Section: TPM (USA)
Alert Sounded At NSC About Rudy’s Ukraine Imbroglio As Early As May
Senior White House officials not involved in the underlying scheme knew about Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government earlier than previously known, NBC reported. Fiona Hill, a top national security official who left the Trump administration in June, reportedly learned in May that the former New York City mayor was...
Johnson Met With Ukrainian Diplomat Behind Debunked DNC Conspiracy Theory
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) met with Andrii Telizhenko, an ex-Ukrainian diplomat who’s been fueling a false claim about the DNC and Ukrainian election interference, earlier this year. Telizhenko told the Washington Post that he had met with Johnson in Washington for at least a half hour, partially to discuss what he called “the DNC issue.” The...
Biden Urges Trump To Release Tax Returns If He’s So Concerned About Corruption
Democratic frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t seem as concerned with the Ukraine scandal as he is with President Trump needing to release his tax returns. During an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday night, Norah O’Donnell asked Biden if there was anything he wanted to say to the President. Biden repeated...
Top Ex-Bolton Aide Uses Courts To At Least Temporarily Delay Testifying
Charles Kupperman, who worked as deputy national security adviser until September and currently shares a lawyer with former National security Adviser John Bolton, will not testify Monday as originally planned. He is instead waiting on a judge to decide whether he has to comply with the House subpoena. Though it has seemed unlikely that Kupperman...
Pence Won’t Say If He Knew Of Trump’s Deal With Ukraine Described By Diplomats
Vice President Mike Pence refused to say on Sunday whether he knew of the deal between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that top diplomats had described in their testimonies in the House impeachment investigation. CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan asked Pence no less than four times if he was aware that, according...
Gordon Sondland Told Congress There Was Quid Pro Quo In Trump’s Ukraine Scheme
Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland confirmed to House impeachment investigators during his testimony on October 17 that there was a quid pro quo in President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, according to Sondland’s lawyer. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday night that the lawyer, Robert Luskin, had told...
Judge Orders DOJ To Turn Over Certain Mueller Grand Jury Materials To House
The chief judge of D.C.’s federal court ordered the Justice Department on Friday to turn over to the House the portions of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s report that were redacted due to grand jury secrecy as well as those sections’ underlying grand jury transcripts or exhibits. Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell gave...
Pompeo Gives Taylor Vote Of Confidence Amid Trump’s Attacks
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he is in “full accord” with top Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor on Ukraine policy, a notable vote of confidence as President Donald Trump repeatedly lobs insults at “Never Trumper” Taylor. According to The Sunflower, a student-run newspaper based in Kansas, Pompeo added that he has “every reason to...
Rudy’s Excellent Adventure #3
One part of the Ukraine/Giuliani story I’ve been fascinated about and which I think will end up being quite relevant is the way the players appears to have used notional attorney-client privilege to protect the secrecy of their operation. It’s not just lawyer-client privilege. There are also source-reporter relationships, monetary and...
Whistleblower’s Lawyers Agree Their Client’s Testimony Is Now Irrelevant
It seems House Democrats and the whistleblower’s lawyers are on the same page when it comes to whether the whistleblower who shed light on President Trump’s Ukraine scheme needs to testify. In a Washington Post op-ed Friday, the whistleblower’s lawyers Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid wrote that although speculation of their...
