House launches Trump impeachment inquiry

You can follow our live coverage of the whistleblower’s complaint and the Acting Director of National Intelligence’s testimony here.

A whistleblower complaint, which includes allegations about President Trump’s conduct, was hand-delivered to Capitol Hill this afternoon for lawmakers to review.

Few details have been released about the complaint, which was reviewed by lawmakers in a secured room.

Here’s what we know and don’t so far about the complaint and the whistleblower:

Jay Sekulow, an attorney for President Trump, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that there was no quid pro quo when it came to the July call between the President and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Sekulow made the comment tonight following the release of a White House transcript that shows Trump urging Zelensky to reopen an investigation into his potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

Watch for more:

CNN’s Anderson Cooper compared the ongoing controversy surrounding President Trump and the rough transcript of a call with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to a famous scene from “The Godfather.”

In the rough transcript from a call made in July, Trump repeatedly pushed for Zelensky to reopen an investigation of his potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, and asked the Ukrainian leader to work with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr on the issue.

Cooper compared Giuliani to Robert Duvall’s character Tom Hagen, who is the godfather’s lawyer and consigliere. The specific comparison was made to when the godfather, played by Marlon Brando, sends Hagen to Los Angeles to persuade the head of a film studio to give his godson a role in a movie.

At the end of this scene from “The Godfather,” the head of the film studio wakes to find the severed head of his prized stallion in his bed.

Watch the moment:

The anonymous whistleblower, who filed a complaint with the intelligence community inspector general that includes allegations about President Trump’s conduct, will not appear before lawmakers Thursday, a source familiar with the situation told CNN. 

The whistleblower is also not scheduled to appear before Congress, the source added.

The source said that the process is underway to ensure the lawyers have access, if needed, to the relevant classified information.

What we know: The whistleblower has tentatively agreed to meet with Congressional lawmakers, according to correspondence obtained by CNN.

The whistleblower will only meet on the condition that Joseph Maguire, the acting director of the National Intelligence, approves appropriate security clearances for the individual’s legal counsel so that they can accompany their client, the correspondence added.

More than 200 lawmakers — almost entirely Democrats — are calling to start an impeachment inquiry, the first step in a lengthy and likely divisive process.

There are at least 215 House Democrats who’ve made public comments advocating at least for starting the impeachment inquiry process, according to a CNN count.

The total number of representatives who have called for an inquiry is 216. (Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who has since become an independent, has also called for proceedings.)

What you need to know: The number of House Democrats who at least support launching an impeachment inquiry is quickly approaching the 218 votes needed to impeach Trump in the House, though it is unknown if all those who are in favor of an impeachment inquiry will vote to do so.

The anonymous whistleblower who filed a complaint with the intelligence community inspector general, which includes allegations about President Trump’s conduct, has tentatively agreed to meet with Congressional lawmakers, according to correspondence obtained by CNN.

The whistleblower will only meet on the condition that Joseph Maguire, the acting director of the National Intelligence, approves appropriate security clearances for the individual’s legal counsel so that they can accompany their client, the correspondence added.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff wrote a letter to Maguire making the request today after the whistleblower’s lawyers agreed to meet with lawmakers if that condition is met and requested assistance in expediting approval from the acting DNI.

CNN reported Tuesday that the whistleblower’s legal counsel “wrote to the Acting Director of National Intelligence to request specific guidance as to the appropriate security practices to permit a meeting, if needed, with the Members of the Intelligence Oversight Committees.”

Schiff’s letter comes after the whistleblower’s legal counsel wrote to the committee today reiterating the conditions of a possible meeting between lawmakers and their client.

Senators and House members who had access to the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, to review the whistleblower complaint are finished for the night. 

The complaint has been described by Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley as “deeply disturbing.” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, on the other hand, has read it and said she did “not support impeachment of President Trump.”

Several Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee told CNN they want quick action on an articles of impeachment resolution, hoping a vote could happen as soon as October.

The fear, Democrats say, is that the longer the Ukraine controversy lingers, the more likely it is to die down — and the public could lose interest. Some say that’s what happened with the Mueller report.

Members of the committee are strategizing with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the time frame. It’s still unclear how quickly they will move because the Ukraine probe, which is being led by the House Intelligence Committee, could take time to unearth more documents and interview witnesses.

CNN reported earlier today that Pelosi wants a narrow inquiry focused on Ukraine.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, said she has read the whistleblower complaint and does “not support impeachment of President Trump.”

A White House official said the declassification of the whistleblower complaint is still underway. 

The official did not offer a timetable for when that process will be completed.

Here’s what we have learned so far about the whistleblower complaint from congressional sources:

Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat on both the Judiciary and Intel committees, said that “it’s too early to tell” if the whistleblower complaint changes the calculus on impeachment. 

Swalwell cautioned that there is “an urgency here,” adding that if the President is working with the Ukrainians, then those are “potentially impeachable offenses.”

“He continues to run a lawless administration,” Swalwell said. 

He also thanked the whistleblower for coming forward through the proper channels, but said that this doesn’t mean he or she should step forward publicly. 

The House of Representatives voted tonight to approve a resolution calling on the Trump administration to release a whistleblower complaint to Congress that has ignited a backlash against the President, even though lawmakers have now been given access to the complaint in a secure location on Capitol Hill.

The vote was 421 to 0 with two lawmakers voting present.

House Democrats announced plans to vote on the resolution yesterday — the same day that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry — in the wake of outrage over reports that the President pressured a foreign leader in an effort to target a political rival. It was not clear until late today when the complaint would be transmitted to the Hill, if at all.

The whistleblower complaint about Trump’s communications with Ukraine was hand delivered this afternoon to Capitol Hill for lawmakers to review.

The Senate adopted by unanimous consent its own resolution yesterday authored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urging the administration to provide the full complaint to Congress.

Earlier today, ahead of the final vote on the resolution, the House adopted an amendment to its resolution offered by Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania to make it identical to the resolution passed the day before by the Senate.

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, stopped to talk to reporters after leaving the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, saying “there’s obviously some very troubling things here.”

He also roundly criticized the “partisan tribalism” coming from both parties and President Trump as opposed to a slow, deliberative approach.

Sasse said Democrats prematurely used the term “impeach” and said Republicans “ought not just circle the wagons.”

Read his full remarks:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “more worried about what happened” after reading the whistleblower complaint this afternoon.

Schumer made these comments after emerging from the Senate Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF.

Democrats reading the document say it backs up their commitment to their investigation. The move comes just hours after the White House released a rough transcript of a July 25 phone call that shows President Trump repeatedly pressed the leader of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

The conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is included in the whistleblower complaint, a source familiar with the situation said last week.

Trump has downplayed the significance of the complaint, claiming the whistleblower is partisan and his conversations with foreign leaders are “appropriate.”

During a news conference in New York, the President claimed the individual — who has not been identified — “didn’t have any first class or first rate or second tier information from what I understand.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he thought the Trump administration would only publish the US side of the call. 

Zelensky said he did not speak with President Trump before the release of the transcript from the July 25 call.

“I didn’t discuss it beforehand with Trump, we just shook hands yesterday,” Zelensky said. “I’m not against it… If a legal permission is required, I just don’t know the format.” 

Democratic Sen. Mike Quigley said he has reviewed the whistleblower complaint released this afternoon, calling it “deeply disturbing.”

Quigley, speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this evening, said the complaint is “extraordinarily detailed” and “very, very well done.” 

The Illinois senator went on to say that he thinks the complaint “reinforces the concerns that what we previously learned and I think it is a blueprint for what we still need to know.”

“It lays out exactly what Congress needs to investigate,” Quigley said.

Watch here:

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters he prefers conversations with foreign leaders to remain private, but said he is “not afraid” if they become public.

He went on to say conversations might entail geopolitical topics and plans not intended for the public.

President Trump said the White House transcript that was released today was from the second call he had with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and that he would release the first phone call.

Trump also addressed why he released the transcript from July 25:

President Trump brought up Hillary Clinton and the 2016 presidential election when he was asked to explain why it is appropriate for an American president to ask a foreign leader for information about a political rival.

The reporter started by asking Trump to explain the appropriateness of that behavior and what he would have said if had discovered if former President Barack Obama had asked a foreign leader for information about him during a presidential campaign.

Trump started his answer by talking about a number of books about the subject.

“They’ve hurt this country very badly and no other president should have to go through what I’ve gone through,” he said.

Trump then again denied any wrongdoing.

“I didn’t do it. There was no quid pro quo. But there was with Biden and there was with these senators,” he said.

Trump went on to talk about his polling numbers and the 2016 presidential election.

“If you go by the college, electoral college, that is a much different race than running popular vote. And it is like the hundred-yard dash or the mile. You train differently. And I can’t help it that my opponent didn’t go to Wisconsin and should have gone much more to Michigan and Pennsylvania and other places. But that is the way it is. We won an election convincingly,” he said.

Watch:

President Trump accused Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are focusing on “the witch hunt” because they “can’t beat” Republicans in elections.

Trump has repeatedly referred to the impeachment inquiry into him as a “witch hunt.”

President Trump slammed Democrats for announcing the impeachment inquiry during the United Nations General Assembly as he was meeting with foreign leaders.

President Trump, speaking at his first news conference since the impeachment inquiry, said he didn’t threaten anyone.

Trump denied that he tried to pressure Ukraine’s president “to do things that they wanted under the form of political threat.”

“I didn’t threaten anybody,” Trump said.

President Trump said he’s told House Republicans that he fully supports transparency when it comes to the whistleblower complaint against him.

“I’ve informed them, all the House members, that I fully support transparency on the whistleblower information,” he said

Trump added that the whistleblower didn’t have any “first-class” or “second-tier” information.

See the moment here:

President Trump is holding a news conference in New York after spending his day at the United Nations General Assembly.

Questions about the Ukraine drama, the House’s impeachment inquiry and the White House transcript of Trump’s July call with the Ukraine’s president are likely to come up.

You can watch this live above and follow key moments here.

President Trump just tweeted that he’s told House Republicans that he supports transparency on the whistleblower complaint — but he also insists “on transparency from Joe Biden and his son Hunter.”

There’s no evidence of wrongdoing on the parts of Biden and his son.

Here are Trump’s latest tweets:

Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr said the whistleblower complaint was hand delivered and he has started to read it. He declined to provide initial impressions.

He spoke as he slipped out of a secure location on Capitol Hill and headed upstairs where votes are underway.

President Trump, speaking at a meeting earlier today, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “wasn’t tough enough” to stop the impeachment inquiry.

Trump referenced some hesitation regarding impeachment from House Democrats.

He later called the impeachment inquiry a “hoax” and “the continuation of the witch hunt.”

There are at least 209 House Democrats who’ve made clear they support starting the impeachment inquiry process, while some have gone further, according to a CNN count.

Reminder: The House needs 218 votes to impeach Trump, though it is unknown if all those who are in favor of an impeachment inquiry will vote to do so.

One thing to note: The total number of representatives calling for an impeachment inquiry stands at 210. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who has since become an independent, has also called for the proceedings.

President Trump is scheduled to hold a news conference at 4 p.m. ET at the United Nations, where he’s been this week for the UN’s General Assembly.

Questions about the Ukraine drama and the House’s impeachment inquiry are likely to come up.

Earlier today, the White House released a rough transcript of the President’s July call with Ukraine’s leader, which showed Trump pushed Ukraine to investigate his possible 2020 rival Joe Biden.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is disputing a Washington Post report that he threatened to resign if he could not speak freely before Congress.

“I have never quit anything in my life, and I am not going to start now,” Maguire said in the statement.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham also disputed the report, tweeting: “This is actually not true.”

Here’s the statement from Maguire:

The whistleblower’s complaint will be delivered this afternoon to the Senate so members of the Intelligence Committee can review it today, according to Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

He added that “perhaps by tomorrow morning” it will be available for other senators to review.

Cornyn, who is a member of the committee, did not know the mechanics of how it would be provided to the Senate or who exactly would deliver it — be it the director of National Intelligence, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community or someone else. It will be delivered to the Senate Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also said the complaint is supposed to be available for intel committee members to look at today. He didn’t know how it was getting here. 

Republican Sen. John Thune said the President broached a topic he wouldn’t have in his call with the Ukrainian president.

“I don’t like seeing that,” the South Dakota lawmaker told CNN, after reading the transcript between Trump and Ukraine’s President.

Still, Thune argued that the call is far from enough to justify Democrats moving forward with a formal impeachment inquiry.

Thune said that the Senate will hear from the whistleblower tomorrow. He said he hoped that would add some context to the situation.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden released a new statement on the rough transcript of the call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

The rough transcript features Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, although there is no evidence of wrongdoing by either.  

Biden called Trump’s behavior a “tragedy” and an “affront to every single American and the founding values of our country.”

“This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. It is a national security issue. It is a test of our democratic values. Congress must pursue the facts and quickly take prompt action to hold Donald Trump accountable,” Biden said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats in a private meeting today that she wants to focus the impeachment inquiry on Ukraine — as Democrats debate how broad to draft articles of impeachment against President Trump, according to several sources involved in the discussions

Despite months of focus on the Mueller findings and allegations of obstruction of justice, Pelosi and top Democrats believe their strongest case for impeachment to the American public is over the President’s ask that the Ukrainians investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

What this means: If Democrats draft articles of impeachment, it is likely to be focused on the Ukraine controversy — not on allegations that Trump tried to thwart the Mueller probe since a broader resolution could make it more complicated to get the votes on the floor, according to multiple Democratic sources. But discussions about the scope of the articles of impeachment are continuing in the Democratic Caucus.

Sources also told CNN that there is a growing push to keep the probe focused narrowly so the House could take up articles of impeachment as early as this fall.

President Trump slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying she “has lost her way.”

Asked about his conversation with Pelosi yesterday and whether he asked her for a way out of impeachment, Trump said this:

Trump then went on to describe his call with Pelosi, saying he spoke to her about guns. 

During a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky moments ago, President Trump was asked if it was appropriate for his personal attorney to get involved in government business.

He responded by defending his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Trump added that Giuliani “knows exactly what he’s doing, and it’s very important.”

More context: Trump mentioned having Giuliani speak to Zelensky during the July 25 call, according to the rough transcript that the White House released today.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put President Trump on the spot about a visit to Ukraine during their bilateral meeting moments ago.

Zelensky told Trump his predecessor, President Barack Obama, “didn’t find time” to visit Ukraine. 

“Can you give me word” you will visit? He asked Trump.

Trump called Ukraine a country with “tremendous potential,” to which Zelensky replied, “I know it, because I am from that country.”

Zelensky reminded Trump that he invited him to Washington, but said he “forgot to tell me the date.” 

Trump laughs off Zelensky’s comment:

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking beside President Trump during a bilateral meeting, said he wasn’t pushed during his July call with Trump.

He described the call as normal.

Trump went on to say that there was “no pressure.”

President Trump began a highly anticipated meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart making light of the controversy surrounding their previous conversation.

Trump said Volodymyr Zelensky was “more famous” than he. And he praised him for “very strongly looking into all sorts of corruption.”

Trump said Zelensky’s reputation was “absolutely sterling” and noted they’d “spoken a couple of times.”

Pointing to the press, Trump said, “They’d like to hear every single word.”

But he noted the aides that were present, saying there would be witnesses to his first sit-down with Zelensky.

See the moment here:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meeting with President Trump at the United Nations, joked that it’s better to meet in person in front of television cameras than talk on the phone

“It’s better to be on TV than by phone,” he said.

President Trump’s July phone call with Zelensky has been at the center of a scandal that has led the House to open an impeachment inquiry into the President. The White House released a rough transcript of that call this morning.

Before he ran for president, Zelensky was best known for playing a schoolteacher who becomes President of Ukraine in “Servant of the People,” a comedy series available on Netflix. 

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons disputed Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s assertion that President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president is a “nothing burger” in a tweet today and pushed back that Democrats could be overblowing the call.

The Delaware senator continued: “The President of Ukraine clearly says we’re in a position where we want to buy more javelins defensive missiles from the United States — an anti tank defensive system — and our president’s next sentence is, ‘Do me a favor.’”

Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci says President Trump is having “like a nervous breakdown” over the impeachment inquiry.  

Speaking to CNN’s Alison Kosik, Scaramucci also explained why the stock market isn’t reacting to the latest news out of Washington.  

The markets, Scaramucci said, rallied early on from deregulation and the tax cuts but now is looking “at this situation with some level of relief.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham said today that the Ukraine-related charges against Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden need to be investigated. However, he said he won’t use the Judiciary Committee he chairs to do it because he is close to the former vice president and his late son, Beau.  

Graham said there should “not be a political circus around this” and “there should be somebody outside of politics looking at this.”

Remember: There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son.

When he was told PolitiFact and other journalistic outlets had examined the charges against the Bidens and no wrongdoing was found, Graham rejected them as unfair arbiters.  

“Somebody should look at this like Mueller looked at Trump,” Graham suggested.  

A reporter asked if he wanted a special counsel named: “Somebody that everybody can trust who can be fair about it. Somebody like Mueller,” Graham said.  

After a half-beat delay, Graham called out “not him,” with a nervous laugh, making clear he doesn’t think Robert Mueller should be called to reprise his special counsel duties. 

Hear Graham defend Trump:

Former FBI director James Comey tweeted on impeachment, suggesting lawmakers may now need to act:

What Comey said last week: In a radio interview, Comey said he hoped Trump was not impeached “because I think the American people would be let off the hook,” USA Today reported.

Attorney General William Barr was not recused from a Department of Justice referral regarding President Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president. Despite the fact that Barr’s name comes up in the call, there was no consideration of a recusal.

Senior officials from the Justice Department’s public corruption unit were involved in the determination that the call didn’t add up to a campaign finance violation. Part of the analysis centered on how to establish what is a “thing of value” in campaign finance law. 

The Justice Department’s examination centered on the July call. The prosecutors interviewed White House officials involved in producing the transcript to establish it was a reliable record of the call. No other interviews were done. The FBI received a separate referral from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community but deferred to the Justice Department’s criminal division, which was doing its analysis.

In the ICIG’s assessment of the whistleblower complaint, they noted that “some indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of the complainant in favor of a rival political candidate.” The ICIG still determined that the complaint was credible. 

An engraving showing the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in the Senate on March 13, 1868.

The House has launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump. While many US presidents have been threatened with impeachment, Congress has only conducted two presidential impeachment trials.

Here’s what you need to know:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said the transcript of a phone call between President Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was “even worse” than the allegations from the Mueller report. 

Asked what the Senate’s role will be in the next few months, Schumer said the Senate intel committee should pursue the facts. 

Schumer also said that the transcript “validates the wisdom” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce an official impeachment inquiry yesterday.

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA)

Sen. David Perdue tells CNN that he was among a small group of House and Senate Republicans who reviewed the rough transcript at the White House before it was released 

Perdue said White House Counsel Pat Cippolone was in the room, and that the President called in and said everything was fine about his conduct. 

When asked if any Republicans raise concerns, Perdue said “no.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should bring an impeachment vote to the House floor if she’s confident the President committed impeachable offenses.

“I’m challenging Nancy Pelosi to have a vote on this. Moderate Democrats are hiding behind her. So if you really believe that this is an impeachable offense or other things are impeachable subject to an inquiry, vote on it,” he said.

When asked how he thinks this will turn out for the Democrats, he said he didn’t know, but did offer a little if-past-is-prologue.

“I just know this. I know how it turned out for us in 1998. We got our ass kicked,” he said. “All I can tell my Democratic friends: You’re going down a dangerous road here for the future of the presidency as well as your own future, but that’s up to y’all.”

President Trump accused Democrats of making a “manufactured crisis” with the Ukraine drama and claimed they won’t have time to work on legislation as they consider impeachment.

The vote for passage of the House whistleblower resolution will be in the 5 p.m. ET hour.

As with all House votes, things may change, but it could happen sometime around 5:15 p.m. ET and 5:45 p.m. ET.

What we know about the resolution: The House will vote to disapprove of the Trump administration’s blocking the whistleblower complaint from coming to Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said today.

The White House accidentally emailed its talking points about the President’s call with the Ukrainian leader to House Democrats.

The talking points include lines like: “Let’s be clear, there was no quid pro quo for Ukraine to get US aid in exchange for looking into Biden or his son.”

The White House later tried to recall the email message.

A group of congressional Republicans went to the White House this morning to view a rough transcript of the phone call before it was released to the public.

President Trump called into the meeting at one point. 

In remarks today on the Senate floor, Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats for starting a formal impeachment inquiry before learning the specifics of the call between President Trump and Ukrainian president.

The senator’s views on issues such as this often reflect the broad view within the GOP Conference.  

A senior White House official explained why there are ellipses in a rough transcript of President Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s president that was released today.

“The ellipses do not indicate missing words or phrases,” the official said.

So why are the ellipses there? The official said, “They refer to a trailing off of a voice or pause. If there were missing words or phrases, they would be represented by brackets or redactions. This is the standard practice that is followed for all records of Presidential phone calls.”

What we know: According to the transcript of the July call, President Trump repeatedly pushed for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to reopen an investigation of his potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. He also asked Zelensky to work with Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr.

The Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion, which was released today, says the whistleblower’s complaint centers on the July phone call between the President and the Ukrainian president, the rough transcript of which was released by the White House earlier today.  

The opinion further notes that the intelligence community inspector general said the whistleblower, who is still unknown to the Justice Department, as having “some indicia of an arguable political bias.” 

Even so, the inspector general determined that the whistleblower’s complaint was credible, that Trump’s actions could be a violation of the campaign finance law. 

Notably, yesterday the General Counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence wrote in a letter to the whistleblower’s attorney, that the whistleblower acted in “good faith.” 

House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff said today that the details of Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president show a “classic mafia-like shakedown of a foreign leader” by Trump.

Schiff said the call details “reflect a Ukrainian president who was desperate for US support, for military support to help that country in a hot war with Putin’s Russia, a country that is still occupied by irregular Russian forces and in which people face a very dangerous and continuing and destabilizing action by their aggressive neighbor.”

He added later in his remarks that he believes the call shows “the president of the United States engaged in a shakedown of a foreign president” while “he is withholding vital military support to an ally, asking a favor of that ally to investigate his opponent.”

See Chairman Schiff’s reaction here:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement regarding the White House transcript, saying it “confirms that the President engaged in behavior that undermines the integrity of our elections,” and that this combined with the “Justice Department’s acting in a rogue fashion in being complicit in the President’s lawlessness confirm the need for an impeachment inquiry.”

“The President has tried to make lawlessness a virtue in America and now is exporting it abroad,” she said.

Read her full statement:

Both the Director of National Intelligence and the Intelligence Community Inspector General referred the whistleblowers’ complaint to the Justice Department in late August.

Those notifications kicked off the Justice Department’s analysis of whether there was a possible violation of a campaign finance criminal statute. The inspector general also referred the matter to the FBI for criminal investigation separately.

Notably, the DNI contacted Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) for guidance. It was that office that determined the complaint could be looked at as a possible criminal matter.

So what was Barr’s role and who made the decision there was no criminal violation? Barr had “minimal involvement” in the Justice Department’s handling of the referral, an official briefed on the matter said.

The criminal division, led by Brian Benczkowski, and the office of Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen primarily dealt with the legal analysis under criminal law — though the final decision also involved the heads of the National Security Division and the Office of Legal Counsel. The career prosecutors from the public integrity section and other lawyers worked on the assessment that arrived at the final decision that there was no criminal violation. 

“All relevant components of the Department agreed with this legal conclusion,” Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec said.

Here’s a timeline of events, according to senior DOJ officials:

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the rough transcript of President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president was “far more damning” than he expected.

What the rough transcript says: President Trump repeatedly pushed for the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky  to reopen an investigation of his potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, and asked the Ukrainian leader to work with Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr on the issue, according to a transcript of the July call.

The intelligence community inspector general last week suggested that the controversial whistleblower complaint that triggered the Ukraine-Trump drama, raised concerns about multiple actions, sources told CNN.

However, the inspector general — who spoke at a closed-door briefing last week — would not say if those instances involved President Trump, the sources said.

One source said that Inspector General Michael Atkinson referenced “a sequence of events” and “alleged actions” that took place. However, another source disputed that the IG provided substantive details regarding the whistleblower claim. 

Remember: We still haven’t seen the whistleblower’s complaint. Yesterday, the Senate unanimously approved a resolution urging the Trump administration to provide the full whistleblower compliant to Congress.

What we do know about the complaint: The Trump-Ukraine drama was first triggered by a whistleblower, who filed a complaint about Trump’s contact with a foreign leader. After that, allegations surfaced that Trump threatened to withhold $400 million in military and security aid from Ukraine to force Kiev to open an investigation into his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son.

Speaking at The Atlantic Festival this morning, GOP Sen. Mitt Romney said he found the details revealed from the President’s call with the Ukrainian president to be “deeply troubling.”

Romney is one of the few Republicans in Congress who has spoken about the need to investigate Trump.

On whether he perceived a “quid pro quo” between Trump and President Zelensky, Romeny said he’s not “focused so much on the quid pro quo element.”

“I said this in my first reaction, which is if the president of the United States asks or presses the leader of a foreign country to carry out an investigation of a political nature that’s troubling. And I feel that,” Romney said.

Asked if this could rise to an impeachable offense, Romney said, “I’m going to leave it what I’ve said and let the process gather the facts that will ultimately come out.”

Presidential candidiate Bernie Sanders just tweeted a strong condemnation of the President:

President Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale called the Ukraine drama and the impeachment inquiry “another hoax from Democrats and the media.”

“The facts prove the President did nothing wrong,” he said in a statement. “The fact is that the President wants to fight the corruption in Washington, where the Bidens, the Clintons, and other career politicians have abused their power for personal gain.”

Reminder: There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe Biden or his son, Hunter.

The Trump campaign also sent out a fundraising email with the subject line “total smear job.” The body of the email leads with news that the Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry and asked people to contribute to the “Official Impeachment Defense Task Force.”

On a call with outside allies this morning, White House officials encouraged surrogates to stress that there was no quid pro quo on Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president.

They’re also encouraged to stress that President Trump decided to release the transcript to combat “disinformation.”

The White House urged allies to argue that the President’s conversations with foreign leaders are not themselves intelligence activities and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Nonetheless, White House officials on the call also pushed allies to argue that the whistleblower complaint has been handled “by the book.”

The White House surrogates call did not involve much in the way of a broader argument against impeachment, however. Rather, White House officials focused on specific rebuttals to the limited issue of the Ukraine phone call.

A senior White House official clarified how the transcript was crafted:

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff says the transcript reads like a “classic mob shakedown.”

More context: Earlier today, Schiff sent a letter to the attorney general demanding information on the handling of the whistleblower complaint. Schiff claims that should the Justice Department’s previously stated position — which said “the disclosure in this case did not concern allegations of conduct by a member of the Intelligence Community or involve an intelligence activity under the DNI’s Supervision” — be allowed to stand, it could have “serious corrosive consequences for whistleblowing within the IC and the Committee’s exercise of its lawful oversight duties.”

In a tweet, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler called on Attorney General Bill Barr to recuse himself “until we get to the bottom of this matter.”

More context: In the transcript of the call, Trump told the Ukrainian president: “I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it.”

House Republicans just wrapped a news conference. They quickly exited when the press started asking questions about the transcript of the call, not having realized that it had been released. 

In their statements, members roundly criticized Nancy Pelosi’s call for an impeachment inquiry yesterday. Rep. Kevin McCarthy said he watched Pelosi “demean the office of the speakership.”

McCarthy also slammed Pelosi for making the call “based on facts she never read and a whistleblower that wasn’t in the room,” and was critical that there was “not one word” about allegations against Joe Biden and his son. 

President Trump, speaking about the just-released transcript of his July call with the Ukrainian president, insisted there was “no pressure.”

He added: “It turned out to be a nothing call other than a lot of people said, ‘I never knew you could be so nice.’”

Trump said the impeachment inquiry is a “witch hunt.”

“Just so you understand, it is the single greatest witch hunt in American history, probably in history, but in American history,” he said.

What the transcript shows: President Trump repeatedly pushed for the Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky to reopen an investigation of his potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, and asked the Ukrainian leader to work with Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr on the issue.

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is calling the transcript “a smoking gun.”

“If this is the version of events the president’s team thinks is most favorable, he is in very deep jeopardy,” she added.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the Senate floor moments ago about the transcript that was just released.

He added: “We must remember the President was reported to have several calls with President Zelensky over the summer, and his reputation – and his administration has a well-earned reputation for dishonesty, altered facts, and incomplete disclosure in public releases. We need to see the complete, unredacted whistleblower complaint without further delay.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told reporters that this transcript doesn’t justify an impeachment.

“From my point of view, to impeach any president over a phone call like this would be insane,” Graham said.

He added: “From quid pro quo aspect, there’s nothing there.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi again said President Trump is not “above the law” and promised to hold him accountable while speaking to reporters following her morning caucus meeting.

“The fact is that the President of the United states, in breach of his constitutional responsibilities, has asked a foreign government to help him in his political campaign at the expense of our national security, as well as undermining the integrity of our elections,” she said.

Pelosi continued:

Trump’s 2016 Democratic presidential election opponent tweeted following the White House release of the call transcript between Trump and the Ukrainian president, calling Trump “a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free.”

A senior White House official says the transcript of the call comes from Voice Recognition Software. There is a disclaimer at the bottom of the document that it is “not a verbatim transcript of a discussion.”

Additionally, per the senior official, the White House weighed institutional interests against transparency in making the decision to release the call. Note that Ukraine’s President Zelensky gave his permission for the transcript to be released, as well. 

This is the disclaimer:

 While the transcript does not reflect a clear quid pro quo, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US has been “very, very good” to Ukraine.

Zelensky agreed and told Trump the US is a “much bigger partner” to Ukraine than other European countries regarding sanctions on Russia, adding that he plans to purchase more Javelins from the United States.

Trump then said, “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.”

Here’s the transcript:

The Department of Justice said President Trump has not asked Attorney General William Barr to contact Ukraine.

Here’s the full statement from Justice spokesperson Kerri Kupec:

President Trump repeatedly pushed for the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to reopen an investigation of his potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, and asked the Ukrainian leader to work with Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr on the issue, according to a transcript of the July call.

The Intelligence Community Inspector General in late August referred a criminal complaint to the Justice Department to investigate whether the President’s pushing for Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a potential 2020 rival, was a violation of campaign finance law, the Justice Department said.

The Justice Department’s criminal division last week determined to not open a formal investigation of the president for possible campaign finance violations. 

The meeting today between President Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly was arranged well before the whistleblower controversy exploded into public view, according to people familiar with the plans.

Aides initially did not view the meeting as a major highlight of Trump’s UN agenda, which they expected would focus heavily on Iran and not on the questions of abuse of power that are now swirling. 

Now, officials say they view the meeting as an important venue for Trump to counter Democratic accusations of wrongdoing, particularly because they believe the “transcript” that will be released ahead of the meeting won’t be the smoking gun that some are expecting. 

One official said there have not been extensive conversations between US and Ukrainian officials about what each leader will say during the open-press part of the meeting, though could not rule out more informal discussions.

Trump signaled Monday he believes Zelensky will back him up: “They don’t know either what the big deal is,” he said, referring to the Ukrainians, in a tweet.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) walks with her press secretary to a House Democratic caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday where formal impeachment proceedings against President Trump were announced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer and moderate, said that she hopes the Democrats take this process seriously, saying they “have a responsibility to be as thoughtful as possible in this process.” 

Spanberger, who supports impeachment with the condition that the allegations related to Ukraine are true, said when asked about concerns that Speaker Pelosi announced her support for an impeachment inquiry before the transcript was out, she said “it’s one element of evidence not end all not just one piece of evidence necessary responsibility to be as thoughtful as possible.” 

Liberal member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who famously told a crowd earlier this year that she wanted to impeach that (expletive), said she’s pleased Pelosi is finally there. 

Asked what this really changes, she said “[President Trump] can’t abuse the power he has this is the only option we have left.”

When asked about what the tipping point was for moderate colleagues, she responded that “many of them though they see a national security risk.. I think that’s what pulled them all on board.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning declined to offer details of her phone call yesterday with Trump regarding impeachment.

She spoke to reporters as she arrived to this morning’s meeting with her caucus. 

Asked what Democrats need to see beyond the whistleblower complaint in their investigation, Pelosi responded: “There’s nothing beyond. The President admits that he made the statement.” 

Senior Trump Administration officials are doing damage control on a call with outside allies, according to a source who was invited and shared the invitation with CNN.  

They are billing it as a call “to discuss news of the day.”

House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff has sent a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr demanding information and records about the handling of the whistleblower complaint.

Schiff claims that should the Justice Department’s previously stated position — which said “the disclosure in this case did not concern allegations of conduct by a member of the Intelligence Community or involve an intelligence activity under the DNI’s Supervision” — be allowed to stand, it could have “serious corrosive consequences for whistleblowing within the IC and the Committee’s exercise of its lawful oversight duties”

Schiff gave Barr until this Friday to produce “any legal opinion, legal analysis, or factual analysis” by the Justice Department related to the whistleblower complaint, and until Tuesday to produce additional material requested, including any DOJ communications with the White House regarding the complaint.

The Senate unanimously approved a resolution urging the Trump administration to provide the full whistleblower compliant to Congress.

The measure was authored by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He said the resolution was “aimed at a recalcitrant executive branch, which has blocked the ability for the committees to see the complaint, even though the law requires it.”

McConnell said Republicans would go along with the resolution in the spirit that it would assist the Intelligence Committee conduct its investigation.

About the complaint: The Trump-Ukraine drama was first triggered by a whistleblower, who filed a complaint about Trump’s contact with a foreign leader. After that, allegations surfaced that Trump threatened to withhold $400 million in military and security aid from Ukraine to force Kiev to open an investigation into his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

As President Trump has been openly feuding with House Democrats pursuing investigations into him, his administration and his finances, more than 200 lawmakers – almost entirely Democrats – are calling to start an impeachment inquiry, the first step in a lengthy and likely divisive process.

There has been a surge in support of launching an inquiry amid a growing controversy over Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky where he discussed former Vice President Joe Biden. On Tuesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into the President, and the number of House Democrats who at least support launching an impeachment inquiry is quickly approaching the 218 votes needed to impeach Trump in the House, though it is unknown if all those who are in favor of an impeachment inquiry will vote to do so.

CNN previously reported that Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate Biden’s son, Hunter, according to a person familiar with the situation, and that call was part of the whistleblower complaint submitted to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, another person familiar with the situation told CNN. Trump has admitted he delayed aid to Ukraine ahead of the call, but has denied doing anything improper.

There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden.

Many Democratic lawmakers had previously opened the door to impeachment proceedings after testimony from former special counsel Robert Mueller before Congress in July. More than four dozen House Democrats came out publicly in support of an impeachment inquiry following Mueller’s appearance – including House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel of New York and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler.

Impeachment appears politically risky for Democrats for many reasons, not least of which is that even if the House could get a majority to support impeachment, it likely would go nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate. 

While there are varying degrees of how far critics of the President are willing to push the process, one relatively basic litmus test is whether lawmakers would support starting an impeachment inquiry, the first significant step in the process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a picture with President Trump and first lady Melania Trump from yesterday’s UN reception.

He said he had a brief interaction with Trump yesterday and is going to continue talking with the US President “in the working mode” today.

Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Trump at 2:15 p.m. ET at the United Nations.

 Here’s the translation of his tweet: “Had a chat yesterday with @RealDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS at the official reception with the US President and First Lady. Today we’ll continue in the working mode!” 

President Trump is at the United Nations as the House gets moving on its impeachment inquiry. Here are the most important events we are watching today.

Margie Phelps of Topeka, Kansas, carries signs calling for the impeachment of US President Bill Clinton in December 1998

Bill Clinton was the latest US president to face impeachment. Here’s a timeline of that process:

Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said he sees the Ukraine scandal as the “most serious misconduct” of Trump’s presidency so far.

Schiff said he wants to get “the full facts” before deciding to impeach the President. (Remember: Democrats have announced a formal impeachment inquiry, but have not yet begun possible impeachment.)

“There’s certainly enough to launch a formal impeachment inquiry. And at the end of the day, they may be enough to impeach the President. But we need to get the full facts first,” he said.

Of the 235 Democrats in the House, there are at least 199 — according to a CNN count — who’ve made clear they support starting the impeachment inquiry process, while some have gone further.

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who has since become an independent, has also called for impeachment proceedings, bringing the total number of representatives to 200.

You can see the full whip count here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “nobody can put pressure on me” when asked if President Trump pressed him to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son in a controversial July 25 phone call. 

“Nobody can put pressure on me, because I’m the president of an independent Ukraine,” Zelensky said late Tuesday.

He continued: “There is only one person that can pressure me, and it’s my 6-year old son.”

Asked whether he intends to ask Trump for anything in an expected one-on-one meeting Wednesday, Zelensky said: “I can say once again that we can talk about support, but we are not asking for anything, Ukraine is a new, powerful country that isn’t asking anybody for anything, we can help others ourselves.”  

The Clinton impeachment trial on the Senate floor on February 12, 1999.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has not given a timeframe for this process but she told her colleagues it would be done “expeditiously,” and Rep. Jerry Nadler, the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has hoped to conclude it by the end of the year.

This process can take months:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held off on impeachment for months — but now some Democrats are worried the Speaker may have acted days too soon.

Several Democratic aides say that some in the caucus are quietly expressing reservations that Pelosi’s announcement came before the transcript of the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s President was released and before Congress received the whistleblower’s complaint.

Many of the moderate members who have come out in support for impeachment have made their support conditional: If it is true Trump withheld military funding to Ukraine in order to elicit dirt on a political opponent, then it is impeachable.

But, Pelosi’s announcement yesterday caught some by surprise even as members were racing to come out in support of impeachment. A senior Democratic aide with insight into moderate Democratic thinking told CNN that many members preferred for Pelosi to wait until the end of the week when the contents of the complaint and transcript were fully known. 

Another Democratic aide said there is grumbling about what happens if the transcript and report are not the “smoking guns that everyone is hyping them to be.” 

President Trump is on Twitter this morning, continuing to lash out at Democrats, who he describes as “frozen with hatred and fear.”

Here’s the tweet:

Note: That was Trump’s second tweet of the morning. In his first tweet of the morning, President Donald Trump recommends a book by National Review columnist Andrew McCarthy: 

As President Trump has been openly feuding with House Democrats pursuing investigations into him, dozens of lawmakers — almost entirely Democrats — are calling to start an impeachment inquiry, the first step in a lengthy and likely divisive process.

While there are varying degrees of how far critics of the President are willing to push the process, one relatively basic litmus test is whether lawmakers would support starting an impeachment inquiry, the first significant step in the process.

Of the 235 Democrats in the House, there are at least 198 — according to a CNN count — who’ve made clear they support starting the impeachment inquiry process, while some have gone further.

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who has since become an independent, has also called for impeachment proceedings, bringing the total number of representatives to 199.

You can see the full whip count here.

Behind closed doors, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not specify to her colleagues yesterday exactly how the impeachment inquiry will play out. In part, that’s by design.

Here’s what you need to know about what happens next:

A source close to the White House who routinely speaks with Trump says the President does not want to be impeached.

Despite his comments that he believes the process might help him politically, Trump, according to the source, has worried about the possibility of being impeached for nearly a year, dating back to the weeks that followed the November 2018 midterms when Democrats won the House.

His decisions to quickly authorize the release of the call transcript, as well as the whistleblower complaint, are signs of Trump’s wariness of the potential of entering the history books as an impeached president, the source added. 

 A White House official said a declassification process is currently underway for releasing the whistleblower complaint which is expected to be handed over to Congress by Thursday.