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Trump news: Formal charges of impeachment revealed with president accused of ‘simple and terrible’ abuse of power

Nadler: 'Our next election is at risk... That is why we must act now'

Joe Sommerlad,Alex Woodward

Tuesday 10 December 2019 17:14 GMT

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Trump impeachment charges unveiled as president accused of abuse of power and obstruction

House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump on a historic day on Capitol Hill, accusing the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress ahead of a full House vote on his misconduct later this week.

"He endangers our democracy, he endangers our national security," said House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler, announcing the charges before a portrait of George Washington. "Our next election is at risk... That is why we must act now."

Mr Trump began the day pleading on Twitter that his impeachment would be "sheer Political Madness!"

His Attorney General William Barr, however, had accused the Obama Administration of being the "greatest danger to our free system" by using the "apparatus of the state ... both to spy on political opponents but also to use them in a way that could affect the outcome of an election."

Those theories were debunked in the Justice Department's recently released watchdog report but they've been repeated by Republicans in defence of the president as he face impeachment.

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

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1/26Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Donald Trump

Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why.

EPA

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

The Whistleblower

Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

The Second Whistleblower

The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Rudy Giuliani

Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trump’s personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the president’s enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a “shadow” foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trump’s behalf and has called himself a “hero”.

AP

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Volodymyr Zelensky

The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the “favour” he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin.

AFP/Getty

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Mike Pence

The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had “one or two” phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trump’s actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow.

AP

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Rick Perry

Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didn’t even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Joe Biden

The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trump’s opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Biden’s son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant.

Reuters

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Hunter Biden

Joe Biden’s son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Biden’s lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong.

AP

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

William Barr

The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trump’s preoccupations with the Biden’s and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a “cover-up of a cover-up”.

AP

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Mike Pompeo

The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president.

AFP via Getty

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Nancy Pelosi

The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: “The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Adam Schiff

Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a “parody” of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a “four Pinocchios” rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement.

Reuters

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman

Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts.

Reuters

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

William Taylor

The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff – later identified as diplomat David Holmes – overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about “investigations” the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trump’s opponents, saying: “It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support."

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

George Kent

A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, of leading a “campaign of lies” against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Marie Yovanovitch

One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack “very intimidating”. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: “She’s going to go through some things.” Yovanovitch said she was “shocked, appalled and devastated” by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation.

REUTERS

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Alexander Vindman

A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trump’s 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Jennifer Williams

A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it “unusual” because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Kurt Volker

The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraine’s reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Tim Morrison

An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Gordon Sondland

In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: “Was there a quid pro quo? Yes,” said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the president’s political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a “great American” a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him.

AP

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Laura Cooper

A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August – undermining a Republican argument that there can’t have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didn’t know that aid was being withheld.

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

David Hale

The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: “I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work.”

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Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

Fiona Hill

Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was “being involved in a domestic political errand”. She said: “I did say to him, ‘Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up’. And here we are.”

AP

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal

David Holmes

The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line – because his voice was so “loud and distinctive” and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear – asking about the “investigations” and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate.

REUTERS

But nearly as soon as Democrats announced impeachment articles, they supported the Trump administration's USMCA trade agreement, a revised Nafta plan that the White House called the "biggest and best trade agreement in the history of the world". The White House will "push hard" to enact the deal before the end of 2019, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already indicated the Senate won't be taking it up until the president's impeachment trial is through, which could be January.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House, where Mr Pompeo and Mr Lavrov clashed during a post-meeting press conference over the perception of reports of interference in US elections.

Mr Lavrov said that reports of interference are "baseless" and that "there are no facts that would support that" though he admitted he read the Mueller report, which he said is not "proof of collusion".

The president ends a historic day on Capitol Hill with his supporters in Pennsylvania, where he's holding an ego-boosting Keep America Great rally.

Follow along as it happened.

Kamala Harris demands firing of senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller over white nationalism concerns

Kamala Harris has led a group of 27 senators in demanding the immediate removal of Stephen Miller from his role as a White House senior adviser to Donald Trump, following accusations he holds white supremacist views.

The California Democrat, who recently quit her bid for the White House in 2020, wrote to the administration in a letter on Monday: “We write to demand the immediate removal of Stephen Miller as your adviser.”

Miller, who serves as one of the president’s top advisers on immigration, came under fire after a trove of his leaked emails were reported on by the Southern Poverty Law Centre’s Hatewatch. The emails from 2015 to 2016 appeared to show Miller - who then-served as an aide to former Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions - promoting xenophobic, anti-immigrant and white nationalist viewpoints to a reporter for the right-wing website Breitbart, seemingly in an attempt to get her to write about those sentiments.

Chris Riotta has the full story.

Kamala Harris demands 'white supremacist' Trump adviser be fired in letter signed by dozens of senators

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 12:30

'Sheer Political Madness!'

Trump has resorted to pleading now, ahead of the Democrats' press conference this morning.

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 12:45

Stephen Colbert: 'Trump just naming an alternate reality he wants to exist'

The Late Show satirist Stephen Colbert roasted Trump last night for precisely the sort of delusional spin we've just seen from him on Twitter, in the wake of his ludicrous "overthrow of government" comment on Monday.

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 13:05

AOC hits out at Trump over 'atrocious antisemitism'

Progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the outcry against Trump over his remarks to the Israeli American Council (IAC) on Saturday night, in which the president deployed an antisemitic trope by suggesting his Jewish audience was primarily concerned with wealth.

"A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers. You’re not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice," the president told the IAC. "You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that. You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax!"

A number of Jewish groups have already condemned the president's comments.

Clark Mindock has more on Ocasio-Cortez.

AOC attacks Trump for 'atrocious' antisemitic comments about Jewish people protecting money

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 13:25

California church protests Trump with politically-charged nativity scene

Claremont United Methodist Church in Los Angeles is protesting Trump's brutal anti-immigration policies this Christmas by placing Jesus, Mary and Joseph in chain-link detention centre cages lined with barbed wire in its nativity display.

Nativity scene shows Jesus, Mary and Joseph separated at US border and trapped in cages

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 13:45

Democrats set to host press conference on impeachment

We're expecting to hear from Nancy Pelosi this morning as well as the five House committee chairs - Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Eliot Engel, Carolyn Maloney and Maxine Waters - as the Democrats give us their latest update on the impeachment inquiry any moment from the Capitol's Rayburn Room.

Stayed tuned.

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 14:05

Jerry Nadler announces two impeachment articles against Trump

Speaker Pelosi kicks things off remarking that this is a "solemn day", pays tribute to late House Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings.

(Andrew Feinberg)

Nadler is now confirmining the two articles of impeachment “charging the president of the Untied States, Donald J Trump, with committing high crime and misdemeanors.”

The first is abuse of power, the second obstruction of Congress - as expected.

Here's Chris Riotta's breaking story.

Trump impeachment charges finally unveiled as president accused of abuse of power and obstruction

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 14:10

Adam Schiff: Trump's abuse of power 'simple and terrible'

The House Intelligence Committee chairman is currently reviewing the case against Trump.

And that's it! Short and sweet.

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 14:15

Trump gearing up for latest campaign rally

The president is yet to respond to Nadler's announcement but we can no doubt expect Twitter fireworks shortly.

He did offer this earlier, you will recall:

The president is due in the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, later today for his latest campaign rally at the Giant Center.

We wish we were as excited about it as this guy:

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 14:35

Trump talking trade but silent on impeachment

In a suprise move, Trump has just tweeted but - shock horror - it's not about impeachment!

He's attempting to look businesslike by giving an update on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (more on which shortly).

Joe Sommerlad10 December 2019 14:40

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