Advertisement
Supported by
The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates
An aide to Vice President Mike Pence is testifying privately as House impeachment investigators wrap up their fact-finding and release transcripts of their interviews so far.
Right Now
Jennifer Williams, a national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, has arrived at the Capitol for her private deposition.
Here’s what you need to know:
- A Pence aide is giving closed testimony on Capitol Hill while John Bolton is a no-show.
- Why Trump’s complaint that the impeachment inquiry provides him “NO DUE PROCESS” is misleading.
- Another diplomat described what he saw as a quid pro quo and Giuliani’s role.
- The impeachment investigation goes public next week
- Catch up on impeachment: What you need to know
A Pence aide is giving closed testimony on Capitol Hill while John Bolton is a no-show.
Jennifer Williams, a national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, appeared on Capitol Hill as planned on Thursday for a closed-door deposition in the House impeachment inquiry. Ms. Williams, a longtime State Department employee with expertise in Europe and Russia who is detailed to Mr. Pence’s national security staff, was among the officials listening to the July 25 call between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
Impeachment investigators will press Ms. Williams about what she thought about the July 25 call, as well as details about how much Mr. Pence knew about it and the extent of his understanding about the president’s attempts to pressure Ukraine to commit to investigations of his political rivals. Her testimony could draw Mr. Pence, who has defended the July 25 call, further into the inquiry. House Democrats subpoenaed Ms. Williams this morning after the White House attempted to keep her from testifying, according to an official working on the inquiry.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms. Williams has spent most of her adult life in government service, including 13 years at the State Department.
One of the witnesses who previously testified, Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, was also at the Capitol for a routine review of the transcript of his testimony. Impeachment investigators have been releasing transcripts of witness testimony in recent days, and are expected to continue on Thursday.
The president’s former national security adviser, John R. Bolton, did not show for his scheduled deposition on Thursday. Mr. Bolton’s lawyer had said he would not appear voluntarily, suggesting investigators would have to subpoena him.
Why Trump’s complaint that the impeachment inquiry provides him “NO DUE PROCESS” is misleading.
With the House Intelligence Committee preparing for the start of public impeachment hearings next week, Mr. Trump revived familiar complaints on Thursday aimed at portraying the investigative process as a “scam” denying him due process rights.
“I get NO LAWYER & NO DUE PROCESS,” Trump tweeted, describing the inquiry as a “Scam against the Republican Party and me” and some of those who have been interviewed as “Never Trumpers.”
Setting aside Mr. Trump’s unsubstantiated claim about the political leanings of career foreign service officers whom Democrats have called as witnesses, the president’s representation of the process was highly misleading.
First, Mr. Trump’s complaints rest on the false claim that next week’s hearings constitute a “trial” and therefore he should be able to mount a defense. They do not. The impeachment process, as laid out in the Constitution, involves both chambers of Congress. The House initiates the process and determines whether to bring charges against the president, somewhat like a prosecutor in a criminal case. Only then does the Senate hold a trial to determine guilt or innocence.
Right now, the House is still in a fact-finding phase akin to a grand jury investigation. Democrats argue that just as someone under investigation would never be allowed into a grand jury, Mr. Trump and his legal representatives should not be allowed to influence the present stage of the inquiry. House Republicans who sit on one of the three committees conducting the inquiry have also been allowed to take part in the fact-finding phase, and some have.
The impeachment inquiry is about to undergo a significant shift starting with next week’s public hearings. Under rules adopted last week by the House to govern the inquiry’s public phase, the Intelligence Committee plans to write and present a report of its findings to the House Judiciary Committee, which will then decide whether to bring impeachment charges against Mr. Trump. The rules say that once the process reaches the Judiciary Committee, the president and his lawyers will be able to present his defense to lawmakers, including cross-examining witnesses and recommending their own witnesses to be called. If the House votes to impeach Mr. Trump, he will almost certainly be given the same rights in the Senate’s trial.
— Nicholas Fandos
Another diplomat described what he saw as a quid pro quo and Giuliani’s role.
Impeachment investigators on Wednesday released the testimony of William B. Taylor Jr., the top American diplomat in Ukraine, who provided a detailed explanation of his understanding of a quid pro quo linking military aid for Ukraine and a White House meeting for its president to investigations of Mr. Trump’s political rivals. Mr. Taylor said that Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, came up with the plan to have Mr. Zelensky make a public pledge to conduct the investigations.
Much of the testimony across a swath of witnesses has focused on private meetings, communications, and detailed analysis of text messages, as impeachment investigators push to understand the context of the July 25 phone call and the shifting policies on Ukraine.
The impeachment investigation goes public next week
Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry are attempting to wrap up the closed-door portion of their investigation as they begin to make the case to the public that Mr. Trump should be impeached. The first public hearings will take place on Wednesday, with testimony by William B. Taylor Jr., the top diplomat in Ukraine, and George P. Kent, a career State Department official. The men have already testified in private sessions.
Catch up on impeachment: What you need to know
Mr. 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.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment inquiry 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.
Read about the Democrats’ rules to govern impeachment proceedings.
Advertisement
No comments:
Post a Comment