Trump news: President calls disgraced commando a 'great fighter' and says he doesn't know what 'insurance' Giuliani has against him

Democratic leaders are saying the GOP has no "credible defence" for Donald Trump's "attempted bribery" involving Ukraine -

The ousted chief of the US Navy has attacked Donald Trump in his resignation letter, telling the president they do not hold compatible views on “good order and discipline” in the military.

“The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries,” Richard Spencer, the secretary of the navy, told the president as he was fired by Mark Esper, the defence secretary, on Sunday.

Mr Spencer had allegedly proposed a backroom deal with the White House designed to resolve a public spat over disgraced Navy Seal Edward Gallagher – without telling Mr Esper. This was the official reason for his sacking.

Donal Trump has been described as the “chosen one” by his secretary of energy, Rick Perry.

In the preview of an interview shown on Fox News on Sunday night, the adviser, who has drawn scrutiny for his role in the Ukraine scandal, also compared the US president to a number of biblical kings.

“God’s used imperfect people all through history,” Mr Perry told the broadcaster. “King David wasn’t perfect, Saul wasn’t perfect, Solomon wasn’t perfect.”

He revealed that he gave Mr Trump “a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago”.

“I shared it with him and said, ‘Mr President, I know there are people that say you said you were the chosen one and I said, ‘You were,’” Mr Perry said.

Donald Trump is honouring the dog who helped take down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi today at the White House. Here's video -

Here's my story on Lindsey Graham's decision to block a resolution officially recognising Turkey's genocide of the Armenian people: 

What happens next in the impeachment inquiry?

After two weeks of public hearings, Democrats could soon turn the impeachment process over to the House Judiciary Committee. They're moving "expeditiously" ahead as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has instructed.

In the coming weeks, the House intelligence panel will submit a report to the Judiciary panel, and then Democrats will consider drafting articles of impeachment on President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine and the administration's attempts to block the investigation.

The articles could cover matters beyond Trump's efforts to push Ukraine to investigate Democrats, including special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but no decisions have been made.

There could be several steps along the way, including a Judiciary committee vote, a House floor vote and, finally, a Senate trial.

What's next in impeachment:

INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE WRAPS UP

Democrats on the House intelligence committee believe they have enough evidence to write a report and move forward. But it's still unclear whether they will hear any last-minute testimony.

Democratic House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday he won't foreclose the possibility of his committee undertaking more depositions and hearings in the impeachment inquiry of Trump. Schiff said on CNN's "State of the Union" that his committee continues to conduct investigative work, but he won't let the Trump administration stall the inquiry.

Schiff's staff and others are compiling the panel's findings to submit to the House Judiciary Committee, which is expected to open its own hearings to consider articles of impeachment and a formal recommendation of charges. He said his committee may need to file addendums to its report so that the Judiciary Committee can move ahead.

"The investigation isn't going to end," Schiff said.

Several potentially key witnesses — former national security adviser John Bolton, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others — have declined to provide testimony or documents on Trump's orders.

Democrats have said they don't want to get tied up in lengthy court battles to force those witnesses to cooperate with subpoenas. But they could still hear testimony if one of them changed their mind, or if other key witnesses emerged.

"We've heard and seen compelling evidence that the president committed serious wrongdoing," says Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, a member of the intelligence panel. "There are other witnesses, including some principal witnesses that we would have liked to have heard from, but the evidence has been pretty damning that the president committed an impeachable act."

Time is running short if the House is to vote on impeachment by Christmas, which Democrats privately say is the goal. The intelligence panel is expected to spend the Thanksgiving week writing, and maybe even completing, a report of evidence gathered through more than six weeks of closed-door depositions and public hearings.

Once the report is done, the panel could vote to pass it on to the House Judiciary Committee. That could happen as soon as the first week of December, when lawmakers return from the Thanksgiving break.

———

JUDICIARY TAKES CHARGE

Pelosi has instructed the intelligence panel, along with other committees that have investigated Trump, to submit evidence to the House Judiciary Committee. That panel is then expected to hold hearings and vote on articles of impeachment — a process that could take up the first two weeks of December.

The articles of impeachment are expected to mostly focus on Ukraine, though discussions continue. Democrats are considering an overall "abuse of power" article against Trump, which could be broken into categories like bribery or extortion. The article would center on the Democrats' assertion, based on witness testimony, that Trump used his office to pressure Ukraine into politically motivated investigations.

Additional articles of impeachment could include obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice. The latter could incorporate evidence from Mueller's report.

———

HOUSE FLOOR VOTE

The Judiciary panel could take several days to debate the articles and then vote on them — sending impeachment to the House floor, where they could immediately be called up for consideration. Debate on impeachment would be handled similarly to any other bill or resolution.

If articles of impeachment reach the House floor, Democrats will be looking to peel off Republicans to make the vote bipartisan. So far, however, it appears few, if any, Republicans will break ranks. Not a single Republican backed the resolution launching the impeachment hearings.

Once an impeachment vote is done, Democrats would appoint impeachment managers for a Senate trial.

———

SENATE TRIAL

House Democrats are hoping to be finished with an impeachment vote by Christmas, sending articles to the Republican-controlled Senate for a trial in 2020. Unless political dynamics change, Trump is expected to have the backing of majority Republicans in that chamber to be acquitted.

It's still unclear how long a trial would last, what it would look like or what witnesses might be called. Top White House officials met Thursday with Republican senators to discuss strategy but made no decisions about the length of a trial or other tactics, two people familiar with the session said.

Participants in the meeting expressed more interest in voting as soon as they have the 51 votes needed to acquit Trump than in setting a specific timetable for the proceedings, according to one Senate GOP aide.

That aide and a senior White House official said a trial lasting two weeks was discussed, but not agreed to. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting.

Donald Trump's  failed pick to be governor of Kentucky — or, rather, to keep on being the governor — has issued a pardon for a man convicted in 2001 of sexually abusing his 6-year-old stepdaughter.

Governor Matt Bevin, who lost his re-election bid earlier this year in spite of Mr Trump's express effort to boost the Republican, wrote in an order that he believes PauL Donel Hurt was wrongfully convicted of the crime.

"It appears to me, and to many others including the judge who sentenced hi, that Paul Donel Hurt has been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for nearly 20 years," Mr Bevin wrote.

The ruling was actually upheld in August, with the judge who took over saying that he believes the now-retired judge who oversaw the original conviction had acted suspiciously by starting personal correspondence with the victim and the man convicted fo the crime.

Mark Esper, the secretary of Defense, told reporters on Monday that Donald Trump told him to allow Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher to keep his trident, which is a symbol of the esteemed fighting service.

Mr Esper's statement comes after reports that Mr Trump had taken the unusual step of intervening in the matter, in spite of top level officials pushing for other outcomes for Gallagher — who had been accused of murdering an Isis terrorist, but ultimately acquitted.

"I spoke with the president on Sunday. He gave me the order that Eddie Gallagher will retain his trident pin," Mr Esper said.

In case you missed this weekend's bonkers interview, outgoing Energy secretary Rick Perry told Fox & Friends over the weekend that he believes Donald Trump is "the chosen one".

"God's used imperfect people all throughout history. King David wasn't perfect. Saul wasn't perfect. Solomon wasn't perfect," Mr Perry said during an interview with the program.

"And I actually gave the president a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago and I shared it with him,” he continued. “I said, 'Mr. President, I know there are people that say you said you were the chosen one and I said, 'You were.’ "

From the White House pool report, Donald Trump met with the prime minister of Bulgaria today, and commented on the following:

Trump said they would have “very productive meetings.”    “They’ve ordered some F35s and some other things,” Trump said, adding, he was looking forward to it.    Trump was asked about the firing of the Navy Secretary.    “We’ve been thinking about that for a long time that didn’t just happen,” Trump said, adding, “It’s about time.”    He called Eddie Gallagher a “great fighter.”    Trump was asked by your pooler if his recent comments about Lt. Col. Vindman and the Navy Secretary might be “disparaging” members of the armed forces.    “I think what I’m doing is sticking up for our armed forces,” Trump said.    Trump went on to say “very unfair things were happening” in the military.    “You let Sgt. Bergdahl go ... you let others go, he said.   Trump someone just died from injuries sustained pursuing Bergdahl.    “He gets a slap on the wrist if that,” Trump said of Bergdahl.    Trump said if he had a choice to stand up for fighters or someone else, “I will stick up for the warriors.”    He then noted that the other soldier he referenced was Chelsea Manning, who he said “went around and badmouthed” Obama after getting out of jail.    Trump was also asked by your pooler and others what Rudy Giuliani meant by saying he had “insurance” against being thrown under the bus.    “Oh I don’t know. Rudy’s a great guy,” Trump said.   Trump noted Giuliani has addressed that issue and offered more praise for Giuliani.   He then repeatedly urged Nancy Pelosi to move on USMCA. The pool was ushered out of the Oval at about 2:40 pm.