WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, November 1, 2019

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1/ A senior White House lawyer instructed the national security official who heard Trump's July 25 conversation with the Ukraine president to keep his concerns secret. Following the call, in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a "favor" to investigate the Bidens, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman went to John Eisenberg to register his concerns about the call, who recorded Vindman's complaints in notes on a yellow legal pad. Eisenberg also restricted access to the rough transcript of the call by moving it into the NSC's top-secret codeword system. Eisenberg then directed Vindman to not discuss his concerns with anyone after the White House learned on July 29 that a CIA employee had anonymously filed a whistleblower complaint about the call. Vindman also testified that he conferred with his deputy Michael Ellis at the time about how to handle the conversation because it was clearly "sensitive."(Washington Post / Politico)

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she expects the impeachment inquiry to begin public hearings this month. (Bloomberg)

2/ Trump wants to host a live "fireside chat" and read the White House's version of the transcript from his July 25 call with Zelensky. Trump said he would broadcast the reading on television in order to prove that he did nothing wrong and that the substance of the call was not cause for alarm. "At some point, I’m going to sit down, perhaps as a fireside chat on live television," Trump said in an interview, "and I will read the transcript of the call, because people have to hear it. When you read it, it’s a straight call." (Washington Examiner / The Hill / Fox News / Reuters)

3/ Democratic leaders directing the impeachment investigation see the Trump administration's stonewalling as obstruction of Congress. Trump and the administration have tried to stop subpoenaed witnesses from testifying, blocked the executive branch from turning over documents, attacked witnesses as "Never Trumpers," badgered the anonymous whistleblower, and have tried to publicly discredit the investigation as a "scam" overseen by "a totally compromised kangaroo court." Democrats argue that the efforts infringed on the separation of powers and undermines congressional oversight duties as laid out in the Constitution. (Washington Post)

4/ A judge is expected to reconsider whether an associate of Rudy Giuliani should remain on house arrest while awaiting trial for charges of illegally funneling money into a pro-Trump election committee and to other politicians. Igor Fruman's attorney is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan to argue that Fruman should not be subjec...

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