The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

By Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 7:59 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019
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6:35 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

House Intelligence Committee members have 24 hours to review the report

From CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb

Members of the House Intelligence Committee will have 24 hours to review the impeachment report.

“The report is now available for [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] members to review in committee spaces. This commences a 24-hour review period prior to the vote to adopt the report. That business meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, following a regularly scheduled briefing, in committee spaces. Following the vote, the minority has through Thursday to submit their Minority views, before the report and any minority views are transmitted to the House Judiciary Committee," a committee official told CNN.

More on this: The report is a chance for Democrats to make their case against President Trump after weeks of testimony and document collection and is expected to serve as the basis for articles of impeachment that the House Judiciary Committee will consider.

House Democrats' impeachment investigation is based on a whistleblower complaint from a US intelligence official about Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 candidate. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden.

6:42 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

This Republican senator says he thinks Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election

From CNN's Lauren Fox and Ellie Kaufman

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, told reporters that he does believe Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election despite the fact that the intelligence community concluded in early 2017 that Russia interfered in the election to help President Trump. 

Kennedy said that he doesn’t think Ukraine is as bad as Russia, but he does think they interfered. He also said that he spoke to Trump this morning. He wouldn’t answer if they talked about Ukraine. 

Kennedy flip-flopped recently on whether he believes Ukraine interfered.

He called Putin a Thug and an SOB. He kept saying he didn’t think reports he read from were fake news.

Minutes after Kennedy said that Ukraine did meddle in the 2016 US elections, Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, reiterated the conclusions from the committee’s report that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections.

Warner said in their report they found that Russian agents “appeared to be spreading these fake rumors about Ukraine,” referring to the rumors that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election in support of the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

"People that refuse to acknowledge that threat I don’t think makes our country safer," Warner said.
6:11 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

Podcast: The impeachment inquiry is America's Rorschach test

December marks the potential beginning of the end for the impeachment inquiry.

With a self-imposed deadline looming, Democrats are likely preparing to draft articles of impeachment. Yet the White House is still resistant to participation. And why won't Republicans stop talking about the debunked theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election?

In today's episode of "The Daily DC: Impeachment Watch" podcast, CNN political director David Chalian looks ahead at the inquiry with CNN senior writer and publisher of the Impeachment Watch Tracker Zach Wolf and impeachment expert and national security analyst at The Washington Post, Shane Harris.

Listen to the podcast here.

6:03 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

Trump praises GOP for its impeachment rebuttal report

President Trump praised the Republicans for their report rejecting allegations that he abused his office in his dealings with Ukraine.

"Prior to landing I read the Republicans Report on the Impeachment Hoax. Great job! Radical Left has NO CASE," Trump tweeted.

He also questioned whether the US Supreme Court could halt the inquiry.

Read his tweet:

5:27 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

Democrats will hold a mock hearing tomorrow

From CNN's Lauren Fox

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will have a mock hearing Tuesday starting mid-morning to prepare for their public hearing Wednesday with four Constitutional law experts.

This comes as Democrats believe they have momentum coming off of a set of explosive House Intelligence Committee hearings. The hope, according to one source familiar with the preparations, is to keep the momentum going.

What we know: They are preparing members for a more rambunctious set of House Republicans like Reps. Louis Gohmert and Matt Gaetz who could easily seek to take the hearing off its course. 

According to one source familiar with preparations, members have been told to be prepared to stay in Washington between Dec. 3 and 13 including the weekend. The source familiar with preparations said there was no reason to believe there would necessarily be weekend hearings, but the person speculated it may be more that members may need to be in town for discussions about articles of impeachment or other work.  

5:20 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

Judge who ordered Don McGahn to testify says she won't pause his testimony

From CNN's Katelyn Polantz

Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said she won't pause former White House counsel Don McGahn's testimony while he appeals her order that he must appear before the House.

But her decision today has little immediate effect because the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington has given his testimony a temporary pause and agreed to hear his case in early January. 

The appeals court placed an administrative stay on McGahn's case "pending further order" of the court. The higher court said it is considering keeping his testimony on pause as well as considering his main arguments.

In her opinion today, Jackson wrote that the White House attempt to stop McGahn from testifying is even weaker than when the Bush administration unsuccessfully tried to stop then-White House counsel Harriet Miers’ testimony.

"The Executive branch’s claim of irreparable harm is substantially weaker in the instant case than it was in Miers, because unlike Harriet Miers, McGahn has already given sworn testimony to the Special Counsel, which makes it difficult to see why the Executive branch would be harmed if McGahn’s testimony proceeds while the appeal is pending," she wrote.

 

4:22 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

4 law professors will testify at Wednesday's hearing

From CNN's Manu Raju

The House Judiciary Committee has announced its list of witnesses for Wednesday’s hearing.

Entitled “The Impeachment Inquiry into President Donald J. Trump: Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment," the hearing will include testimony from law professors from four schools. It starts at 10 a.m. ET.

Here's a list of witnesses:

  • Noah Feldman of Harvard Law School
  • Pamela S. Karlan of Stanford Law School
  • Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina School of Law
  • Jonathan Turley of the George Washington University Law School
5:38 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

Republicans issue a rebuttal to Democrats' impeachment report before it comes out

From CNN's Jeremy Herb and Manu Raju

Republicans have written a 123-page report rejecting the Democratic allegations that President Trump abused his office in his dealings with Ukraine.

They issued the rebuttal ahead of the Democrats' plans to release their own account. 

CNN has obtained a copy of the GOP report.

The Republicans argued there was nothing wrong with Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has served as the basis of an anonymous whistleblower complaint into Trump and Ukraine that sparked the Democratic impeachment inquiry.

“The summary of their July 25, 2019, telephone conversation shows no quid pro quo or indication of conditionality, threats, or pressure—much less evidence of bribery or extortion. The summary reflects laughter, pleasantries, and cordiality,” the report said. “President Zelensky has said publicly and repeatedly that he felt no pressure. President Trump has said publicly and repeatedly that he exerted no pressure.” 

The Republican report — which serves as a rebuttal to the House Intelligence Committee’s Democratic report that the committee will vote on tomorrow — said that Trump’s concerns about Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and Burisma are valid. Multiple witnesses testified the claims were not legitimate. 

The report said that Trump did not pressure Ukraine to investigate Burisma or the Bidens and that the evidence does not support that Trump withheld a meeting or US security assistance.

“President Trump has a deep-seated, genuine, and reasonable skepticism of Ukraine due to its history of pervasive corruption,” the report said.

The report also claimed there is “indisputable evidence that senior Ukrainian government officials opposed President Trump’s in the 2016 election and did so publicly.”

4:06 p.m. ET, December 2, 2019

White House in preparation mode as it gears up for Wednesday's hearing

From CNN's Pamela Brown

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

White House officials say they are in preparation mode as they gear up for Wednesday's hearing, the House Intelligence committee report and the Trump administration's response to Rep. Jerry Nadler's second letter by week's end. 

The officials say there is "constant communication" between senior administration officials and lawmakers in both the House and Senate.

Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh, who joined the administration last month, are on Capitol Hill today meeting with House lawmakers ahead of the House Judiciary Committee's first hearing this Wednesday to coordinate on messaging.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone is also engaging regularly with lawmakers as well, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Sources say it is likely Cipollone will take the lead as the main lawyer in a potential Senate trial and officials are still trying to game out what a trial might look like and how long it should last. 

CNN previously reported the White House has urged Republican Senators to not drag it out.

White House officials also say the administration is working on the outlines of its second letter to Nadler, the committee's chairman, arguing once again due process can't be given retroactively. They are also arguing that if Nadler gives ample opportunity to the White House for cross-examination and a list of fact witnesses well ahead of time, it may participate.

However, White House officials concede it is unlikely President Trump or the White House lawyers will end up participating because participation would legitimize the process and take away a key White House talking point.