
Asked by a reporter in 1998 if he thought there would be hearings with “some of the principals,” Graham said: “The depositions, I think, will determine whether or not we go forward with hearings. I think it’s a very smart thing to do, to depose these people and find out what they’ve got to say and not drag this thing out unnecessarily. And it’s going to end by the end of the year.”
Why this matters: Graham’s comments could provide fodder for Democrats seeking to undercut Republican attacks that the impeachment inquiry should not be conducting depositions behind closed doors, but doing everything in public.
The closed-door depositions are just one of several lines of attack Republicans have leveled, as they’re also critical of Democrats for not voting to authorize the impeachment inquiry, the President’s counsel not being allowed to participate and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff’s handling of the investigation.
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Graham: "I’m not here to tell you that Donald Trump’s done nothing wrong"
From CNN's Clare Foran and Lauren Fox
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images
Following a lunch at the White House, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s not sure what will ultimately happen in the House-led impeachment investigation.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of Ukraine. I’ve got my own view about the letter. I’m not here to tell you that Donald Trump’s done nothing wrong. I’m not here to tell you anything other than that the way they’re going about it is really dangerous for the country and we need to change course while we can in the House,” she said.
Graham said President Trump feels like “from the time he’s become President he’s been hounded about things he didn’t do.”
“He feels like it never ends and that when it comes to Donald Trump nobody really cares if he has a fair day in court but a handful of Republicans,” the South Carolina lawmaker said.
Graham and a group of GOP senators were invited for lunch at the White House today, and he said Trump, “was in a good mood.”
“He appreciated the lunch. He would like the process to be exposed for being basically unfair. He keeps telling us he did nothing wrong. He keeps telling me that the phone call was perfect. I’m saying, Mr. President, the phone call was okay with me, he feels like it never stops,” Graham said.
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Graham introduces resolution condemning House impeachment process
Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a resolution today condemning the process of the House impeachment inquiry.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calls on the House to hold a vote to initiate the inquiry, so House Republicans can participate in proceedings and President Trump can call witnesses, Graham tweeted.
“I have introduced a resolution today with Senator McConnell and the purpose of the resolution is to let the House know that the process you’re engaging in regarding the attempted impeachment of President Trump is out of bounds, is inconsistent with due process as we know it …. and is a substantial deviation from what the House has done in the past regarding impeachment of other presidents.” Graham said at a press conference today on Capitol Hill.
CNN’s Lauren Fox pressed Graham on whether he is confident that the Hill and the White House are on the same page when it comes to impeachment messaging and whether the Hill is leading the messaging strategy.
Graham responded, “I talked to chief of staff Mulvaney, I think they’re working on getting a messaging team together.”
One thing to note: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry last month.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham calls impeachment inquiry "dangerous to the future of the presidency"
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham called the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump “dangerous to the future of the presidency” during a press conference today on Capitol Hill.
Graham used a series of slides to compare the Trump impeachment inquiry to how the inquiry into President Clinton was conducted.
Graham called the Trump inquiry a “secret proceeding” and “a rogue action.”
“The process in the house today is dangerous to the future of the presidency,” Graham said. “God help future presidents.”
Graham buttressed his claims with a series of tweets laying out the Graham-McConnell resolution which calls for the House to vote to initiate a formal impeachment inquiry.
Some context: Democrats plan on holding public hearings with some witnesses who have been deposed as part of their plan to provide some transparency to the inquiry.
It is possible, sources say, that public hearings could begin in mid-November. It is also possible, they could slip until after Thanksgiving.
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Graham says Mulvaney acknowledged White House needs help with impeachment messaging
From CNN's Ted Barrett
Zach Gibson/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said today that acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged the White House needs help with impeachment messaging.
Graham, who just returned from a meeting at the White House, was asked if he expressed concerns about their inability to message on impeachment.
“Yes I did. I met with Mick Mulvaney. He said, ‘Keep talking to us.’ We’re getting there. Yes, the message has been received and they’re making corrective action but he actually mentioned that,” Graham said.
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Trump holds lunch at White House with senators
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Haley Byrd
President Trump hosted several Republican senators at the White House today for lunch, a person familiar told CNN.
Here’s who was at the lunch:
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson
Utah Sen. Mike Lee
Georgia Sen. David Perdue
Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander
Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman
South Dakota Sen. John Thune
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White House urges federal agencies to cancel Washington Post and New York Times subscriptions
From CNN's Maegan Vazquez, Jim Acosta, Oliver Darcy and Allie Malloy
Getty Images / File
The White House is urging all federal agencies to cancel their subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said today.
This follows President Trump’s recent indication that the White House would “terminate” its existing subscriptions with the two newspapers, which have been the frequent target of the administration’s criticism through Trump’s candidacy and presidency.
“The New York Times, which is a fake newspaper – we don’t even want it in the White House anymore. We’re going to probably terminate that and the Washington Post,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday evening.
They’re fake,” the President added. “You take a look at the New York Times and you take a look at the kind of reporting they do, it was all — it turned out to be all wrong.”
Grisham said in a statement that “not renewing subscriptions across all federal agencies will be a significant cost saving for taxpayers — hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Trump isn’t the first president to boycott a newspaper in the People’s House. President John F. Kennedy canceled White House subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune over perceived bias.
The New York Times and the Washington Post declined to comment.
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Catch up: 3 developments happening today in the impeachment inquiry
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Here are the latest developments in the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump:
Graham rejects testimony: Earlier this week, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, testified that he had been told that President Trump had withheld military aid for Ukraine in exchange for publicly announcing investigations that could help him politically. Today, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham rejected the testimony, calling it “hearsay.” Graham argued that Taylor only talked to Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, about his conversation with Trump.
Trump tweets support: The President thanked House Republicans “for being tough, smart, and understanding in detail the greatest Witch Hunt in American History.” His message comes just a day after roughly two-dozen House Republicans stormed a closed-door deposition in secure House Intelligence Committee spaces to challenge the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry.
Possible public hearings: Democrats plan on holding public hearings with some witnesses who have been deposed as part of their plan to provide some transparency to the impeachment inquiry. The hearings could begin in mid-November or after Thanksgiving depending on the witnesses.
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GOP source: Diplomat's testimony "points to quid pro quo"
From CNN's Jamie Gangel
Bill Taylor, the top U.S. Diplomat to Ukraine, leaves Capitol Hill on October 22, 2019 in Washington, DC. Taylor testified to the house committees regarding the impeachment inquiry looking into President Donald Trumps relationship with Ukraine.
Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images
Republican sources claim diplomat Bill Taylor’s testimony was a game changer and is “reverberating” up on Capitol Hill.
And according to one GOP source, Taylor’s testimony “points to quid pro quo.”
More context: Taylor testified Tuesday that he had been told President Trump would withhold military aid to the country until it publicly declared investigations would be launched that could help his reelection chances — including into former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a copy of Taylor’s opening statement obtained by CNN.
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Here's what happens if the House goes to court over the White House's refusal to comply with subpoenas
From CNN legal analyst Elie Honig
Your questions, answered
If the House goes to court to litigate the White House’s refusal to comply with subpoenas, how long would it take? Could the House go direct to the Supreme Court?
Litigation takes time — perhaps more time than House Democrats realistically have.
First, House Democrats would have to file suit in federal district court (the lowest, trial-level federal court). It likely would take months to get a ruling at this level. For example, the House Judiciary Committee filed suit to enforce a subpoena on former White House counsel Don McGahn in early August 2019 and the district court has not yet ruled, over two months later.
After the district court rules, the losing side then has the right to appeal the case to the federal court of appeals. It likely would take at least a few months to complete briefing and argument and to receive a ruling, even if the process were expedited. Then, after the court of appeals rules, the losing party can seek review in the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court does not have to take any particular case, and in fact only takes a very small percentage of them. If the Supreme Court declines the case, it would take at least a few weeks to issue the declination; if the Supreme Court takes the case, it likely would take several months to brief and argue the case, and to receive a final ruling.
There is a mechanism through which House Democrats could seek to expedite the process by effectively skipping the middle layer of review (the court of appeals). Under a Supreme Court rule, a party can apply to bring a case direct from the district court to the Supreme Court “only upon a showing that the case is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this Court.” The Supreme Court rarely grants such expedited review, but it did so in the famous 1974 US v. Richard Nixon case where the Court ordered the White House to comply with a subpoena from a special prosecutor and produce the incriminating White House tapes.
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The President does not have any options to appeal or contest his removal if impeached
From CNN legal analyst Elie Honig
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Your questions, answered
If the House impeaches and the Senate convicts the President, does he have any options to appeal or contest his removal?
On the face of the Constitution, there is no way for a president or other federal official to appeal an impeachment and conviction. Article I of the Constitution gives the House “sole power of impeachment” and the Senate “sole power to try all impeachments,” and makes no mention of any right of appeal. In fact, the Constitution specifies only one role for the Judiciary Branch in the impeachment process: the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over a Senate trial.
Nonetheless, President Trump has suggested by tweet that he might contest an impeachment in the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court already has ruled that it has no role in reviewing impeachments. In a 1993 case Nixon v. United States, federal judge Walter Nixon appealed his impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate to the Supreme Court. The Court firmly rejected Nixon’s case, ruling that the Constitution commits impeachment and removal solely to Congress and that the Court plays no role in reviewing impeachment proceedings.
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Pompeo on whether impeachment probe is damaging his image: "I don’t think about that stuff"
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brushed off a question about whether the impeachment inquiry had damaged his image and leadership at the State Department, suggesting it was “noise” and again accused Congress of unprofessional behavior.
“I don’t think about that stuff. I work hard. I do the right thing as best I can tell every day. I try to make sure my team is similarly focused,” Pompeo told The Wichita Eagle on Thursday. “You all talk about this noise an awful lot, that you all are fixated on this. The State Department you should know is not.”
Pompeo also said that the impeachment inquiry had not changed his consideration of a Senate run, saying he is still focused on his “mission set” at the State Department.
Pompeo refused to answer questions about whether he relayed Ukraine ambassador Bill Taylor’s concerns about the withholding of Ukraine military assistance to the President. Asked what he did with the cable Taylor testified he sent on Aug. 29, Pompeo said, “I’m not going to talk about [the] inquiry this morning.”
“So did you relay his concerns to the president?” Pompeo was asked.
“Look, I came here today to talk about workforce development. I came here today to talk about the great things that are going on here in Kansas,” he responded. “This inquiry will proceed. Congress will perform its oversight function, the State Department will continue to do all of the things that were required to do under the law and the Constitution.”
The US secretary of state, noting that they are “not allowed to have State Department officials in the hearing room,” claimed he gets “notes from people in Kansas all the time saying it’s not right, they think it’s unfair too.”
“I think the American people understand that. I hope that they’ll proceed in a way that is transparent and fair. And then the inquiry will wrap up,” he said.
Asked whether the State Department would comply with a Wednesday court order on turning over communications with Rudy Giuliani within 30 days, Pompeo claimed he hadn’t seen the ruling.
“I saw a headline. I haven’t seen the ruling. But I can assure the American people that their State Department always complies with everything we’re required to do under the law. There’s no reason to think we would do any different there,” he said.
Several GOP senators dismissed Ukraine ambassador Bill Taylor’s testimony where he said that he had been told President Trump wanted to withhold Ukraine aid in exchange for Ukraine announcing investigations — with the No. 2 GOP senator, John Thune, walking back the concerns he raised yesterday. He said Taylor’s testimony is second-hand information.
Sen. John Kennedy, from Louisiana, said that he needed to see the cross-examination of Taylor so he wouldn’t take his comments at face value.
Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas, said that the President is being denied due process and needed to hear the other part of Taylor’s testimony.
And others — like Sen. Tim Scott, from South Carolina, and Sen. Mike Lee, of Utah — refused to answer questions.
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Sen. Graham will push resolution calling on Democrats to use same impeachment procedures for Clinton and Nixon
From CNN's Manu Raju
Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters today that he is offering a resolution, which Sen. Mitch McConnell is co-sponsoring, that would condemn the House’s impeachment inquiry process.
Graham said he is no longer planning to write a letter with 53 senators attacking the inquiry as he previously announced.
Graham says the resolution will urge the House to adopt the same procedures regarding impeachment that were available to President Clinton and Nixon allowing them to call witnesses and defend themselves.
The Republican senator from South Carolina has scheduled a press conference to discuss the resolution at 3 p.m. ET.
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Trump thanks House Republicans on impeachment
President Trump has just thanked House Republicans “for being tough, smart, and understanding in detail the greatest Witch Hunt in American History.”
Roughly two-dozen House Republicans on Wednesday stormed a closed-door deposition in secure House Intelligence Committee spaces to rail against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry, a political stunt ratcheting up the GOP complaints about the process that delayed Wednesday’s scheduled deposition for five hours.
Here’s Trump’s tweet:
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Sources: House Democrats could begin public hearings by mid-November
From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb
Democrats plan on holding public hearings with some witnesses who have been deposed as part of their plan to provide some transparency to the inquiry.
It is possible, sources say, that public hearings could begin in mid-November. It is also possible, they could slip until after Thanksgiving.
Multiple House Democratic sources say the exact timeline is unknown because witnesses have provided more leads for them to track down and other witnesses have been difficult to schedule.
It’s also possible that former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, President Trump’s former top Russia adviser Fiona Hill, top US diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor and Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, could be among the witnesses to testify in open session.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham rejects Ukraine ambassador's testimony as “hearsay”
From CNN's Manu Raju
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham said to CNN’s Many Raju this morning that he rejects Ukraine ambassador Bill Taylor’s testimony that he had been told that the President had withheld military aid for Ukraine in exchange for publicly announcing investigations that could help him politically.
Graham called it “hearsay” because Taylor only talked to Sondland about his conversation with President Trump.
Taylor’s testimony needs to be “tested,” Graham said
Here is Graham’s full exchange with CNN:
CNN: Hey Senator, are you okay with what has came out of the Bill Taylor testimony—that the President apparently had directed the military aid to be withheld in exchange for a public declaration investigations that could help politically?
GRAHAM: Did he talk to the President?
CNN: He talked to Ambassador Sondland who talked to the President.
GRAHAM: Oh, that’s hearsay.
CNN: You don’t think he’s trustworthy?
GRAHAM: No, here’s what I cant get over, if Rudy Giuliani has a 15-page statement saying he did nothing wrong wouldn’t you want to know more? Would you accept that statement? I’ve got nothing against Bill Taylor, it’s the process. You’re asking me do I believe something based on a statement that hasn’t been tested. I can not tell you how disgusted I am with this process. House failed to have an impeachment inquiry of over 100 vote. I think they’ve got 95 votes for a formal inquiry, so that was rejected. They’ve come up with a process in intel where you do things behind the closed doors. You give me 15 pages of testimony that has never been subject to cross examination and wont be to comment on it? Forget that.
CNN: Do you think he is a “Never Trumper” like President Trump said?
GRAHAM: I have no idea.
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Democrats do plan on holding public hearings
From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb
Democrats are planning on holding public hearings with some witnesses who have been deposed as part of their plan to provide some transparency to the inquiry.
As CNN reported a few days ago, we are currently in the first phase of the impeachment inquiry: the closed-door depositions, which are taking longer than expected.
What happens next?
After these depositions, Democrats plan to hold public hearings with some of the witnesses they have interviewed. Then the committees will release a public report that could be used as a basis for articles of impeachment voted on by the House Judiciary Committee.
When will public hearings start?
It is possible, sources say, that public hearings could begin in mid-November. It is also possible, they could slip until after Thanksgiving. Multiple House Democratic sources say the exact timeline is unknown because witnesses have provided more leads for them to track down and other witnesses have been difficult to schedule.
Who will testify?
It’s possible that Marie Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, Bill Taylor and Gordon Sondland could be among the witnesses to testify in open session.
So far, Adam Schiff is not saying.
But, as CNN reported, it’s quite possible final votes on impeachment could slip to the end of the year.
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The other "Nixon" leaves ultimate responsibility for Trump's removal with Congress
From CNN's Joan Biskupic
President Donald Trump has been trying to avert impeachment, tweeting furiously to influence public opinion and predicting that any legal battle could go all the way up to the US Supreme Court.
But when it comes to the last word on an actual House impeachment and Senate trial, the justices have previously said it will not be theirs. Under the Constitution, the two chambers of Congress have the ultimate power to determine whether a President is removed from office.
Important disputes over Trump documents for various investigations, in Washington and New York, are certainly being heard by federal judges and likely to land before the nine justices. A paradigm of the Supreme Court impact on a president was United States v. Nixon, the 1974 case that forced President Richard Nixon to turn over the Watergate tapes. He eventually resigned rather than face impeachment.
President Trump has predicted that any legal battle could go all the way up to the US Supreme Court.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
But a different Nixon case stands for the proposition that an actual House of Representatives impeachment or Senate trial would not be settled by the justices.
In the 1993 case of Nixon v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled impeachment “nonjusticiable,” that is, a political question. Under the Constitution, Congress bears the responsibility and control for a presidential impeachment.
The determination involved not the former president but US District Court Judge Walter Nixon of Mississippi, who had been impeached and convicted in 1989. He subsequently challenged the Senate procedures used.
Today, as members of the US House continue hearing witnesses related to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, that Supreme Court decision could become more salient. A new CNN poll found that half of Americans now say Trump should be impeached and removed from office.
Get caught up on the stunt Republicans pulled yesterday
From CNN's By Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb
Patrick Semansky/AP
A group of Republican lawmakers Wednesday morning stormed into the House room where Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper was scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry to protest the way Democrats are leading the impeachment process.
Here’s everything we know about the storming stunt:
What happened: About two dozen House Republicans stormed the closed-door deposition in secure House Intelligence Committee spaces to rail against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry — a political stunt ratcheting up the GOP complaints about the process that threw the deposition into doubt. The group was led by Florida’s Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Why the protesters were not allowed in: They are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry, and are therefore are barred from today’s testimony.
What they want: Republicans say they forced their way in because Democrats are holding impeachment depositions behind closed doors, denying the public the ability to see what’s being said by witnesses that could be used to impeach Trump. (Members of the committees leading the inquiry — both Republicans and Democrats — have attended the hearings.)
They brought electronics — which aren’t allowed: The Republicans walked into the hearing room with their electronics, according to Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, which is prohibited in the space, known as a SCIF — a sensitive compartmented information facility — because it’s a secure room used for discussing and handling classified information. GOP Rep. Mike Conaway, who is on the House Intelligence Committee, collected the electronics.
The protest is ongoing: Pizza and snacks were brought into the committee area, signaling the standoff might not be wrapping up anytime soon.
Where Trump stands: The storm-the-room stunt came three days after Trump said that he thought Republicans “have to get tougher and fight.” Many of the Republicans engaged in the protest were at a White House meeting Tuesday, according to lawmakers in attendance, though GOP Rep. Mark Meadows said Wednesday’s protest was not raised at the meeting.
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Trump and his defenders are inventing the reality they want
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN
President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense has come to this.
Yet neither Trump nor his White House has come up with a strong counterargument to the potential smoking-gun testimony of the US top diplomat in Ukraine, which is still reverberating through Washington.
Donald Trump speaks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday night.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
A day of inflammatory behavior by the President and his allies on Wednesday actually hinted at the depth of Trump’s troubles on Capitol Hill and in courtrooms beyond instead of its apparent purpose in distracting from it.
In a remarkable moment Wednesday morning, around two dozen Republican lawmakers stormed a secure hearing room that was due to hear a deposition by a senior Pentagon official on the Ukraine scandal.
Top US diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor’s deposition on Tuesday added to a pile of damning testimony alleging that Trump used presidential power to pressure a foreign government to try to sway the 2020 election, which Republicans and the White House are struggling to refute with facts and arguments of their own.
And it led to a rare sign of concern in the Republican ranks on which Trump will rely to save him in any Senate impeachment trial – from senior GOP Sen. John Thune.
The President did what he often does when an unappealing political reality threatens: He simply invented a more advantageous one, launching misleading attacks on the conduct of the inquiry and picking new fights.
“The Never Trumper Republicans, though on respirators with not many left, are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats. Watch out for them, they are human scum!” he tweeted.