Trump impeachment news: President given deadline to offer evidence, as White House ‘engaged in unprecedented obstruction’

A Warning knocks Triggered off top of NYT bestseller list

Despite the best efforts of Republican groups bulk ordering it, Don Jr's wretched new book has been bumped from the top of The New York Times's bestseller list for non-fiction titles by none other than A Warning, the White House exposé written by an anonymous administration insider.

How deeply satisfying.

The Conways yesterday denied being the secret author, who took part in a Reddit AMA earlier this week and pledged to unmask him or herself in time for the 2020 eleciton.

Ukraine's prosecutor general says no formal approach from Bill Barr to investigate Bidens or Burisma

Ukraine's prosecutor general Ruslan Ryaboshapka has said he has so far received no official request for an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden or Burisma from US attorney general William Barr.

Several of the House impeachment inquiry witnesses have publicly debunked Republican obsessions with Biden Sr's bid to remove Ryaboshapka's predecessor Viktor Shokin and Bider Jr's tenure on the board of the Kiev-based gas company.

Barr's failure to pursue the matter likewise suggests he too has little faith in being able to turn the matter to Trump's advantage.

(Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Speaking to The Financial Times, Ryaboshapka also sought to dispell the popular image of his country being rife with corruption: "Ukraine is not as corrupt as is being presented there. We have made significant progress as of late."

A top immigration adviser to Donald Trump was forced out of a bar in Washington after facing extensive heckling from fellow patrons — including former Maryland governor and 2016 Democratic candidate Martin O'Malley.

Ken Cuccinelli, who currently serves as the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, reportedly experienced the “shame-invoking tirade” at a popular Irish pub on Thanksgiving Eve, a night known for raucous drinking festivities. 

He said he was ordering a Guinness at The Dubliner when he first heard Mr O’Malley cursing at him. Both men had attended the Catholic all-boys Gonzaga College high school in Washington, graduating five years apart, and were attending an unofficial get-together for the school’s graduates hosted annually at the bar.

Here's the latest in The Independent's weekly series, Polarized: Voices From Across America, which profiles voters from all 50 states about the 2020 race. 

This week's profile features Don Unger, one of Virginia's longest-serving senior paramedics, who works on the front lines of the gun control crisis and the nationwide opioid epidemic. 

ICYMI: Donald Trump tweeted about his surprise trip to Afghanistan during the Thanksgiving holiday -

Former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent says his former House colleagues are "absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the president's behavior."

"I think a lot of members have to take a hard look at this," he said. "They can be more concerned about their election, or their legacies. And I would argue to many of them: your legacy is more important than the next election."

Read more from CNN.

It's a mostly silent day on Capitol Hill, with politicians mostly all in their respective districts for the Thanksgiving holiday. Donald Trump is back at Mar-a-lago after his surprise trip to Afghanistan. And, in case you were wondering, the president's private business has already begun pushing out its holiday-themed Trump gear:

In a wooden house surrounded by trees at the end of long and twisting track, Amy Klobuchar was making the case for why she she should be America’s next president.

She cited her Midwestern roots, the centrist policies that did not scare off moderate voters, and her readiness to work with allies, rather than antagonise them. She also stamped a heeled winter boot on the suggestion Americans would not vote for a woman.

“A lot of men have voted for women,” she said, asked by one man about a poll suggesting only 50 per cent of men would feel comfortable voting for a female commander-in-chief. “[A lot of polls’ results] depend on the way questions are asked. I think we have to confront that in our head.”

She added: “And as I have said before, Nancy Pelosi beats Trump every single day.”

A blistering resignation letter from a member of the Kamala Harris campaign paints a picture of low morale among staffers of a directionless campaign with "no real plan to win" ahead of the crucial Iowa caucus in 2020.

According to the New York Times, the sentiments expressed in a letter from now-former state operations manager Kelly Mehlenbacher were corroborated by more than 50 current and former campaign staffers and allies, speaking largely on the condition of anonymity to disclose the campaign's many flaws and tactical errors, from focusing on the wrong states to targeting the wrong candidates, as a frustrated campaign staff draws closer to 2020 Democratic primaries, which at one point counted the California Senator as a likely star.

Ms Mehlenbacher's letter came a few days after a November staff meeting during which aides pressed campaign manager Juan Rodriguez about strategy and finances after sweeping layoffs ahead of the campaign's movement in Iowa.

A former Republican congressman said he would “probably vote to impeach” Donald Trump if he were still serving in the US House of Representatives while suggesting the president's scandals are "infuriating" current GOP House members.

Charlie Dent, a frequent critic of Mr Trump who resigned from Congress last year, said he has heard from several of his former Republican colleagues who are “absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the president’s behaviour”. 

“There’s no question, having spoken to many of them privately, they’re absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the president’s behaviour,” Mr Dent said in an interview with CNN on Thursday. “They resent being put in this position all the time.”

Story to come...