WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

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1/ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told House Democrats that the five State Department officials scheduled depositions before the committees conducting the impeachment inquiry would not appear. Pompeo characterized efforts to depose officials as "an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly, the distinguished professionals of the Department of State." Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees responded to Pompeo, saying that "any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from talking with Congress – including State Department employees – is illegal and will constitute evidence of obstruction of the impeachment inquiry." Four of the five officials scheduled to be deposed over the next two weeks – Ambassador Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch, Ambassador Kurt Volker, Counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl and Ambassador Gordon Sondland – were mentioned in the whistleblower complaint. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN / Politico / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Axios)

• Kurt Volker confirmed that he'll testify in private on Thursday in front of three House committees as part of their impeachment investigation. Volker resigned last week as U.S. special representative to Ukraine after he was named in a whistleblower's complaint. (Bloomberg)

2/ The State Department's inspector general is expected to give an "urgent" briefing on Ukraine to several House and Senate committees tomorrow regarding documents obtained from the Office of the Legal Adviser concerning the State Department and Ukraine. The briefing, expected to be conducted by Steve Linick, will be held in a secure location on Capitol Hill during a congressional recess, suggesting that it's connected to the whistleblower complaint. [Editor's note: This was late breaking news. More tomorrow!] (ABC News)

3/ Trump asked why he was not "entitled to interview" the whistleblower despite laws designed to protect the confidentiality of whistleblowers – a day after Trump said the White House was trying to find out the person's identity. The whistleblower said he heard of the July 25 call with Ukraine's president from multiple White House officials with direct knowledge of it, who said Trump was pressuring the Ukrainian leader to advance his own political interests, and that White House officials acted to conceal evidence of the president’s actions. In a tweet, Trump asked: "Why aren't we entitled to interview & learn everything about the Whistleblower, and also the person who gave all of the false information to him." The tweet prompted Michael Atkinson, the Trump-appointed intelligence community inspector general, to clarify that there is no requirem...

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