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The Guardian - US
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Julia Carrie Wong in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Acting homeland security secretary Kevin McAleenan steps down, Trump says – as it happened

Acting department of homeland security (DHS) secretary Kevin McAleenan on 7 October.
The acting department of homeland security (DHS) secretary, Kevin McAleenan, on 7 October. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Summary

Here’s a rundown of the top stories of the day:

  • Maria Yovanovitch testified to the House impeachment inquiry, in defiance of an order by the state department.
  • Yovanovitch said in her opening statement to the House committees that she was told Trump placed pressure on the state department to recall her.
  • Shep Smith, the Fox News anchor who has repeatedly criticized Trump, announced that he was resigning.
  • Trump announced that the US and China have reached a “phase one” agreement on a trade deal, but it has not yet been written. The administration added that the new tariffs on Chinese imports, which were set to go into effect on Tuesday, had been canceled.
  • The Trump administration suffered multiple legal defeats. Namely, a federal appeals court upheld House Democrats’ subpoena for the president’s financial records, and two of Trump’s controversial immigration policies were blocked by judges.
  • The Pentagon announced it would send more troops to Saudi Arabia, despite Trump’s insistence this week that he was withdrawing troops from northern Syria to reduce America’s military presence in the Middle East.
  • Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security, resigned. McAleenan was the fourth person to hold the position under Trump.

Here’s McAleenan’s statement:

Kevin McAleenan has resigned as acting secretary of homeland security.

McAleenan had only been in the position since April, when he was appointed acting secretary to replace Kirstjen Nielsen. Nielsen succeeded John Kelly in the job when Kelly was tapped to be Trump’s White House chief of staff. (Update to clarify: Elaine Duke served as acting secretary for six months between Kelly and Nielsen.)

McAleenan was never formerly nominated for the Cabinet position, which would have required senate confirmation.

Prior to his appointment with DHS, he worked in various positions with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and was confirmed as commissioner of CBP in March 2018.

Just last week, he spoke to the Washington Post about what the paper described as his “unease” with a law enforcement agency being used for partisan political purposes.

“What I don’t have control over is the tone, the message, the public face and approach of the department in an increasingly polarized time,” he told the Washington Post. “That’s uncomfortable, as the accountable, senior figure.”

Updated

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan is out

Donald Trump just tweeted that Kevin McAleenan, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, is leaving the administration to “spend more time with his family and go to the private sector”.

Trump also said that a new acting secretary will be named next said.

Facebook has been under pressure all week over its decision to exempt politicians from a policy banning false statements from advertisements.

Now Elizabeth Warren – who has responded to Mark Zuckerberg’s leaked remarks promising to “go to the mat and ... fight” her plan to break Facebook up by, well, going to the mat and fighting – is running intentionally false ads to critique the company.

Warren’s ad goes on to correct the record, unlike a controversial set of Trump ads that deceptively promote misleading information about Joe Biden. I wrote more about the contretemps and what it tells us about Facebook here.

A Facebook spokesman told CNN: “If Senator Warren wants to say things she knows to be untrue, we believe Facebook should not be in the position of censoring that speech.”

Updated

The Commission on Presidential Debates today announced the dates and locations for three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate next year.

The presidential debates will be:

  • Tuesday 29 September 2020 at the University of Notre Dame
  • Thursday 15 October 2020 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Thursday 22 October 2020 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee

The vice presidential debate will be on Wednesday 7 October 2020 at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Mark your calendars!

It sounds like the Trump campaign is ignoring the Prince estate’s demand that it stop using his music at campaign events.

DOJ asks court to block release of Trump's taxes

The justice department has waded into Trump’s fight to continue concealing his tax returns by filing a brief supporting the president’s appeal of a Monday court ruling, the New York Times reports.

The case stems from efforts by Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance to subpoena Trump’s tax returns as part of an investigation into the hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels during Trump’s campaign.

Trump sued to stop the subpoena, but on Monday a federal judge rejected his arguments, calling them “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values”.

Trump is now appealing that decision, and today the justice department filed a brief in his support.

The appeals court will hear arguments on 23 October.

Top adviser to Pompeo resigns

Michael McKinley, a career foreign service officer and the de facto chief of staff to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announced his resignation on Friday, the AP reports.

McKinley’s departure adds to what the AP describes as “tumult in the State Department over the Trump administration’s handling of Ukraine and treatment of diplomats”.

Per the AP:

Michael McKinley announced his retirement after a nearly four-decade career as an American diplomat. McKinley told colleagues he was leaving for personal reasons, and officials did not directly link his departure to the Ukraine situation that is now at the center of an impeachment probe.

McKinley’s resignation took effect Friday, the same day the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine told congressional investigators that she had been removed from her post due to political pressure from the White House.

Beto O’Rourke says that he raised $4.5m in the past three months, CNN reports.

The total ranks him ninth among the Democratic presidential candidates, who are, in order of the total raised in the third quarter:

  • Bernie Sanders
  • Elizabeth Warren
  • Pete Buttigieg
  • Joe Biden
  • Kamala Harris
  • Andrew Yang
  • Cory Booker
  • Amy Klobuchar
  • Beto O’Rourke
  • Marianne Williamson
  • Steve Bullock
  • Michael Bennet
  • Tom Steyer

These self-reported announcements only give us the topline numbers for fundraising information. Stay tuned for next week, when the candidates file their disclosures with the FEC and we’ll be able to bring you much more analysis of who these donors are.

Schrödinger’s personal attorney...

Hello everyone, this is Julia Carrie Wong in San Francisco picking up the live blog for the rest of this busy Friday.

Adam Schiff, the chair of the House intelligence committee, has written a letter to house Democrats describing the progress thus far in the impeachment inquiry and promising that the process will “accelerate”.

The letter notes that depositions are scheduled for the following witnesses:

  • Dr Fiona Hill, former National Security Council director for European and Russian affairs,
  • George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state, who oversees policy on Ukraine and other countries,
  • Gordon Sondlond, ambassador to the EU, and
  • T Ulrich Brechbuhl, counselor of the state department

Schiff added that additional witnesses will be announced in the coming days.

That’s it from me this week. My west coast colleague, Julia Carrie Wong, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • The Democratic chairmen of the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry said that the state department (at the direction of the White House) told Maria Yovanovitch not to testify, an order that the the former US ambassador to Ukraine defied.
  • Yovanovitch said in her opening statement to the House committees that she was told Trump placed pressure on the state department to recall her.
  • Shep Smith, the Fox News anchor who has repeatedly criticized Trump, announced that he was resigning.
  • Trump announced that the US and China have reached a “phase one” agreement on a trade deal, but it has not yet been written. The administration added that the new tariffs on Chinese imports, which were set to go into effect on Tuesday, had been canceled.
  • The Trump administration suffered multiple legal defeats. Namely, a federal appeals court upheld House Democrats’ subpoena for the president’s financial records, and two of Trump’s controversial immigration policies were blocked by judges.
  • The Pentagon announced it would send more troops to Saudi Arabia, despite Trump’s insistence this week that he was withdrawing troops from northern Syria to reduce America’s military presence in the Middle East.

Julia will have more on the news of the day, so stay tuned.

Trump did not seem very heartbroken at the news that Shep Smith, whom the president has repeatedly slammed for criticizing him, was leaving Fox News.

Meanwhile, Maria Yovanovitch continues to testify before the House committees investigating impeachment.

The former US ambassador to Ukraine arrived on Capitol Hill for her closed-door testimony more than six hours ago.

In announcing his departure, Fox News anchor Shep Smith told his viewers that he had requested to leave and that the network had tried to convince him to stay.

The anchor, who has previously been critical of Trump, added that he would not be reporting elsewhere for the time being.

Fox News anchor who criticized Trump is leaving the network

In some media news: Shep Smith, the Fox News anchor who was arguably most critical of Trump, is stepping down from his role at the network.

Smith has repeatedly called out the president for his falsehoods and his treatment of journalists, a habit that has attracted Trump’s scorn.

Late last month, Smith condemned Trump’s false corruption allegations against Joe Biden as “baseless” and a “conspiracy theory.”

Trump has said that the tariffs set to go into effect against China on Tuesday have now been canceled.

Following his meeting with the Chinese vice premier, Trump said the US and China would finalize a “phase one” trade deal in the next few weeks.

The US president claimed the deal would address intellectual property theft, a longstanding issue between the two countries, but that’s not necessarily certain given that the agreement has not yet been written.

Trump announces interim trade deal with China

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the US and China have reached a “phase one” deal on trade.

Reporters at the White House are still waiting on word from Trump’s meeting with the Chinese vice premier on trade talks, so there could be even more breaking news in the next hour.

Politico has some helpful context on the potential ramifications of Maria Yovanovitch’s decision to comply with a congressional subpoena, despite the state department (at the urging of the White House) directing the former ambassador not to testify:

Unlike the last witness in the Ukraine matter to testify — former ambassador Kurt Volker — Yovanovitch is still employed by the State Department, which raises questions about whether she’ll face any punishment for defying orders. Legal experts and State Department officials have been trying, without conclusion, to resolve the question of whether a congressional subpoena trumps a State Department direction to a Foreign Service officer.

Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller is now taking questions from reporters at the White House, and it is ... quite the scene.

Miller would not answer when asked if he would hypothetically comply with a subpoena to testify in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Updated

Judge temporarily blocks 'public charge' rule

Trump is suffering a lot of legal defeats today. A federal judge has now placed a nationwide injunction on the administration’s plan to penalize green card applicants who rely on government assistance, known as the “public charge” rule.

The New York Times reports:

Judge George B. Daniels of the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York said those potentially affected by the new regulation could suffer ‘irreparable harm’ if it goes into effect. ‘The balance of equities and the interests of justice favor issuance of a preliminary injunction,’ the judge wrote.

The ‘public charge’ rule, which had been scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, set new standards for determining who might become a burden on the public purse and barred them from obtaining permanent residence in the country.

Judge Daniels’s order, which the Justice Department is likely to appeal, came a few days after President Trump also moved to deny immigrant visas to those who cannot prove that they will either have health insurance or can afford to pay for their own health care.

Federal court rules Trump broke the law by declaring national emergency to get border wall built

The news will not stop coming today. A federal court has just ruled that Trump violated the law by declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border to get his wall built.

David Smith reported this back in February:

Donald Trump has defied fierce criticism to announce that he is using emergency powers to bypass Congress and pursue the building of a wall on the US-Mexico border.

At a combative, rambling and at times incoherent press conference in the White House, the US president insisted he had no choice but to declare a national emergency to stop illegal immigrants spreading crime and drugs.

Yet Trump admitted that he did not ‘need’ to take the step now and was only doing so for speed. Opponents seized on the remark to accuse him of falsehoods and fearmongering for political ends, describing the move as ‘unlawful’ and a violation of the US constitution.

It is now clear that Marie Yovanovitch, who is still technically an employee of the state department, defied the White House’s wishes in testifying before the House committees investigating impeachment.

The Democratic chairman of those committees confirmed moments ago that they issued a subpoena to the former US ambassador to Ukraine to compel her to appear, which she complied with.

But other Trump administration officials have ignored congressional subpoenas to adhere to the president’s wishes. And that raises this question: will the White House retaliate against Yovanovitch for testifying?

That certainly seemed like a possibility in the talking points that the administration issued about Yovanovitch’s appearance. The White House warned in those talking points that, by testifying without a state department lawyer, Yovanovitch was in “serious danger that she could breach her obligations as a current employee.”

The three Democratic chairman of the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry said the White House’s efforts to block Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony provided more evidence of obstruction.

Adam Schiff, Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings said: “Last night, the Committees learned that the State Department, at the direction of the White House, directed Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch not to appear for her voluntary interview today.

“This is the latest example of the Administration’s efforts to conceal the facts from the American people and obstruct our lawful and constitutionally-authorized impeachment inquiry.

“In response, the House Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to compel her testimony this morning. This duly authorized subpoena is mandatory, and the illegitimate order from the Trump Administration not to cooperate has no force. As is required of her, the Ambassador is now complying with the subpoena and answering questions from both Democratic and Republican Members and staff.

“Any efforts by Trump Administration officials to prevent witness cooperation with the Committees will be deemed obstruction of a co-equal branch of government and an adverse inference may be drawn against the President on the underlying allegations of corruption and coverup.”

The Democratic chairmen of the committees leading the impeachment inquiry said that the White House had directed the state department to block Marie Yovanovitch from testifying.

The committees then issued a subpoena to the former US ambassador to Ukraine. But Yovanovitch’s decision to comply with the subpoena, in spite of the White House’s opposition to it, is a first in House Democrats’ investigations of Trump.

House committees say state department told Yovanovitch not to testify

The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry said that Marie Yovanovitch had been directed by the state department not to appear for today’s hearing.

In response, the committees issued a subpoena, which the former US ambassador to Ukraine complied with.

A Washington Post columnist noted that, given Trump’s ability to immediately order sanctions, Steven Mnuchin’s announcement that the administration had “authorized” sanctions against Turkey is ... effectively meaningless.

US and China reportedly reach partial trade deal

The US and China have reportedly reached a partial deal in trade negotiations as Trump prepares to meet with the Chinese vice premier in the next hour.

Bloomberg News reports:

The U.S. and China reached a partial agreement Friday that would broker a truce in the trade war and lay the groundwork for a broader deal that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping could sign later this year, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reports.

As part of the agreement, China would agree to some agricultural concessions and the U.S. would provide some tariff relief. The pact is tentative and subject to change as Trump prepares to sit down with China’s Vice Premier Liu He later Friday.

The news that Trump may agree to ratchet down some of his tariffs on Chinese imports caused US stocks to jump.

Mnuchin also dodged a question about trade talks in advance of Trump’s meeting with the Chinese vice premier this afternoon.

Treasury secretary threatens sanctions against Turkey

Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, said Trump is prepared to authorize sanctions against Turkey depending on how the country navigates its military operation in northern Syria.

But Mnuchin made it very clear that the administration is not activating sanctions at the moment. He added that financial institutions should be “on notice” that sanctions could be forthcoming.

By the way, Marie Yovanovitch is still being interviewed by the House committees investigating impeachment, and it looks like we can all settle in because this isn’t wrapping up anytime soon.

One Democratic member of the House oversight committee just told reporters that Marie Yovanovitch appeared before lawmakers under subpoena.

But no subpoena of Yovanovitch was ever publicly announced, raising the possibility that the former US ambassador to Ukraine requested one to testify.

The White House has just announced that Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, will speak to reporters in the briefing room in about 15 minutes.

It’s not clear what Mnuchin intends to address, but multiple reporters were told that he will not be discussing the US-China trade talks.

Meanwhile, Trump’s trade meeting with the Chinese vice premier is still set for 2:45 p.m. EST.

You can read Yovanovitch’s full opening statement here:

Updated

Here’s where this very newsy Friday stands so far:

  • Marie Yovanovitch testified to House committees investigating impeachment that she was told Trump had pressured the state department to release her as the US ambassador to Ukraine.
  • A federal appeals court upheld House Democrats’ subpoena for eight years of Trump’s financial records from his accounting firm.
  • The Pentagon announced it would send more troops to Saudi Arabia, even as Trump has defended his decision to withdraw forces from northern Syria by saying that he was trying to get the US military out of the Middle East.

The blog will have much more to come, so stay tuned.

Giuliani's relationship to arrested Republican donors reportedly under investigation

Federal authorities investigating Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman are reportedly probing the pair’s relationship to Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

Parnas and Fruman are facing campaign-finance charges, and the foreign-born Republican donors were arrested Wednesday night as they allegedly tried to flee the country.

ABC News reports:

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s New York field office and prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, the same U.S. Attorney’s office Giuliani ran before he became mayor of New York. ...

Parnas and Fruman, two Soviet-born, Florida-based businessmen, assisted Giuliani in his effort to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his family. The association among the three men goes back several years. Giuliani has represented Parnas and Fruman in the past.

The Wall Street Journal also reported yesterday that Giuliani had lunch with Parnas and Fruman just hours before the pair were arrested at Dulles International Airport.

State department official mentioned in Yovanovitch statement nominated ambassador to Russia

The White House has just announced the nomination of John Sullivan, currently the deputy secretary of state, as the next US ambassador to Russia.

And if that name sounds familiar to you, it’s because he is the same John Sullivan who told Marie Yovanovitch that the State Department had been pressured by Trump to recall her, according to the former ambassador’s opening statement to House committees this morning.

Yovanovitch said of Sullivan: “I met with the Deputy Secretary of State, who informed me of the curtailment of my term. He said that the President had lost confidence in me and no longer wished me to serve as his ambassador.

“He added that there had been a concerted campaign against me, and that the Department had been under pressure from the President to remove me since the Summer of 2018.

“He also said that I had done nothing wrong and that this was not like other situations where he had recalled ambassadors for cause. I departed Ukraine for good this past May.”

Pentagon confirms deployment of more US troops to Saudi Arabia

The blog is following news on multiple fronts right now. In addition to the release of Marie Yovanovitch’s blistering opening statement to House committees, the Pentagon has just confirmed the deployment of more US troops to Saudi Arabia.

The announcement comes after an attack last month on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, which Saudi and US officials have blamed on Iran.

Across the past month, US officials have announced the deployment of about 3,000 additional troops to Saudi Arabia.

Trump put 'pressure' on state department to remove her, Yovanovitch says

Marie Yovanovitch added in her opening statement to the House committees that she was told Trump had put “pressure” on the state department for nearly a year to recall her.

The former US ambassador to Ukraine said to the lawmakers investigating impeachment: “I met with the Deputy Secretary of State, who informed me of the curtailment of my term. He said that the President had lost confidence in me and no longer wished me to serve as his ambassador.

“He added that there had been a concerted campaign against me, and that the Department had been under pressure from the President to remove me since the Summer of 2018. He also said that I had done nothing wrong and that this was not like other situations where he had recalled ambassadors for cause. I departed Ukraine for good this past May.”

In her opening statement to the House committees, Yovanovitch sought to dispel some of the smears thrown at her by far-right pundits.

The former ambassador to Ukraine said: “I want to categorically state that I have never myself or through others, directly or indirectly, ever directed, suggested, or in any other way asked for any government or government official in Ukraine (or elsewhere) to refrain from investigating or prosecuting actual corruption.

“Equally fictitious is the notion that I am disloyal to President Trump. I have heard the allegation in the media that I supposedly told the Embassy team to ignore the President’s orders ‘since he was going to be impeached.’ That allegation is false. I have never said such a thing, to my Embassy colleagues or to anyone else.”

Yovanovitch added that she never discussed Hunter Biden or his Ukrainian company with Joe Biden or any other Obama official, although she has met the former vice president on several occasions.

Yovanovitch says Giuliani's associates may have opposed her anti-corruption efforts

According to her opening statement published by the Washington Post, Marie Yovanovitch said she had few interactions with Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

But she noted that, based on news reports, some of Giuliani’s associates may have believed they would suffer financial losses due to the ambassador’s anti-corruption efforts.

Yovanovitch told the House committees: “With respect to Mayor Giuliani, I have had only minimal contacts with him—a total of three that I recall. None related to the events at issue. I do not know Mr. Giuliani’s motives for attacking me.

“But individuals who have been named in the press as contacts of Mr. Giuliani may well have believed that their personal financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.”

Updated

Yovanovitch accuses Trump of pushing for her removal based on 'false claims'

Marie Yovanovitch told the House committees investigating impeachment that Trump had pushed for her removal as ambassador to Ukraine based on “false claims”, according to the New York Times.

The Times reports:

Marie L. Yovanovitch, who was recalled as the American ambassador to Ukraine, testified to impeachment investigators on Friday that a top State Department official told her that President Trump had pushed for her removal for months even though the department believed she had ‘done nothing wrong.’

In a closed-door deposition that could further fuel calls for Mr. Trump’s impeachment, Ms. Yovanovitch delivered a scathing indictment of his administration’s conduct of foreign policy, warning that private influence and personal gain have usurped diplomats’ judgment, threatening to undermine the nation’s interests and drive talented professionals out of public service.

According to a copy of her opening statement obtained by The New York Times, the longtime diplomat said she was ‘incredulous’ that she was removed as ambassador ‘based, as far as I can tell, on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.’

Updated

A Democratic member of the House oversight committee, Eleanor Holmes Norton, said that Marie Yovanovitch was “acting like a true ambassador” in her closed-door interview.

Norton added that the former US ambassador to Ukraine had made no mention of anyone trying to prevent her from speaking to the House committees investigating impeachment.

US planning to send more troops to Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports

The US is planning to send more troops, potentially numbering in the thousands, to Saudi Arabia following an attack on its oil facilities last month, which the two countries have blamed on Iran.

Reuters reports:

[Sources familiar with the matter] did not specify exactly how many troops would be deployed or specify whether they would be replacing any other American forces that might be departing elsewhere in the region in the coming weeks or months.

The Pentagon has yet to announce, for example, whether it will replace the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group when it eventually wraps up its deployment to the Middle East.

One of the sources said the United States was also considering deploying additional air defenses to Saudi Arabia. That could not be immediately confirmed, however.

The Trump administration’s decision to send more resources to Saudi Arabia stands in stark contrast to the president’s withdrawal of troops from northern Syria.

Trump said earlier this week of his Syria decision: “I campaigned on the fact that I was going to bring our soldiers home, and bring them home as rapidly as possible.”

Ahead of his meeting this afternoon with the Chinese vice premier, Trump boasted that he would be able to unilaterally sign a trade deal with Beijing if the two countries can agree on terms.

But it appears that the president is once again trying to claim credit for solving a problem of his own creation, as an LA Times editor noted.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to uphold House Democrats’ subpoena for eight years of Trump’s financial records from his accounting firm.

The only judge to vote against upholding the subpoena was Neomi Rao, who was appointed by Trump. (The other two judges in the case were appointed by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.)

Rao argued in her dissenting opinion that members of Congress cannot investigate potentially illegal activity by the president unless it is meant to advance an impeachment inquiry, which this subpoena was not officially a part of.

But a Politico reporter raised the point that Rao’s argument could delegitimize nearly all congressional oversight of the president.

Updated

The former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, is now sitting down with House committees involved in the impeachment inquiry for a “transcribed interview,” according to a Fox News reporter.

House Democrats score two major victories in impeachment inquiry

In case you missed it: a federal appeals court has upheld House Democrats’ subpoena to obtain eight years of Trump’s financial records from his accounting firm.

That ruling came as Marie Yovanovitch appeared on Capitol Hill to testify in the impeachment inquiry, defying the White House’s refusal to cooperate with the probe.

Taken together, the developments mark two major victories for House Democrats as they seek to uncover more information about Trump and his administration for their impeachment investigation.

Julian Borger also notes in his piece on Yovanovitch that her removal as ambassador to Ukraine has had a detrimental effect on state department morale:

[Secretary of state Mike] Pompeo’s claim that the House committees were seeking to ‘intimidate, bully and treat improperly’ state department officials has drawn accusations of hypocrisy, particularly in light of his treatment of Yovanovitch.

He appears to have bowed to pressure from the White House by pulling her out of Kyiv two months before her posting was due to end, and failed to speak out in her defence when she was smeared by rightwing pundits and talkshow hosts.

Pompeo likes to claim he has brought ‘swagger’ to the state department, but the treatment of Yovanovitch and the state department’s embroilment in the impeachment scandal has badly hit morale at the organisation.

Updated

The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, has more on Marie Yovanovitch and how the former US ambassador to Ukraine became a central figure in the impeachment probe:

Yovanovitch is no longer ambassador, having been removed in May before her posting was finished, after having been accused of disloyalty in the far-right media. ...

Since leaving Kyiv, Yovanovitch has been on sabbatical at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, but is still a serving foreign service officer. ...

In picking on Yovanovitch, the detractors have chosen a tough target. She has had a stellar career, serving as ambassador under three presidents to three countries (a rare distinction), Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Ukraine, as well as senior adviser to the under secretary of state for political affairs. ...

Former colleagues all describe her as meticulous, calm under pressure, supremely qualified and steeped in the nonpartisan culture of professional diplomacy, all which set her apart from the campaign donors who are given an increasing share of ambassadorial posts.

Yovanovitch’s decision to testify in the impeachment inquiry could clear the way for other administration officials to speak to House committees, despite the White House’s opposition.

Earlier this morning, a lawyer for Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, said the diplomat would cooperate with House Democrats’ subpoena and talk to lawmakers next Thursday.

The lawyer’s statement specifically mentioned that the State Department was leaning in the direction of trying to block Sondland’s testimony.

So there are now two State Department officials who appear to have defied the administration’s wishes to testify in the impeachment probe.

It’s worth taking a moment to note the boldness of Yovanovitch’s decision to testify despite the White House’s refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

Even though Yovanovitch was recalled from her post as the US ambassador to Ukraine this spring, she is still an employee of the State Department.

Just before Yovanovitch’s arrival, there was a brief moment when officers on Capitol Hill feared a security breach, adding even more drama to an already dramatic day.

Former US ambassador to Ukraine arrives for testimony in impeachment inquiry

Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify in the impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Court upholds House Democrats' subpoena for Trump's financial records

As we await the potential arrival of Marie Yovanovitch on Capitol Hill, a federal appeals court has rejected Trump’s appeal to block House Democrats’ subpoena of his financial records.

The D.C. Circuit court voted 2-1 to uphold the subpoena, with only Trump appointee Neomi Rao dissenting. Rao had raised concerns about the process by which the subpoena was issued, but she voted against it even after those concerns were addressed.

The testimony from Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, was scheduled to begin a few minutes ago, but she hasn’t been spotted yet on Capitol Hill.

Senior congressional aides said earlier that they expected the career diplomat to appear, but it’s still possible that the State Department will attempt to block her testimony.

In his classic reality-television manner, Trump previewed his meeting this afternoon with the Chinese vice premier to discuss trade negotiations.

US stocks jumped yesterday after Trump announced the meeting with Liu He, as investors expressed hope that the sit-down could lead the administration to ratchet down tariffs on Chinese imports.

But Trump has shown no signal of wanting to call off his trade war, only predicting that China would eventually be forced to make a deal with him.

Some of the House Republicans who sit on the committees leading the impeachment inquiry have arrived for Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony, but it’s still unclear whether the former US ambassador to Ukraine will appear.

The executive editor of Lawfare and a former lawyer for the National Security Agency argued that Gordon Sondland’s decision to testify could set an important precedent in the impeachment inquiry.

The lawyer for Gordon Sondland, who is now expected to testify in the impeachment inquiry next Thursday, added in his statement that the US ambassador to the EU would speak to House committees despite the State Department’s opposition.

But he warned that the ambassador would not be able to produce many of the documents that House Democrats requested in their subpoena.

Updated

Maryland's Republican governor expresses support for impeachment

Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Maryland governor Larry Hogan participates in the All Markets Summit in New York.
Maryland governor Larry Hogan participates in the All Markets Summit in New York. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Hogan said in a PBS segment that aired last night: “I think we do need an inquiry because we have to get to the bottom of it.”

But the Maryland governor made clear that, for now at least, he was only backing the investigation: “I’m not ready to say I support impeachment and the removal of the president, but I do think we should have an impeachment inquiry.”

Hogan, who has previously offered severe criticism of Trump, is now the third Republican governor to express support for the inquiry – joining Phil Scott of Vermont and Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

A lawyer for Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU who was blocked from testifying in the impeachment inquiry earlier this week, said he would speak to House committees next Thursday.

Sondland’s lawyer said in a statement that the ambassador “looks forward to testifying.” A person familiar with the matter told CNN that the State Department has not yet offered any guidance on Sondland’s appearance.

When the State Department blocked him from speaking to Congress earlier this week, Sondland said in a statement through his lawyer that he was “profoundly disappointed that he will not be able to testify.”

Updated

Sondland will speak to House committees next week, congressional aides say

Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU who was blocked from testifying in the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, is expected to speak to House committees next week after receiving a subpoena.

Axios reports:

One source familiar with the rescheduling tells Axios that after the State Department pulled the plug on Sondland’s testimony, Republicans close to Trump encouraged the president to let the ambassador come before the committees. Trump’s allies believe Sondland’s testimony will be helpful to their side.

‘Republicans are looking for any silver lining they can get,’ the source said. ‘Sondland could be a silver lining ... He donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural. He’s a Trump guy. Whereas [former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie] Yovanovitch is a career person.’

Updated

Former US ambassador to Ukraine expected to testify in impeachment inquiry

Good morning, live blog readers – and congratulations on making it to Friday!

House committees leading the impeachment inquiry against Trump are scheduled to depose Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, today.

The key word here is “scheduled” because Yovanovitch is still a State Department employee, and the department blocked another diplomat, Gordon Sondland, from testifying to the committees earlier this week. A senior congressional aide said yesterday that Yovanovitch and her lawyers were “on board” with the interview.

If she does appear, the former ambassador could provide valuable insight into reports that she pushed back against efforts from Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.

Yovanovitch was recalled from her post in the spring, reportedly after Giuliani complained to Donald Trump about her opposition to the pressure campaign.

So the former ambassador could answer a key question: did Trump make significant foreign-policy decisions solely to hurt the political fortunes of his potential election opponent? House Democrats are hoping to find out today.

Trump greets cheering crowd at his campaign rally in Minneapolis.
Trump greets cheering crowd at his campaign rally in Minneapolis. Photograph: Glen Stubbe/AP

Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on today:

  • Trump will meet with the Chinese vice premier for trade talks and later attend a campaign rally in Louisiana.
  • Attorney general William Barr will speak at the University of Notre Dame Law School at 4 p.m. EST.
  • Secretary of state Mike Pompeo will address the American Association of Christian Counselors in Tennessee.

The blog will be watching all of that and more, so stay tuned.

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