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| Democrats to unveil articles of impeachment against Trump – live | Democrats to unveil articles of impeachment against Trump – live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| House Democrats to hold press conference at 9am ET to unveil articles of impeachment over abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – follow live | House Democrats to hold press conference at 9am ET to unveil articles of impeachment over abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – follow live |
| In the aftermath of the Department of Justice report about the Russia investigation Trump is also cross, oddly enough, about the FBI: | |
| As the Washington Post reports, Wray issued a statement on Monday in which he “said he had ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the report’s recommendations, adding that he would not hesitate to take ‘appropriate disciplinary action if warranted’.” | |
| Trump also tweeted while apparently watching Fox News, writing: “You have to look at the 17 instances of misconduct cited in the Report, they are very bad. The FISA Court” – which approved a surveillance request on Trump aide Carter Page – “was clearly taken for a ride on this, a failure of the FBI up and fown [soc] the chain of command. It’s about as strong a medicine as I’ve seen in a report of this kind in a very long time.” | |
| Wray spoke to ABC on Monday, pushed back on the theory that Ukraine intervened in the 2016 election, a line being pushed by Trump supporters as impeachment continues. | |
| Wray said: “We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election.” | |
| The president has fired an FBI director before – James Comey, in May 2017, in perhaps the single most consequential act of Trump’s presidency, prior of course to the point when he found himself staring down the barrel of impeachment. | |
| Firing Comey didn’t go well for Trump. So would he move against Wray, a man he appointed? Seems unlikely, but then so does everything in America under Trump, shortly before it happens. | |
| In his Tuesday morning tweets, Trump also took aim at some familiar characters from the Russia investigation: | |
| Andrew McCabe is a former deputy director of the FBI, fired by Trump. John Brennan was director of the CIA under Barack Obama, James Clapper director of national intelligence. All have become stringent critics of Trump. | |
| The “lovers Lisa & Peter” are Lisa Page, a former FBI lawyer, and Peter Strzok, a former FBI agent, who had a relationship. Strzok was fired from the bureau in the fallout from the Comey firing. Page left. Here’s what she said about that last week: | |
| …and we have word from the president about how he feels on all of this: | |
| He has a point about the economy, which is very strong indeed if not necessarily the strongest ever but we’ll let him off due to the uncharacteristic “perhaps” and the political point that the economy is bound to be a huge part of the election fight next year. | |
| The “NOTHING wrong” claim is, of course, harder to let pass. | |
| Republicans agree with their president, contending that pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a domestic electoral adversary is not wrong. In a briefing in September, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters to “get over it”. | |
| Here’s some video of that, from CNN: | |
| On the flip side, Democrats contend that Trump’s behaviour towards Ukraine – never mind the alleged obstruction of Congress – was very wrong. | |
| The lawyer Barry Berke put it this way at yesterday’s hearing: | |
| Hence the looming presser. | |
| Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of another momentous day in American politics. | Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of another momentous day in American politics. |
| A day after a judiciary committee hearing marked by outbursts and attempted obstruction from Republicans, House Democrats will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill at 9am, to unveil articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. | A day after a judiciary committee hearing marked by outbursts and attempted obstruction from Republicans, House Democrats will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill at 9am, to unveil articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. |
| Committee chairs Adam Schiff (intelligence), Jerry Nadler (judiciary), Eliot Engel (foreign affairs), Maxine Waters (financial services) and Carolyn Maloney (oversight) will attend. It’s intriguing to note that they are all from either California or New York, big blue states. Expect pushback from Republicans around the idea that Trump’s impeachment is a push against the “real” America, read red or Republican, which elected him in 2016. | Committee chairs Adam Schiff (intelligence), Jerry Nadler (judiciary), Eliot Engel (foreign affairs), Maxine Waters (financial services) and Carolyn Maloney (oversight) will attend. It’s intriguing to note that they are all from either California or New York, big blue states. Expect pushback from Republicans around the idea that Trump’s impeachment is a push against the “real” America, read red or Republican, which elected him in 2016. |
| The articles of impeachment, which will be voted on in the House before any Senate trial, will concern abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. | The articles of impeachment, which will be voted on in the House before any Senate trial, will concern abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. |
| Trump is being impeached over his attempts to have Ukraine investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, and a conspiracy theory about Ukrainian intervention in the 2016 US election, rather than Russian. The obstruction charge relates to the White House’s refusal to let senior aides to Trump testify to the impeachment inquiry. | Trump is being impeached over his attempts to have Ukraine investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, and a conspiracy theory about Ukrainian intervention in the 2016 US election, rather than Russian. The obstruction charge relates to the White House’s refusal to let senior aides to Trump testify to the impeachment inquiry. |
| Trump began the day early, tweeting with characteristic glee about a report released on Monday by the inspector general of the justice department, into the FBI’s handling of the investigation into links between Trump and Moscow and Russian election interference on his behalf. | Trump began the day early, tweeting with characteristic glee about a report released on Monday by the inspector general of the justice department, into the FBI’s handling of the investigation into links between Trump and Moscow and Russian election interference on his behalf. |
| Each side of the aisle saw what it wanted to see in the report: Democrats hailed the conclusion that there was no political bias in the launching of the investigation, Republicans focused in on findings of procedural errors by the FBI. | Each side of the aisle saw what it wanted to see in the report: Democrats hailed the conclusion that there was no political bias in the launching of the investigation, Republicans focused in on findings of procedural errors by the FBI. |
| On the side of all that, Democrats seem set to give Trump a political win by agreeing to his new United States Mexico Canada trade agreement, or USMCA. Some opponents or critics of Trump wonder why he should be given a political win on this day of all days. Others suggest making a deal with the president will message well in 2020 races fought by moderate Democrats, showing that the party is not all about partisan warfare. | On the side of all that, Democrats seem set to give Trump a political win by agreeing to his new United States Mexico Canada trade agreement, or USMCA. Some opponents or critics of Trump wonder why he should be given a political win on this day of all days. Others suggest making a deal with the president will message well in 2020 races fought by moderate Democrats, showing that the party is not all about partisan warfare. |
| Above all that, Trump is meeting the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, at the White House. One means to say… why not? | Above all that, Trump is meeting the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, at the White House. One means to say… why not? |
| The press conference is coming at 9am, anyway. In the meantime, here’s some select reading from yesterday, a momentous day in US political history: | The press conference is coming at 9am, anyway. In the meantime, here’s some select reading from yesterday, a momentous day in US political history: |
| Here’s Julian Borger on the judiciary hearing: | Here’s Julian Borger on the judiciary hearing: |
| … and Tom McCarthy on what comes next: | … and Tom McCarthy on what comes next: |
| … and Luke Harding on an extraordinary part of the DoJ IG’s report: | … and Luke Harding on an extraordinary part of the DoJ IG’s report: |