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| Trump calls impeachment inquiry a 'lynching' as key witness testifies – live | Trump calls impeachment inquiry a 'lynching' as key witness testifies – live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Trump. | |
| The longtime diplomat wrote in a text last month to Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, that it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.” | |
| House Democrats hope Taylor can shed light on whether Trump held up military aid to Ukraine specifically to pressure officials there to investigate Joe Biden. | |
| Half of Americans believe that Trump should be impeached and removed from office, according to a CNN/SSRS poll released this morning. | |
| The results showed that 50 percent of Americans would support Trump’s removal, compared to 43 percent of Americans who would oppose it. That level of support marks a 13-point increase since late April, following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted report. | |
| In comparison, CNN’s polling never surpassed 30 percent when measuring support of Bill Clinton’s impeachment, a Bloomberg News reporter noted. | |
| It’s still early in the process but one thing is already clear — the politics look nothing like the Clinton impeachment, despite how much that fear has haunted Democrats all year. | |
| Reactions are rolling in to Trump’s description of the impeachment inquiry as a “lynching,” and they are unsurprisingly furious. | |
| From the president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: | |
| A lynching?! 4,743 people were lynched in the US between 1882 - 1968, incl. 3,446 African Americans. Lynchings were crimes against humanity and an ugly part of our nation’s history of racial violence and brutalitySickened to see Trump’s gross misappropriation of this term today pic.twitter.com/L8Oi9m8xRk | |
| From an Atlantic staff writer: | |
| Trump has inspired multiple acts of racist violence and his referring to impeachment as a “lynching” is risible. But worse will be his toadies adopting this inversion of past and present, with the nation’s most powerful racist as a *victim* of racist violence, as a talking point. pic.twitter.com/EaXx3bUUUQ | |
| Representative Jim Clyburn, Democrats’ House majority whip and a former chairman of the congressional black caucus, urged Trump to “know the history of that word.” | |
| Clyburn on Trump calling impeachment investigation a “lynching”: “That is one word that no president ought to apply to himself.”“I’m not a just a politician...I’m a product of the South. I know the history of that word.” | |
| Good morning, live blog readers! | Good morning, live blog readers! |
| It is a big day in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who took over the the post after the ouster of Maria Yovanovitch, is expected to testify at 9:30 a.m. E.T., and he could provide critical information on whether military aid to the country was held up over Trump’s demand for an investigation into the Democrats. | It is a big day in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who took over the the post after the ouster of Maria Yovanovitch, is expected to testify at 9:30 a.m. E.T., and he could provide critical information on whether military aid to the country was held up over Trump’s demand for an investigation into the Democrats. |
| In a September 9 text message to Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, Taylor wrote: “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.” | In a September 9 text message to Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, Taylor wrote: “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.” |
| A number of House Democrats believe that Taylor’s testimony could provide a smoking gun on the question of whether Trump tried to pressure a foreign power to investigate one of his political rivals, Joe Biden. | A number of House Democrats believe that Taylor’s testimony could provide a smoking gun on the question of whether Trump tried to pressure a foreign power to investigate one of his political rivals, Joe Biden. |
| The president is clearly worried about Taylor’s testimony, if his morning Twitter feed is any indication. Trump lashed out against the investigation in a series of tweets, even referring to the probe as a “lynching.” | The president is clearly worried about Taylor’s testimony, if his morning Twitter feed is any indication. Trump lashed out against the investigation in a series of tweets, even referring to the probe as a “lynching.” |
| So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here - a lynching. But we will WIN! | So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here - a lynching. But we will WIN! |
| Trump’s use of a term that invokes centuries of racist violence against African Americans will certainly incense many Democrats, and it will may also frustrate some of the congressional Republicans who privately say they are growing tired of defending the president’s most controversial comments and decisions. | Trump’s use of a term that invokes centuries of racist violence against African Americans will certainly incense many Democrats, and it will may also frustrate some of the congressional Republicans who privately say they are growing tired of defending the president’s most controversial comments and decisions. |
| Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on: | Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on: |
| Trump will have lunch with secretary of state Mike Pompeo at 12:45 p.m. E.T. | Trump will have lunch with secretary of state Mike Pompeo at 12:45 p.m. E.T. |
| Fortune will continue its Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, where Trump’s former homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, will be interviewed at 2:35 p.m. E.T. Nielsen’s expected appearance has set off controversy, given her instrumental role in the migrant family separation crisis. | Fortune will continue its Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, where Trump’s former homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, will be interviewed at 2:35 p.m. E.T. Nielsen’s expected appearance has set off controversy, given her instrumental role in the migrant family separation crisis. |
| House Republican leadership will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. E.T. | House Republican leadership will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. E.T. |
| That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned. | That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned. |