Day 1048: Clear and present danger.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

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1/ The House Intelligence Committee concluded that Trump tried to "use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election." The 300-page impeachment report also asserts that Trump "placed his own personal a...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free

1/ The House Intelligence Committee concluded that Trump tried to "use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election." The 300-page impeachment report also asserts that Trump "placed his own personal and political interests" ahead of U.S. national interests, "subverted U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine and undermined our national security in favor of two politically motivated investigations that would help his presidential re-election campaign." The report continues that "This continued solicitation of foreign interference in a U.S. election presents a clear and present danger that the president will continue to use the power of his office for his personal political gain." The Intelligence Committee is expected to approve the report along party lines Tuesday evening, ahead of the first impeachment hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. (New York Times / Politico / CNN / Bloomberg / NBC News / ABC News / Washington Post)

Trump called the impeachment inquiry "very unpatriotic" during the opening of the NATO leadership summit in London. He also called the inquiry a "performance" and said it was "a bad thing for our country." (Associated Press)

2/ House Democrats are considering expanding their articles of impeachment to include charges beyond Trump's alleged abuse of power related to Ukraine. Some members of the Judiciary Committee have discussed drafting articles for obstruction of justice and other "high crimes" outlined in the Mueller report, as well as allegations that Trump has used the presidency to personally enrich himself. Others on the committee support a more narrow approach that focuses solely on Trump's attempts to pressure Ukraine to launch investigations into his political opponents. (Washington Post)

3/ Ukraine knew about Trump's hold on military aid in July and attempted to keep the information from going public, according to the former Ukrainian deputy minister of foreign affairs. Olena Zerkal learned about the freeze from an incoming diplomatic cable and informed Ukrainian senior officials, who tried to prevent it from surfacing in order to avoid getting drawn into the impeachment discussion. Zerkal asked for a meeting with a senior aide to Zelensky to discuss it on July 30. The cable had been sent the previous week, but Zerkal could not confirm the precise date it had been transmitted. (New York Times)

4/ Rudy Giuliani repeatedly called the White House the same day that the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was abruptly recalled, according to phone records released by the House...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.