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| The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates | The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| William B. Taylor Jr., the top American diplomat in Ukraine, gave an arresting account on Tuesday of the back-channel diplomacy President Trump’s associates carried out with Ukrainian leaders. Contradicting the president, Mr. Taylor testified that there was a clear pressure campaign linking $391 million in suspended military assistance to demands that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son. He also stressed the recklessness of the strategy, and how the suspension of aid directly threatened Ukrainian lives. | William B. Taylor Jr., the top American diplomat in Ukraine, gave an arresting account on Tuesday of the back-channel diplomacy President Trump’s associates carried out with Ukrainian leaders. Contradicting the president, Mr. Taylor testified that there was a clear pressure campaign linking $391 million in suspended military assistance to demands that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son. He also stressed the recklessness of the strategy, and how the suspension of aid directly threatened Ukrainian lives. |
| Buoyed by Mr. Taylor’s explosive testimony, House Democrats will continue hearing testimony from others this week with promising evidence already in hand. | Buoyed by Mr. Taylor’s explosive testimony, House Democrats will continue hearing testimony from others this week with promising evidence already in hand. |
| Laura Cooper, a top Defense Department official overseeing Ukraine policy, arrived Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill, where she slipped wordlessly into the secure room where lawmakers are interviewing witnesses as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump. | Laura Cooper, a top Defense Department official overseeing Ukraine policy, arrived Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill, where she slipped wordlessly into the secure room where lawmakers are interviewing witnesses as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump. |
| Ms. Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, ignored reporters’ questions about whether she had come under subpoena. She arrived accompanied by a bevy of officers in uniform. | Ms. Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, ignored reporters’ questions about whether she had come under subpoena. She arrived accompanied by a bevy of officers in uniform. |
| Ms. Cooper is appearing despite the Defense Department’s announcement that it would not comply with a House subpoena to provide investigators documents related to the inquiry, and to Mr. Trump’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine. | Ms. Cooper is appearing despite the Defense Department’s announcement that it would not comply with a House subpoena to provide investigators documents related to the inquiry, and to Mr. Trump’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine. |
| About two dozen House Republicans, chanting “Let us in! Let us in!” tried to storm the secure room where a Defense Department official was supposed to be testifying in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, but said they were turned back by Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who was chairing the hearing. | |
| Lawmakers said they were protesting the closed-door nature of the sessions, which have produced a stream of compelling testimony from government witnesses, much of it confirming what a C.I.A. officer reported in the whistle-blower complaint that touched off the impeachment inquiry. | |
| Democrats have said they plan to hold open hearings after they finish deposing witnesses, and that they also intend to make complete transcripts of witness testimony public after they have been reviewed to determine whether they contain any classified material. Democrats argue that, lacking any defense of the substance of Mr. Trump’s actions, Republicans are attacking Democrats over process. | |
| The chaotic scene in the bowels of the Capitol unfolded as Laura Cooper, the official, was testifying. Just one day earlier, Mr. Trump had denounced the proceedings as “a lynching.” Now, Republicans were using the tactics of the civil rights movement to protest Democrats. | |
| Republicans said that when they arrived, Mr. Schiff, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, quickly adjourned the meeting. One of the protesters, Representative Debbie Lesko, Republican of Arizona, said a female staff member for the committee initially blocked their entry into the interview area. | |
| “When we kept demanding, asking who’s given authority to block us from getting in and they just said ‘Democratic leadership’ and nobody would come out of the hearing to tell us why,” she said. | |
| Shortly before the Republicans kicked off their protest, they staged a news conference to denounce Democrats for limiting attendance at the hearings to members of the Intelligence, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, which are leading the impeachment inquiry. Republicans at the news conference also demanded access to testimony transcripts. One by one, they hurled superlatives at the camera. | |
| Representative Andy Biggs, Republican of Kentucky, called the inquiry a “Soviet-style impeachment process.” Representative Mark Walker, Republican of Georgia, called it the product of “an angry mob, a twisted media machine and a twisted version of an impeachment process.” | |
| And Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, who led the group, proclaimed it a process of “secret interviews, selective leaks, weird theatrical performances of transcripts that never happened, and lies about contact with whistle-blowers.” | |
| The comment was a reference to Mr. Schiff, who mocked Mr. Trump while reading a transcript of the president’s phone call with the leader of Ukraine, and who has said he misspoke when he said that he should have been clearer when he said he had not had any contact with the whistle-blower despite the whistle-blower having had approached Mr. Schiff’s intelligence committee for guidance before the inquiry began. | |
| — Sheryl Gay Stolberg | |
| President Trump began another day assailing the impeachment inquiry, taking aim at the account delivered behind closed doors on Tuesday by Mr. Taylor, an envoy to Ukraine. In his testimony, Mr. Taylor tied Mr. Trump directly to an effort to withhold both military aid and a White House meeting from Ukraine until the Ukrainian president publicly announced that his country was investigating Democrats. | President Trump began another day assailing the impeachment inquiry, taking aim at the account delivered behind closed doors on Tuesday by Mr. Taylor, an envoy to Ukraine. In his testimony, Mr. Taylor tied Mr. Trump directly to an effort to withhold both military aid and a White House meeting from Ukraine until the Ukrainian president publicly announced that his country was investigating Democrats. |
| Mr. Trump appeared to be quoting Representative John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, from a morning segment on Fox News in claiming that there could be no quid pro quo with Ukraine if its leaders were unaware that the security assistance package was being blocked. | Mr. Trump appeared to be quoting Representative John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, from a morning segment on Fox News in claiming that there could be no quid pro quo with Ukraine if its leaders were unaware that the security assistance package was being blocked. |
| But Mr. Taylor’s account and those of other officials who have testified privately in the impeachment inquiry have made clear that the Ukrainians did, indeed, become aware that the aid package was being held back, and were deeply disturbed by it. In late August, a top Ukrainian official approached Mr. Taylor “very concerned about the matter.” | But Mr. Taylor’s account and those of other officials who have testified privately in the impeachment inquiry have made clear that the Ukrainians did, indeed, become aware that the aid package was being held back, and were deeply disturbed by it. In late August, a top Ukrainian official approached Mr. Taylor “very concerned about the matter.” |
| “I was embarrassed that I could give him no explanation for why it was withheld,” Mr. Taylor testified. Later, he added, Ukrainians became alarmed when he and other American officials would not respond to direct questions about the delayed aid. | “I was embarrassed that I could give him no explanation for why it was withheld,” Mr. Taylor testified. Later, he added, Ukrainians became alarmed when he and other American officials would not respond to direct questions about the delayed aid. |
| Read more: 6 Key Revelations of Taylor’s Opening Statement to Impeachment Investigators | Read more: 6 Key Revelations of Taylor’s Opening Statement to Impeachment Investigators |
| Imaad Zuberi, a California venture capitalist who has donated heavily to politicians of both parties, is expected to plead guilty to violating a range of tax and finance laws. Since 2016, Mr. Zuberi has been a major donor to President Trump’s inaugural committee and the Republican Party. | Imaad Zuberi, a California venture capitalist who has donated heavily to politicians of both parties, is expected to plead guilty to violating a range of tax and finance laws. Since 2016, Mr. Zuberi has been a major donor to President Trump’s inaugural committee and the Republican Party. |
| Should Mr. Zuberi cooperate with prosecutors, he could add another layer of detail to investigations into Mr. Trump’s inauguration, which is already facing scrutiny over whether foreigners illegally donated money in hopes of buying influence. | Should Mr. Zuberi cooperate with prosecutors, he could add another layer of detail to investigations into Mr. Trump’s inauguration, which is already facing scrutiny over whether foreigners illegally donated money in hopes of buying influence. |
| Read more: Major Backer of Trump and Democrats Will Plead Guilty to Illegal Donations | Read more: Major Backer of Trump and Democrats Will Plead Guilty to Illegal Donations |
| President Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Here’s a timeline of events since January. | President Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Here’s a timeline of events since January. |
| A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint. | A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint. |
| Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment proceeding in response to the whistle-blower’s complaint. Here’s how the impeachment process works and here’s why political influence in foreign policy matters. | Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment proceeding in response to the whistle-blower’s complaint. Here’s how the impeachment process works and here’s why political influence in foreign policy matters. |
| House committees have issued subpoenas to the White House, the Defense Department, the budget office and other agencies for documents related to the impeachment investigation. Here’s the evidence that has been collected so far. | House committees have issued subpoenas to the White House, the Defense Department, the budget office and other agencies for documents related to the impeachment investigation. Here’s the evidence that has been collected so far. |