Impeachment watch: House returns to whirlwind series of depositions

Congress is back in Washington, D.C., this week, and the House will continue its impeachment probe in addition to its other business.

With the investigation moving quickly, and news coming fast and furious, Shareblue will round up the day’s most important impeachment news in one easy-to-digest place.

Here’s what you need to know today about the impeachment inquiry.

Depositions: The House is set to depose a host of Trump administration officials this week who have worked with Ukraine in their roles.

The depositions begin on Tuesday with Bill Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine who is now known for his text message with Trump donor turned Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland that provides evidence of a quid pro quo. In the text message, Taylor wrote, “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

On Wednesday, there will be two depositions: one with Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker, and another with Michael Duffey, the Office of Management and Budget’s associate director for national security, according to Politico.

Politico reported that National Security Council Director for European Affairs Alexander Vindman and Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of Defense, will sit for interviews on Thursday.

And lastly, on Friday, there are two more depositions: Suriya Jayanti, who serves as a foreign service officer in Ukraine, and NSC Senior Director for Russia and Europe Tim Morrison, according to Politico.

Over the weekend: Just because it was the weekend doesn’t mean that impeachment news stopped.

• Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney continued his bumbling press tour to try to clean up the comments he made on Thursday, in which he flat out admitted there was indeed a quid pro quo for Ukraine to receive military aid. Mulvaney, who tried to walk back his comment last week, lied to Fox News host Chris Wallace’s face, telling him that he didn’t actually reveal the existence of a quid pro quo. Wallace didn’t buy the explanation.
• Florida GOP Rep. Francis Rooney, who on Friday said he was open to impeaching Trump, announced he isn’t seeking reelection in 2020. He is the latest Republican critical of Trump to decide not to return to Congress, following Reps. Will Hurd of Texas and John Shimkus of Illinois.
• The impeachment inquiry may have been the reason Trump dropped his blatantly corrupt decision to hold a meeting of world leaders at one of his failing golf resorts next year.
• The New York Times reported that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, met with a top official at the Department of Justice, even as Giuliani was under federal investigation himself. The DOJ claimed to the New York Times that the top official didn’t know that Giuliani was being investigated by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

Come back tomorrow for more news about the Trump impeachment inquiry.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.