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Trump-Ukraine scandal: memo shows president pushed for Biden investigation – live Trump and Ukrainian president address scandal in tense meeting – live
(about 2 hours later)
Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat of Pennsylvania, issued a statement in support of Trump’s impeachment in the wake of the White House releasing its memo on the Ukraine call. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reportedly thought the White House would only release Trump’s side of the conversation in its memo on the pair’s July call.
Today, I am calling for President Trump's impeachment. Read my full statement here: https://t.co/twBP18Ogoy *25-Sep-2019 03:40:17 PM - UKRAINE PRESIDENT SAYS THOUGHT ONLY US SIDE OF TRUMP CONVERSATION WAS GOING TO BE PUBLISHED
Casey said: “The recent revelation that President Trump pressured a foreign government to investigate his political opponents is a textbook case of abuse of power which demands action. In order to hold President Trump fully accountable, I support a formal impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives.” According to the White House memo, Zelenskiy repeatedly flattered Trump, informing the president he even stayed at Trump Tower the last time he visited the United States.
Casey won his third Senate term last year, beating his Republican opponent in the swing state of Pennsylvania by about 13 points. But the statement from a Democratic senator hailing from a state Trump narrowly carried in 2016 is still notable. After Trump criticized the attorney for the Ukraine call whistleblower for donating to Joe Biden, a CNN anchor pointed out that the president himself previously donated to the former senator.
The Democratic chairs of four House committees investigating Trump have released a statement calling the Ukraine call an “unambiguous, damning, and shocking abuse of the Office of the Presidency for personal political gain.” You know who else donated to Biden? Donald J. Trump, in 2001. https://t.co/GBu626VTBZ https://t.co/o6K4pQ03jk
A President pressing a foreign government to investigate a political opponent is a severe abuse of power. Our country strongly rejected Trump’s pressure on Russia to dig up dirt on his opponent in 2016. For him to do it again, shows a complete disregard for the American people. https://t.co/tc0k17LOvA Extinction Rebellion activists blocked off a main stretch in San Francisco’s Financial District during Wednesday’s morning rush hour, calling for banks to divest from fossil fuels.
The statement is attributed to Adam Schiff of the intelligence committee, Jerry Nadler of the judiciary committee, Elijah Cummings of the oversight committee and Eliot Engel of the foreign affairs committee. The #ExtinctionRebellion activists blocked San Francisco’s iconic cable car with a “pipeline” pic.twitter.com/Xn609DQAq2
The chairs said: “The record of the call released by the White House confirms our worst fears: that the President abused his office by directly and repeatedly asking a foreign country to investigate his political rival and open investigations meant to help the President politically. ... Demonstrators dressed as trees and painted elaborate street murals as others with anti-Trump and anti-Pence signs milled about, listening to speakers and a live band with an accordian. They held up signs reading “Earth Above Profit” as they blockaded the entrances to Wells Fargo and Citibank, their arms linked together in tubes.
“Let’s be clear: no quid pro quo is required to betray our country. Trump asked a foreign government to interfere in our elections—that is betrayal enough.” Good morning SF Financial District, we are here to shut down the banks financing the climate crisis. #ClimateStrike pic.twitter.com/L6a32JT0Ec
Nancy Pelosi is reportedly huddling with fellow senior House Democrats to determine a path forward on the impeachment inquiry after the House speaker’s bombshell announcement yesterday. The action had the feel of a block party as the activists literally blocked traffic -- members of the Sunrise Movement made a roadblock with a fake pipeline and oil rig to keep the city’s iconic cable car from its destination. Organizers set up an empathy tent and a listening tent for passersby to talk about climate anxiety. Extinction Rebellion actions have been taking place around the world as part of the climate strike. In Los Angeles, activists shut down Sunset Boulevard on Monday. An International Rebellion is planned for 7 October.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi assembled her leadership team again just a little while ago to discuss the impeachment inquiry and begin to more clearly agree on a path forward. There have been lots of questions last night and today from Dems who feel the timeline and scope are unclear The acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, denied the Washington Post’s report that he threatened to resign if the White House tried to prevent him from freely testifying before Congress tomorrow on the whistleblower complaint.
Here’s where the day stands so far: I am committed to leading the Intelligence Community to address the diverse and complex threats facing our nation.”
The White House released a memo on Trump’s call with the leader of Ukraine showing that the president did push him to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Trump’s campaign manager said that the president’s reelection bid and the Republican National Committee have raised $5 million since Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment announcement yesterday.
Democratic lawmakers expressed shock over the memo’s contents, while emphasizing that it demonstrated the need to receive the original whistleblower complaint. (The White House memo, after all, is not a verbatim transcript of the conversation between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy.) In the 24 hours since news of Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment announcement, @realDonaldTrump’s campaign & @GOP have BLOWN OUT fundraising!✅$5 Million combined in 24 hrs✅Donors in all 50 statesHuge groundswell of support leading to Trump landslide in 2020!
But congressional Republicans are arguing the memo shows no direct quid pro quo between Trump and the Ukrainian president – insisting that Democrats are raising concerns about a “nothing call,” as Trump called it. The Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue attracted $4.6 million in donations yesterday, for comparison.
The blog is still covering fallout over the memo’s release, so stay tuned. Representative Stephanie Murphy – a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats – said she supported the formal impeachment inquiry announced by Nancy Pelosi yesterday.
The White House just offered a reminder to always double-check the recipients before hitting “send” on that office email. The White House's own memo of the President's call w/Ukraine confirms the President asked a foreign gov't to investigate his political opponent. This is an abuse of executive power. I support the House's ongoing impeachment inquiry to get the facts for the American people.
The White House appeared to accidentally send its talking points on the Ukraine call to House Democrats. The talking points encouraged the president’s allies to argue that there was no direct quid pro quo conveyed in the memo and that the whistleblower complaint was handled “by the book.” Hours before Pelosi’s announcement, Murphy, who represents a swing district in Florida, said she supported the creation of a separate select committee to investigate impeachment.
After realizing the error, the White House tried to recall the email to House Democrats. At the risk of stating the obvious: it seems a bit late for that. But that idea was opposed by some of her Democratic colleagues, including representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who argued that forming a select committee would take up too much time and cause friction with the panels already investigating Trump.
Oops - looks like the White House didn’t mean to blast their talking points to House Democrats - https://t.co/bSlhYgPpde pic.twitter.com/Ikd5OSlKBZ Murphy has now apparently come around to the idea of launching an impeachment inquiry with the committees already probing the president’s actions.
Trump quoted a CNN reporter to amplify his argument that the White House memo on the Ukraine call falls short of a quid pro quo. The White House press secretary pushed back against a Washington Post report that the acting director of national intelligence threatened to resign if he was not allowed to testify freely before Congress tomorrow on the whistleblower complaint.
“He (President Trump) didn’t specifically mention the explicit quid pro quo of…unless you investigate this…we’re going to withhold military aid to you.” Pamela Brown This is actually not true. And we would have gone on the record to say that if the @washingtonpost had given us more than 6 minutes (literally) to respond. https://t.co/5EBnBlShbK
But a CNN anchor noted the reporter went on to make the argument that Trump appeared to be alluding to US aid in his conversation with the Ukrainian president before suggesting investigations. The transmission of the whistleblower complaint to Congress will conflict with Trump’s press conference in New York, and there’s sure to be a lot of news from both.
The full @PamelaBrownCNN quote continued: "...but he did sort of tee up the request by saying, look, we’re very, the US is very helpful to Ukraine in comparison to European countries." https://t.co/yKJzH0ug6A The acting DNI will transmit the whistleblower complaint to Congress at 4 p.m.Also happening at 4 p.m.? President Trump's press conference here in NYC. https://t.co/66g5vmWoQD
In the tug of war between Trump insisting his conversation with the Ukrainian president was a “nothing call” and Democrats arguing it represents an abuse of power, Volodymyr Zelenskiy is trapped in the middle. Representative Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, said the whistleblower complaint that kicked off the Ukraine controversy will be transmitted to the panel in the next hour.
Andrew Roth reports from Kyiv on the Ukrainian president’s conundrum: NEW- BREAKING: GOP Rep. Devin Nunes just told the House chamber that the acting DNI will transmit the whistleblower complaint to Congress at or by 4p today.
Zelenskiy is squeezed between a US president urging him to dig up dirt on his political rival Joe Biden and a Democratic party that sees the White House’s pressure on him as a compelling argument to unseat Trump. The acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, reportedly threatened to resign if the White House attempted to stonewall his planned testimony about the whistleblower complaint before Congress tomorrow.
Ukraine, which counts on US political support and military aid to help repel its larger neighbour Russia, could end up being treated like a political football in the upcoming impeachment battle and the 2020 elections, even as it grapples with larger issues of security and reforms. The Washington Post reports:
‘I am afraid that Ukraine could become as toxic as Russia was during the Mueller investigation,’ said Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the Kyiv-based New Europe Center. ‘We understand that every move that Trump does in Ukraine will be seen through this scandal. Every ‘no’ to Ukraine will be seen as an act of revenge. Every ‘yes’ is a sign that he wants to prove people wrong.’ The officials said that Joseph Maguire, who was thrust into the top intelligence post last month, warned the White House that he was not willing to withhold information from Congress, where he is scheduled to testify in open and closed hearings on Thursday.
Representative Adam Schiff has concluded his news conference, in which he expressed shock about the contents of the White House memo and hope that the whistleblower would soon testify before the House intelligence committee. The move was in part designed to force the White House to make an explicit legal decision on whether it was going to assert executive privilege over the whistleblower complaint, which centers on a call that Trump made with the leader of Ukraine in late July.
Meanwhile, over in the other chamber of Congress, some Republican senators are complaining about the White House’s decision to release the memo. One Senate Republican called the move a “huge mistake,” according to the Washington Post. In essence, Maguire was serving notice that he intended to cooperate with lawmakers unless the White House moved forward with a legal case to prevent him from doing so, the officials said.
The Post reports: The meeting between Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, seemed ... tense, at best.
A top Senate GOP aide said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is expecting Wednesday’s closed-door lunch to be eventful and possibly tense as Republicans react to the transcript and debate their next step. ... A Washington Post reporter noted the body language of the two leaders:
Three Senate GOP aides said Wednesday that their bosses were grousing and frustrated by the White House’s decision and the sense that Republican lawmakers were being forced into the difficult position of defending Trump while contending with what many see as an alarming or at least problematic transcript. This body language. pic.twitter.com/kvdYRdjGu9
Of course, some of the president’s closest allies, including senator Lindsey Graham, are echoing Trump’s claim that the memo represents a “nothing call.” And a CNN global affairs analyst said the meeting was a “mess” for Zelenskiy:
Wow. Impeachment over this? What a nothing (non-quid pro quo) burger. Democrats have lost their minds when it comes to President @realDonaldTrump. That presser, as was expressed by Zelensky’s facial expressions, was a mess. He’s a political neophyte who ran an anti-corruption campaign, and now finds himself in an untenable position. He needs the US, is at hot war with Russia, and got caught badmouthing European countries.
Adam Schiff said the whistleblower who first raised concerns about Trump’s communications with Ukraine is “eager” to speak to the House intelligence committee. Joe Biden has released a statement on the White House’s memo saying that Trump’s Ukraine call represents “an affront to every single American and the founding values of our country.”
The California Democrat added that he hoped the whistleblower would be able to speak to his panel as soon as tomorrow. The Democratic presidential candidate calls on Congress to continue investigating the president’s actions, but the statement involves not a single mention of impeachment.
The whistleblower is reportedly conferring with the acting director of national intelligence to determine how to testify before Congress. Biden said: “Congress must pursue the facts and quickly take prompt action to hold Donald Trump accountable.
Adam Schiff dismissed Republicans’ argument that the White House memo reflects no direct quid pro quo in the conversation between Trump and the Ukrainian president. “In the meantime, I will continue to focus my campaign not on how Donald Trump abused his power to come after my family, but on how he has turned his back on America’s families.”
The House intelligence committee chairman noted that the Ukrainian president mentioned his country’s need for military assistance before Trump asked for “a favor” from the foreign leader. Biden said in a on-camera statement yesterday that he supported House Democrats moving forward with impeachment if the White House continued to obstruct their investigation of the Ukraine call. These latest comments don’t seem to be expanding much upon that initial statement.
Schiff added that a direct quid pro quo is not the bar for impeachable offenses. “There is no quid pro quo necessary to betray your country or your oath of office,” Schiff said. Trump asserted that Nancy Pelosi has “lost her way” in the wake of her impeachment announcement.
But he added that he thought one could read the conversation, as conveyed by the White House memo, as a quid pro quo. The president said he thought that the House speaker had been “taken over” by the “radical left.”
“Nancy Pelosi, as far as I’m concerned, unfortunately, she’s no longer the speaker of the House,” Trump said.