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Trump ordered to pay $2m for charity foundation misuse – live Trump ordered to pay $2m for charity foundation misuse – live
(32 minutes later)
Lawsuit exposed ‘shocking pattern of illegality’ in Trump’s personal charity, while John Bolton fails to show for deposition on Capitol Hill – follow liveLawsuit exposed ‘shocking pattern of illegality’ in Trump’s personal charity, while John Bolton fails to show for deposition on Capitol Hill – follow live
Kent’s testimony nails down the broad planks of Trump’s plot in Ukraine familiar from previous testimony: Giuliani and diplomats, especially Sondland and Volker, were chasing Ukraine to announce investigations into Biden, the discovery of which shocked career diplomats as much as did the announcement that “the acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, at the direction of the President had put a hold on all security assistance to the Ukraine.”
Notably, Kent turned on his boss, secretary of state Mike Pompeo, after Pompeo sent what Kent thought was an inaccurate letter accusing Congress of attempting to bully, intimidate, and threaten career foreign service officers.
“And I was one of two career foreign service officers which had received letters from the committees, and I had not felt bullied, threatened, and intimidated,” Kent said. He notified top state department lawyers and the director of the foreign service that what Pompeo said was wrong.
Finally, Kent documented the Trump plot unfolding in Ukraine at the time, with a 16 August memo. “I wrote a note to the file saying that I had concerns that there was an effort to initiate politically motivated prosecutions that were injurious to the rule of law, both Ukraine and the U.S,” Kent said.
Here are top lines from the Kent testimony, as selected by the committees:
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was recalled because Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman, and others “started reaching out actively to undermine Ambassador Yovanovitch.”
Yuriy Lutsenko made a private trip to New York to meet with Rudy Giuliani in order to “throw mud” at State Department officials, including Mr. Kent and Ambassador Yovanovitch.
Mr. Giuliani was “almost unmissable” as the “campaign of slander” against Ambassador Yovanovitch and others unfolded in Ukraine and the United States.
The State Department reached “the breaking point of our disillusionment with Yuriy Lutsenko,” the Ukrainian prosecutor general, when they discovered he was “essentially colluding with a corrupt official” to undermine a legitimate investigation into fake passports.
Mr. Kent unsuccessfully pressed the State Department to issue a “clear statement of support for Ambassador Yovanovitch” after a series of “falsehoods” and “Tweets by members of the Presidential family.”
Ambassador Gordon Sondland suggested that Ambassador Yovanovitch “do a video or tweet declaring full support for the foreign policy of President Trump.”
The United States “had our Ambassador just removed through actions by corrupt Ukrainians in Ukraine as well as private American citizens back here.”
Rudy Giuliani “had been carrying on a campaign for several months full of lies and incorrect information,” and his “assertions and allegations against former Ambassador Yovanovitch were without basis, untrue, period.”
After Rudy Giuliani attacked Ambassador Taylor, Under Secretary of State David Hale warned him to “keep my head down and lower my profile in Ukraine.”
Ambassador Kurt Volker, Ambassador Sondland, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry asserted that they “had the mandate to take the lead on coordinating efforts to engage the new Ukrainian leadership.”
Ambassador Volker had a private discussion with President Zelensky “to underscore the importance of the messaging that Zelensky needed to provide to President Trump about his willingness to be cooperative.”
Ambassador Volker said “he planned to start reaching out to” Rudy Giuliani because “it was clear that the former mayor had influence on the President in terms of the way the President thought of Ukraine.”
Ambassador Volker was “thinking tactically” about interacting with Rudy Giuliani, but Mr. Kent was “concerned strategically.”
There was “great confusion” during a call on July 18, 2019, when an OMB official announced that “the acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, at the direction of the President had put a hold on all security assistance to the Ukraine.”
After the call between Presidents Trump and Zelensky on July 25, 2019, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was “uncomfortable” and said “he could not share the majority of what was discussed because of the very sensitive nature of what was discussed.”
In August 2019, Mr. Kent had “growing concerns that individuals were pushing communications with Ukrainians that had not been discussed and endorsed in the formal policy process.”
With respect to President Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Biden, Mr. Kent stated: “I do not believe the U.S. should ask other countries to engage in politically associated investigations and prosecutions.”
Asking Ukraine to investigate someone for political reasons “goes against everything that we are trying to promote in post-Soviet states for the last 28 years, which is the promotion of the rule of law.”
After Ambassador Volker raised with a senior aide to President Zelensky that President Trump and Rudy Giuliani were interested in initiating investigations, Mr. Kent said, “that’s wrong, and we shouldn’t be doing that as a matter of U.S. policy.”
In August 16, 2019, Mr. Kent memorialized these conversations in a memorandum, in which he expressed “concerns that there was an effort to initiate politically motivated prosecutions that were injurious to the rule of law, both Ukraine and U.S.”
In September 2019, according to Ambassador Sondland, “POTUS wanted nothing less than President Zelensky to go to microphone and say investigations, Biden, and Clinton.”
Ambassador Sondland was “pushing” for President Zelensky to “send a public signal of announcing a willingness to pursue investigations” in order to “clear the way for both the White House visit as well as the resumption or the clearing of the administrative hold on security assistance,” despite claims by Mr. Morrison and Mr. Sondland that they did not believe the issues were “linked”.
The State Department delayed in issuing internal instructions to collect documents in response to the Committees’ September 9 or September 23 letters, or the September 27 subpoena.
On October 1, 2019, Mr. Kent alerted the Director General of the Foreign Service and the Acting Legal Adviser of the State Department that Secretary Pompeo’s letter to the Committees, sent earlier that day, was inaccurate.
On October 3, 2019, Mr. Kent raised concerns with State Department officials about their delay in responding to the Committees’ subpoena and inaccuracies in Secretary Pompeo’s October 1, 2019, letter to the Committees.
Mr. Kent produced all relevant documents in his possession to the State Department.
Schiff says Kent corroborates “numerous” other accounts... and he documented it.
The impeachment committees have released a transcript of the deposition of George P Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state who was nominally in charge of Ukraine policy under Trump, but who soon found himself sidelined.
Kent is said to have objected strongly to the attack on ambassador Yovanovitch and to the use of an irregular policy channel led by Rudy Giuliani to lead US policy in the region.
The transcript is here. We’re reading it now.
CNN is reporting on an impeachment timeline that’s shaping up in the House.
Looks about right to us:
NB: Bill Clinton was impeached on 19 December 1998.
Donald Trump might have failed to drag Matt Bevin over the line in Kentucky.Donald Trump might have failed to drag Matt Bevin over the line in Kentucky.
But he darn well helped Sean Spicer get into the quarterfinals of this season’s Dancing With the Stars.But he darn well helped Sean Spicer get into the quarterfinals of this season’s Dancing With the Stars.
Spicer, a bald liar who used to be the press secretary, has just sent out an email announcing the big news. As Spicer competed – can we use that word? – on Monday night, Trump tweeted to ask people to vote for him.Spicer, a bald liar who used to be the press secretary, has just sent out an email announcing the big news. As Spicer competed – can we use that word? – on Monday night, Trump tweeted to ask people to vote for him.
It worked, apparently. Or maybe it was the dancing.It worked, apparently. Or maybe it was the dancing.
Williams, the Pence aide, is done testifying, The Hill reports:Williams, the Pence aide, is done testifying, The Hill reports:
A judge in New York orders President Donald Trump to pay $2 million for misusing his charitable foundation, the AP reports.A judge in New York orders President Donald Trump to pay $2 million for misusing his charitable foundation, the AP reports.
In December 2018, a second New York judge signed off on a deal to shut down Trump’s personal charity after a lawsuit exposed a “shocking pattern of illegality”.In December 2018, a second New York judge signed off on a deal to shut down Trump’s personal charity after a lawsuit exposed a “shocking pattern of illegality”.
Trump had used the charity to pay off legal settlements within his business and even to buy a painting of himself to hang in one of his golf clubs.Trump had used the charity to pay off legal settlements within his business and even to buy a painting of himself to hang in one of his golf clubs.
UPDATE:UPDATE:
From a press release from the New York attorney general:From a press release from the New York attorney general:
Read further:Read further:
Election Day 2019 is over, but Michelle Obama is still trying to get out the vote, reports the Associated Press:Election Day 2019 is over, but Michelle Obama is still trying to get out the vote, reports the Associated Press:
Andrew Yang: parent, patriot, not a politician. The longshot Democratic presidential candidate has a TV ad out.Andrew Yang: parent, patriot, not a politician. The longshot Democratic presidential candidate has a TV ad out.
Come for the helicopter shots of the Golden Gate bridge, stay for the villain cameo by Mark Zuckerberg;Come for the helicopter shots of the Golden Gate bridge, stay for the villain cameo by Mark Zuckerberg;
The impeachment witnesses continue to review their depositions. There are enough memories jogging in DC this week to start a track club.The impeachment witnesses continue to review their depositions. There are enough memories jogging in DC this week to start a track club.
Desperate to ensure the flow of military aid from the United States, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy had decided to go on CNN and announce the investigations Donald Trump wanted, but at the last minute the plan was cancelled with the exposure in the United States of the Trump plot, the New York Times reports, drawing on Ukrainian sources:Desperate to ensure the flow of military aid from the United States, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy had decided to go on CNN and announce the investigations Donald Trump wanted, but at the last minute the plan was cancelled with the exposure in the United States of the Trump plot, the New York Times reports, drawing on Ukrainian sources:
The report adds:The report adds:
An entertaining outtake from last night’s Trump rally in Louisiana:An entertaining outtake from last night’s Trump rally in Louisiana:
Law prof and impeachment expert Ross Garber points out that Schiff’s statement of the parameters of the inquiry, mentioned earlier, read a lot like draft articles of impeachment:Law prof and impeachment expert Ross Garber points out that Schiff’s statement of the parameters of the inquiry, mentioned earlier, read a lot like draft articles of impeachment:
Washington Post editor Marty Baron has replied to an attack by Trump on reporters who wrote a story about the attorney general refusing a Trump request to go before cameras and say Trump’s Zelenskiy phone call was totally copacetic, law-wise:
Did you catch Donald Trump Jr shilling for his new book this morning on The View?
A top aide to Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer in Iowa has privately offered campaign contributions to local politicians in exchange for endorsing his White House bid, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the conversations, the Associated Press reports:
Tom Courtney, a former Democratic state senator from southeastern Iowa who’s running for reelection to his old seat, told The Associated Press the financial offer “left a bad taste in my mouth”:
In compliance with rules passed last week by the House, Intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff has notified Republicans of a Saturday deadline – 11:20am Saturday, to be exact – to suggest witnesses to participate in public impeachment hearings starting next week.
There is plenty of reason to expect that Republicans will seek to call witnesses designed not to illuminate the inquiry but to create a public circus. Trump champion Jim Jordan, who does not sit on the relevant committee (yet), told reporters he wanted to hear from the whistleblower, who was not a direct witness to the alleged misconduct, but who is the target of an attempt by Trump to cast the inquiry as partisan.
But in compliance with the rules, Schiff has now informed Republicans that each witness request “must be accompanied by a detailed written justification of the relevance to the inquiry of the testimony of each requested witness.”
Here are the inquiry’s parameters as laid out by Schiff:
The House intelligence committee has released a statement saying that former national security adviser John Bolton, a no-show for testimony today, informed the committee that he “would take us to court if we subpoenaed him.”
“The White House instruction that [Bolton] not appear will add to the evidence of the President’s obstruction of Congress”, the intelligence committee said in a statement obtained by BuzzFeed.
But the overarching question of whether the impeachment inquiry will feature a Bolton cameo does not appear to be resolved yet. Bolton informed the committee he would be willing to testify if a court clears the way, the Washington Post reports, citing “people familiar with his views”:
Previous witnesses have testified that Bolton strongly objected to the mixing of US national security objectives in Ukraine with Donald Trump’s domestic political objectives in 2020.
Here is a juicy line from the Post report: if he testified, Bolton “is expected to confirm their statements and describe his conversations with Trump.”
This public airing of his willingness-in-principle to confirm the most damning testimony against Trump, juxtaposed with his not actually appearing before congress today, scans like a not-so-subtle demonstration by Bolton to Trump of the power Bolton holds here. But what does Bolton want...
Facing a crisis of faith in his leadership in the state department after his perceived failure to protect career diplomats from attacks by the president, Rudy Giuliani and others, secretary of state Mike Pompeo has denied a claim by his former aide that he ignored a request for a statement of support for ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.
Former Pompeo adviser Michael McKinley testified on 16 October that he had approached Pompeo three times about a statement of support for Yovanovitch, who was the target of a smear campaign in Ukraine led by Giuliani, and who was also singled out by Trump in his 25 July phone call with the Ukrainian president.
Here’s a snippet of McKinley’s testimony including a brief Q&A:
Pompeo, who is in Germany, has just flatly denied McKinley’s sworn testimony, the Washington Post reports:
Pompeo has a history of misleading statements in the impeachment inquiry so far. When first asked about the Trump-Zelenskiy call, which he had listened to, Pompeo feigned ignorance.
Trump is still rage-tweeting about the Washington Post scoop that attorney general William Barr refused a Trump request to go on TV and say a call between Trump and the Ukrainian president definitely, positively did not rise to the level of criminal conduct.
“We both deny this story, which they knew before they wrote it,” Trump tweeted.
Barr appears not to have denied the story, except in the dreamscape of Trump’s Twitter, where anything truly is possible.
Here’s more than six minutes of footage of vice president Mike Pence officially throwing Donald Trump’s name in the hat for reelection in New Hampshire.
“Four more years,” chant the crowd:
A no-show on Capitol Hill this morning: John Bolton, the former national security adviser. Bolton’s testimony was requested though not subpoenaed by congressional committees leading the impeachment inquiry.
Other witnesses have told the impeachment committees that Bolton vocally objected to the mixing of US national security priorities in Ukraine with Donald Trump’s political priorities in 2020.
Bolton ended one meeting with Ukrainians and ambassador Gordon Sondland abruptly, saying “We don’t do politics here,” according to testimony. He has been quoted as calling Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s emissary, a “hand grenade”, and the plot Giuliani advanced a “drug deal.”
In which Hillary Clinton twice in a row does not say she’s not running for president (and then tweets the footage):
She does not even say the line about “we’ve got a really deep and talented field”.