WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, November 8, 2019

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1/ The top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council testified that "there was no doubt" that Trump was seeking investigations into political rivals, according to a transcript of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's deposition. Within an hour after Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, Vindman told White House lawyers that Trump had made a "troubling and disturbing" request for an investigation. Vindman also testified that "there was no ambiguity" that Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, told him the idea of tethering a White House meeting to the Ukrainians investigating the Bidens "had been coordinated with White House Chief of Staff Mr. Mick Mulvaney." (Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / Politico)

• Read: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's testimony. (New York Times)

2/ Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney refused to comply with a subpoena. Mulvaney informed investigators "one minute" before his scheduled deposition that he would not appear, citing "absolute immunity." During an Oct. 17 press conference, Mulvaney admitted that Trump froze military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country to open a political investigation. Mulvaney is the highest-ranking White House official to be subpoenaed for testimony as part of the impeachment inquiry. (Axios / Politico / CNN / Reuters / Associated Press / The Hill / ABC News / NBC News / Washington Post)

3/ A State Department official testified that Trump wanted the Ukraine president "to go to microphone and say investigations, Biden, and Clinton." Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent's assessment came from a summary of a conversation that Trump had with Gordon Sondland. (Axios / Washington Post)

• Ukraine planned to publicly announce investigations into Trump's political in an interview on Sept. 13. However, two days before the sch...

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