WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

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1/ Two career diplomats testified before House impeachment investigators behind closed doors that Trump and Rudy Giuliani's view of Ukraine were out of step with other White House and State Department officials. Catherine Croft told lawmakers, who worked as an adviser to Kurt Volker, explained that "throughout" her time in the Trump administration she heard Trump "describe Ukraine as a corrupt country," both "directly and indirectly." Christopher Anderson, who served as assistant to Volker, told lawmakers that in a June 13th meeting, John Bolton had supported "increased senior White House engagement" with Ukraine, but was concerned that Giuliani "was a key voice with the president on Ukraine." Anderson also testified that his attempts as a Foreign Service officer to show support for Ukraine were quashed by the White House. (Washington Post / CNN / Politico / ABC News / New York Times)

• ???? READ: Christopher Anderson's written testimony. (NPR)

• ???? READ: Ukraine Specialist Catherine Croft's written testimony. (NPR)

2/ House impeachment investigators asked former National Security Advisor John Bolton to testify on Nov. 7th after Anderson and Croft testified that Bolton was concerned about America's stance toward Ukraine. Fiona Hill testified earlier this month that Bolton was so disturbed by efforts to get Ukraine to investigate Trump's political opponents that he called it a "drug deal," and that Bolton had told her to report the situation to John Eisenberg, the top lawyer for the National Security Council. Eisenberg and Michael Ellis, another lawyer for the NSC, are scheduled testify next Monday. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Bloomberg)

3/ The National Security Council's top Ukraine expert testified that a Devin Nunes associate "misrepresented" himself to Trump as the NSC's Ukraine expert. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman told lawmakers that Kashyap Patel circumvented NSC process to provide Trump with disinformation that Ukraine was corrupt and had interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of Democrats. Vindman was also told not to attend a meeting following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's inauguration, because Trump's advisers worried his perspective might confuse Trump. Patel is a longtime Nunes staffer who joined...

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