ICYMI: The House Voted To Officially Continue The Impeachment Inquiry

It’s been a busy week in Washington, D.C.: their baseball team, the Washington Nationals, won the World Series for the initial time ever; a Representative stepped down right after being the victim of a revenge porn attack; the Residence of Representatives took a vote on impeachment; and it also was Halloween! Spooky.

We’re going to zoom in on one of these — the impeachment inquiry — and fill you in on everything you could have missed.

To catch you up:

On July 25, President Donald Trump discussed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone and asked him to dig up dirt on his potential political rival and former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, as well as to investigate a business involved in the FBI inquiry of Russia’s 2016 election interference. Trump allegedly dangled $400 million in aid to the nation along with a personalized meeting between the two leaders as leverage. The White Residence released a memorandum (read: not an exact transcript) of the call that confirmed this.

On August 12, a whistleblower sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr and California Representative Adam Schiff detailing that call and the surrounding controversy.

On September 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the Residence of Representatives would file a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

Since then, there’s been some disaster. The Home Intelligence Committee, which is comprised of both Republicans and Democrats, started investigating in back of closed doors. That bipartisan presence didn’t stop some Republicans from attempting to break into the hearings, or from complaining that having these hearings in private was a “sham.” Trump publicly asked Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens. His chief of personnel, Mick Mulvaney, confirmed that the President planned Ukraine quid pro quo assistance, yet walked that one back pretty much immediately.

all of the while, the Committee has continued interviewing folks about what, exactly, transpired between the Trump administration and Ukraine. Within the past few weeks, they’ve heard from plenty of witnesses, including Ambassador Bill Taylor, the best diplomat in Ukraine; Fiona Hill, Trump’s top Russia advisor, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union.

So what happened this week?

Monday, October 28

Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Residence Democrats saying they would take a final vote on Thursday to “affirm” the impeachment investigation right after obtaining heavy blowback from Republicans for not officially authorizing the proceedings. A formal vote is unnecessary, nevertheless Pelosi mentioned she wanted to “eliminate any doubt” over the investigation. The resolution they’ll vote on will answer three big questions:

Should Congress continue to formally investigate impeachment?

What is the process going to be for holding public hearings?

What should Congress do about the transcripts of the interviews they’ve already completed?

Charles Kupperman, the former deputy national security adviser, also ghosted his scheduled testimony. The White Home says he’s immune from testifying, which or might not directly be true. Kupperman, for his part, also seems confused — so he filed a lawsuit to clarify if he has to testify.

Tuesday, October 29

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a staffer and top Ukraine expert for the National Security Council, spoke to Residence investigators in one of the wildest testimonies although. Vindman was interesting not only because he’s still working at the White Home — and is an active-duty military officer who acquired a Purple Heart soon after being injured in Iraq — however he was also the initial person who was actually on the infamous July Ukraine call converse with investigators.

He corroborated a lot of what has already been mentioned, as well as brought new intelligence forward, including concerns about how the Trump administration was dealing with Ukraine on two separate occasions; that he attempted to get military aid restored soon after Trump rescinded it in the aftermath of the fateful call; and he mentioned that there were essential words and phrases missing from the memorandum of the phone call that the Trump administration released. He mentioned he attempted to edit the memorandum, nevertheless wasn’t allowed. We know all of this because he released his initial statement. Although, his complete testimony hasn't been publicly released.

Politico also reported that Sondland, Trump’s most rewarding witness, may have perjured himself in his interview with investigators on October 17.

Wednesday, October 30

This was a busy day, so buckle in, y’all.

Home investigators discussed to Catherine Croft, who served as a director for the National Security Council covering Ukraine from July 2017 to July 2018. This past summer, she took a job as a State Department official, according to CNN. Like all testimonies at this point, hers was in back of closed doors, so we don’t have much statistics on what she mentioned. We do know that she was brought in due to the intelligence she could have involving Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine who was allegedly ousted amidst pressure from Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personalized lawyer. Croft also potentially had data involving the $400 million in military aid that was allegedly used as a bargaining chip between Trump and Zelensky, CNN reported. She was not on the July 25 phone call.

Christopher Anderson, a foreign service officer in the State Department, also testified before Residence investigators. According to a copy of his starting statement, which was derived by NPR, Anderson mentioned that Giuliani stood in the way of the U.S.’S relationship with Ukraine.

Also on Wednesday, Home Democrats sent interview requests to John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser; and White Home lawyers John Eisenberg and Michael Ellis, the New York Times reported. Bolton’s lawyer said he isn’t going to show up voluntarily.

Tim Morrison, the best Russia expert on the National Security Council, resigned on Wednesday, the day before he was scheduled to testify, NPR reported.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, wrote a letter asking officials to protect Vindman against retaliation. Opponents to Vindman have questioned his patriotism, since Vindman was place on Earth in Ukraine; his family member moved to the U.S. Once he was three years old, following his mother’s death.

John Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state, mentioned that Giuliani was involved in ousting Yovanovitch, further confirming what others have testified, according to the New York Times.

Thursday, October 31

Another busy day in Impeachment Land: The Residence voted 232-196 to endorse an impeachment inquiry into Trump. It was almost totally a party line vote, with the exception of two Democrats: Rep. Jeff Van Drew from New Jersey and Rep. Collin Peterson from Minnesota, who opposed the inquiry. Republicans unanimously opposed it. The resolution also set out the rules for the investigation, including a ruling that states there will be at least one public hearing that permits both Democrats and Republicans equal time to question witnesses. The rule also permits deposition transcripts to be published at the secrecy of the Residence Intelligence Committee.

Timothy Morrison, a top National Security Council official who listened to the infamous July call, also testified in front of Residence investigators. According to CBS News, Morrison mentioned he was concerned that specifics of the call would become public, however added that he didn’t think “anything unlawful was discussed.”

Friday, November 1

there really are no votes and the Home Committee doesn’t appear to be hearing any testimony, because even politicians deserve downtime (though how liberally they take that downtime is up to them).