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Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now), Lauren Aratani and Martin Pengelly in New York (earlier)

Pelosi on Trump impeachment: this is not about elections, it’s about the constitution – as it happened

Live political reporting continues on Wednesday’s blog:

Evening Summary

  • House Democrats unveiled their two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Read five key takeaways here.
  • As the Dems presented the articles, Trump held a closed-door with Russia’s top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov.
  • House Democrats also revealed that they had reached a consensus with Trump on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Trump’s press secretary called the trade deal “the biggest and best trade agreement in the history of the world”. Meanwhile, Senate leader Mitch McConnell said he wouldn’t take up USMCA until after the impeachment trial concludes and said the pact was “not as good as I hoped.” Read more about the deal here.
  • A federal judge blocked Trump’s plan to use military funds to build a border wall.
  • The president is expected to sign an executive order to tackle anti-Semitism on college campuses that essentially defines Judaism as a nationality rather than a religion, according to the New York Times.

2020 updates:

  • Pete Buttigieg unveiled his client list from when he worked at consulting firm McKinsey.
  • Andrew Yang has become the first nonwhite candidate to qualify for the upcoming Democratic primary debate. Candidates have until Thursday at midnight to meet the qualifying criteria.
  • Elizabeth Warren unveiled a “blue new deal” for ocean conservation.
  • The latest Quinnipiac poll has Joe Biden leading, followed by Bernie Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg (in that order).

Updated

Report: Trump plans to sign an executive order that effectively interprets Judaism as a nationality

The president plans to sign an order that would withhold federal money from educational institutions that fail to combat anti-Semitism, the New York Times reports:

The order will effectively interpret Judaism as a nationality, not just a religion, to trigger a federal law penalizing colleges and universities deemed to be shirking their responsibility to foster an open climate for minority students, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter before the announcement.

In signing the order, Mr. Trump will use his executive power to take action where Congress has not, essentially replicating bipartisan legislation that has stalled on Capitol Hill for years. Prominent Democrats have joined Republicans in promoting such a policy change at a time of rising tension on campuses over anti-Semitism as well as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions or B.D.S. movement against Israel.

The news has been met with skepticism and alarm from critics who worry the policy would interfere with free speech and cast any defense of Palestinian autonomy as anti-Semitic, among other things.

McConnell: the Senate will take up USMCA after the impeachment trial

In a news conference, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said that the Senate will vote on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) the impeachment trial concludes.

House Democrats announced this morning that they had negotiated a deal with Trump to push the trade agreement forward.

“We will not be doing USMCA in the Senate between now and next week,” he said, adding that the pact is “not as good as I’d hoped”. His remarks are in stark contrast to messages from Donald Trump, his vice-president and his press secretary, who called the trade agreement “the biggest and best trade agreement in the history of the world”.

Updated

Pete Buttigieg reveals his clients at McKinsey

Relenting to pressure from critics, Buttigieg revealed the clients he worked with during his time at the consulting firm McKinsey.

They include: insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield, Canadian supermarket Loblaws, technology retailer Best Buy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, Energy Foundation, the US Postal Service and the US Department of Defense.

What did he do? In an interview with The Atlantic, the South Bend, Indiana mayor said “ it was mostly on screens and paper. Math. Databases. PowerPoint presentations.”

Buttigieg’s work for Blue Cross Blue Shield has been especially scrutinized because the insurance company laid off hundreds of employees and increased premiums after bringing in McKinsey to identify cost-saving measures. The presidential candidate told The Atlantic that his work didn’t lead to anyone losing coverage.

He insisted that none of his work could have led to people’s insurance changing, or being taken away. Because the Blue Cross Blue Shield work had been his first assignment, he said, he’d been even more removed from any of the real substance of it, describing his work as feeding math into “a PowerPoint that my manager would take and then bring to a partner who I imagine eventually presented something to a decision maker.” As to whether advising on cutting costs led to people losing their jobs, Buttigieg said he’d been moved off the project after three months, in 2007, years before the company made cuts that caused outcries. “I don’t know what the conclusions were or what it led to. So it’s tough for me to say.”


A federal judge blocks Trump’s plan to spend military funds on the border wall

A segment of the first border wall being constructed since Donald Trump took office.
A segment of the first border wall being constructed since Donald Trump took office. Photograph: Veronica Cardenas/Reuters

A US judge in El Paso, Texas, blocked Donald Trump’s plan to spend $3.6bn in military funds on the border wall, ruling that the administration doesn’t have the authority to reallocate funds earmarked by Congress for a different purpose.

The Trump administration was planning to use the funds to build 175 miles of barrier.

From the Washington Post:

The Trump administration has budgeted nearly $10 billion for barrier construction to date, so the ruling affects roughly one-third of the money the president plans to spend on his signature project. Briones’s decision does not apply to other money available to the administration, including reprogrammed military counter-narcotics funds.

The ruling was the first instance of a local jurisdiction successfully suing to block construction of Trump’s border barrier.

Updated

Andrew Yang qualifies for the upcoming Democratic debate

Andrew Yang held a fundraiser in Dallas earlier this month.
Andrew Yang held a fundraiser in Dallas earlier this month.
Photograph: Larry W Smith/EPA

Having reached the required threshold in a Quinnipiac poll released today, Yang qualified for the sixth primary debate on 19 December. The businessman is the only non-white candidate who has qualified at this point. He’ll be joining Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren for the PBS NewsHour/Politico debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

There are a total of 15 Democratic candidates running for president, but only seven, including Yang, have qualified for this month’s debate. Candidates have until Thursday at midnight to qualify for the debate. They have to show that they’ve hit 4% in at least four national polls, or 6% in two early-state polls, and that they have 200,000 unique donors, with 800 of those from 20 different states.

Updated

Trump says the articles of impeachment are ‘very weak’

Before dashing off to Pennsylvania for a rally this evening, Trump spoke to reporters on the south lawn of the White House. He said the Democrats announced a deal on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in order to “muffle down” their articles of impeachment.

“They wanted to muffle down the impeachment because they were embarrassed by it and they couldn’t get the votes,” Trump said. “And I call that the silver lining to impeachment, because without the impeachment, they would have never approved it, in my opinion.”

“Even the Democrats, they couldn’t find very much, because they put up two articles that frankly are very weak and they’re very weak,” he added.

Updated

House Republicans accuse Democrats of ignoring their requests for a minority hearing on impeachment.

In a letter to the House Judiciary chair, Jerrold Nadler, members of the conservative Freedom Caucus wrote that their requests for a minority hearing have not been addressed. “When considering the unprecedented speed at which the majority is moving towards impeaching a duly elected president, a delay under these circumstances is tantamount to a denial of our right to a minority hearing,” according to the letter, signed by 72 Republican representatives.

Updated

Afternoon summary

Here’s a summary of what’s happened this afternoon:

  • The timeline of impeachment proceedings has become a bit clearer. The House judiciary committee said they will debate and vote on the articles of impeachment tomorrow and Thursday. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said that the Senate will likely not touch impeachment before the holiday break, meaning that any trial in the Senate is likely to start in January.
  • Lisa Page, a former FBI attorney, announced that she’s suing the DoJ and FBI for releasing texts between herself and former FBI agent Peter Strzok.
  • The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had a press conference with Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister. Pompeo said he told Lavrov that the Trump administration “will always work to protect the integrity of our elections”. Lavrov said that any evidence of Russian interference in the US election is baseless.

Updated

The House judiciary committee announced that they will debate and vote on the articles of impeachment tomorrow and Thursday.

The Washington Post editorial board published an editorial in the wake of the release of the articles of impeachment that says there is enough evidence that the House should impeach Donald Trump, and he should get a full trial in the Senate.

It is our view that more than enough proof exists for the House to impeach Mr. Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, based on his own actions and the testimony of the 17 present and former administration officials who courageously appeared before the House Intelligence Committee.

The Reckoning Crew, an influential, nearly all-female group of African American activists in South Carolina – a key state in the early primaries – has endorsed Joe Biden, a local South Carolina paper reported. The group had previously endorsed Kamala Harris, who dropped out of the race last week.

“Joe Biden’s support in South Carolina, particularly (among) African American voters is undeniable and unshakable,” Bernice Scott, the group’s leader and founder said in a statement. “Throughout this race, he has taken hits from every angle and come out stronger. He has proven to us that he has exactly what it takes to beat Donald Trump next year.”

Donald Trump and Mike Pence will hold a rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania – yes, the same as the candy – tonight. Crowds have already started to gather for the event that starts at 7pm EST.

At this historic moment for America...

A message from the Guardian US editor-in-chief:

These are perilous times. Over the last three years, much of what the Guardian holds dear has been threatened – democracy, civility, truth. This US administration is establishing new norms of behaviour. Anger and cruelty disfigure public discourse and lying is commonplace. Truth is being chased away.

In the coming year, many vital aspects of American public life are in play – the supreme court, abortion rights, climate policy, wealth inequality, Big Tech and much more. The stakes could hardly be higher – and the need for a robust, independent press has never been greater.

As 2020 approaches, we’re asking our US readers to help us raise $1.5m by early January to support our journalism. We hope you’ll consider making a year-end gift.

We also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Guardian in 2019. You provide us with the motivation and financial support to keep doing what we do.

Make a contribution.

Bloomberg: ‘Trump is just getting stronger’

Billionaire and presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg sat down with journalist Christiane Amanpour for an interview today and criticized his fellow Democratic candidates for not putting up a good fight against Trump.

“I think Trump is getting stronger and I think he’d just eat alive the candidates,” he said when asked why he joined the race. “They don’t have plans that I think are practical, that can be implemented.”

Amanpour also asked Bloomberg about the tensions he may have with minority voters, especially black voters, given the controversial policies he implemented when he was mayor of New York City like “stop and frisk”.

“We’ll see what happens in the election,” he said. “I probably said things that are embarrassing over the years.”

Bloomberg is trailing behind a few of his more liberal and fellow moderate counterparts, though he has spent over $100m on advertising since he joined the race 25 November. A poll from Monmouth University found 56% of registered voters from all parties view him as unfavorable versus 26% of voters who think he’s favorable.

Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters

A bit of 2020 news: The latest Quinnipiac poll was just released. Joe Biden is leading the pack and is up five percentage points since November. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg follow him in that order.

Andrew Yang got 4%, meaning he qualified for December’s debate.

Biden still leads the pack for black voters, 51% of whom indicated their support for him in the poll.

Updated

A federal judge in Georgia ruled today that Georgia governor Brian Kemp must answer questions about a comment he made on minority voter registration.

Here’s more from the Associated Press:

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled that the Republican governor will have to answer questions as part of a lawsuit filed by Fair Fight Action, an organization founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams, who unsuccessfully ran against Kemp in 2018.

Prior to being elected governor last year, Kemp served as Georgia’s chief election officer as secretary of state.

The lawsuit accuses the secretary of state and election board members of mismanaging the 2018 election in ways that deprived some citizens, particularly low-income people and minorities, of their constitutional right to vote. It seeks substantial reforms and asks that the state be required to get a federal judge’s approval before changing voting rules. ...

Kemp’s comments about minority voter registration happened at a Gwinnett County event in July of 2014, according to Jones’ order.

“You know the Democrats are working hard, and all these stories about them, you know, registering all these minority voters that are out there and others that are sitting on the sidelines, if they can do that they can win this November. But we’ve got to do the exact same thing,” Kemp said at the time. He then encouraged attendees to help register more Republicans.

Lawyers for the state argued that Kemp was simply pressing for greater Republican registration efforts to offset.

Brian Kemp
Brian Kemp Photograph: Alyssa Pointer/AP

Updated

Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page sues DOJ and FBI

Lisa page, former FBI lawyer, is suing the Department of Justice and the FBI, alleging that the two agencies unlawfully shared private text messages between her and former FBI agent Peter Strzok with the media in December 2017.

The lawsuit says that the justice department invited beat reporters to the DOJ to see the messages and would not allow anyone to reveal the department was their source.

“What they did in leaking my messages to the press was not only wrong, it was illegal,” Page wrote on Twitter.

The texts expressed fear over a Trump win during the 2016 presidential election and have been used by Trump as evidence that there is a “deep state” plot against him in government agencies like the FBI. Trump has since mocked the relationship between Page and Strzok, even saying her name during a “fake orgasm” during a rally in October.

Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page Photograph: AP

McConnell says Senate impeachment trial before holiday break ‘not possible’

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell just told reporters at the Capitol that a Senate trial or vote on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) before Congress breaks for the holidays is not possible. This means that an impeachment trial would have to take place after the New Year.

People are still reeling from the comments attorney general William Barr made in an interview with NBC where he said the FBI investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign was done in “bad faith”, contradicting the report of his department’s watchdog.

Pompeo meets with Russian foreign minister

Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, is in DC today to meet with the Trump administration. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at joint press conference with Lavrov moments ago that he and Lavrov discussed a host of issues, including counter-terrorism, arms control between China, Russia and the United States and other foreign policy matters in Venezuela and Ukraine. He said they agreed on denuclearization of North Korea as a joint objective.

Pompeo also said that he “made our expectation of Russia clear – the Trump administration will always work to protect the integrity of our elections.”

In his prepared remarks, Lavrov said “we have highlighted once again that all speculation about our alleged interference in domestic processes in the US are baseless. There are no facts that would support that.” (Reminder that the Mueller report said that the Russian government believed they would benefit from a Trump presidency “and worked to secure that outcome”.)

Lavrov is expected to arrive at the White House around 2.30pm this afternoon.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in DC.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in DC. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Democracy is under attack … as are civility and truth.

A message from the Guardian US editor-in-chief:

These are perilous times. Lies infect the political discourse and hateful attacks on the media are commonplace. The US government incites fear and prejudice and undermines the judiciary. It sometimes feels like the truth is an endangered species.

As we approach 2020, the need for a robust, independent press has never been greater. Many vital aspects of American public life are in play – the Supreme Court, abortion rights, climate policy, wealth inequality, Big Tech and much more. The stakes could hardly be higher.

In 2020, the Guardian, as it has done for 200 years, will continue to argue for the values we hold dear – facts, science, diversity, equality and fairness. We’re asking our US readers to help us raise $1.5m by early January to support our journalism. We hope you’ll consider making a year-end gift.

We also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Guardian in 2019. You provide us with the motivation and financial support to keep doing what we do.

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Morning summary

Lots has been happening on Capitol Hill today. Here’s a quick catch-up on all that’s been happening:

  • House Democrats publicly released their two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, one for abuse of power and a second for obstructing Congress’ investigation. Trump and co. have already responded by saying the House Dems are on a “witch hunt” and are trying to compensate for the 2016 election, but the House could bring impeachment to a vote as early as next week. If this all makes your head spin, here are some key takeaways from the articles brought for today.
  • Almost an hour after the House Dems announced their article of impeachment, they scurried to another room in the Capitol to announce they made a deal with Trump on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade deal between the three countries. The deal includes their push for better worker and environmental protections.
  • Attorney general William Barr told NBC News that the FBI was acting in “bad faith” when they were investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, directly contradicting the report that the DOJ’s watchdog published yesterday that said the investigation was justified.

Believe it or not, there’s plenty more to come today, so stay tuned!

Updated

Barr says FBI acted in "bad faith" for investigating Trump-Russia collusion

In a just-published exclusive for NBC News, attorney general William Barr said that he believes the FBI acted in bad faith when it investigated collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, contradicting his department’s watchdog. Here’s more from the story:

Barr essentially dismissed the findings of the Justice Department’s inspector general that there was no evidence of political bias in the launching of the Russia probe, saying that his hand-picked prosecutor, John Durham, will have the last word on the matter.

“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press,” Barr said. “I think there were gross abuses…and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI.”

“I think that leaves open the possibility that there was bad faith.”

Barr’s blistering criticism of the FBI’s conduct in the Russia investigation, which went well beyond the errors outlined in the inspector general report, is bound to stoke further controversy about whether the attorney general is acting in good faith, or as a political hatchet man for President Trump.

Attorney general William Barr
Attorney general William Barr Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Updated

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is being asked some fun questions at an event in DC right now.

On how she would describe her relationship with Trump: “Professional.”

On whether hearing that Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, admires her as a powerful leader surprises her: “Surprise is not a word in my vocabulary.”

Pelosi on impeachment: This is not about elections, it’s about the constitution

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is at an event in DC hosted by Politico, taking the first batch of questions from Politico reporter Anna Palmer on impeachment since the articles of impeachment were announced this morning.

“It’s a sad day actually, a solemn day. It’s something that no one comes to Congress to do, to impeach a president.”

Pelosi shrugged off a question of why the findings of the Mueller report weren’t included in the articles of impeachment.

“I wish everyone just focused on what we are bringing forward because this is very serious violations of our constitution, undermining the national security of the United States, jeopardizing the integrity of our elections,” Pelosi said. “Instead of talking about what isn’t, this is what is, and that’s how we’re moving forward.”

Pelosi is emphasizing that the impeachment isn’t about the election, which the Republicans are arguing that it is, but instead it’s about the Constitution and Congress’ role in checks and balances. “We are saying goodbye to a republic... and saying hello to a king”.

Nancy Pelosi was *everywhere* on Capitol Hill today.
Nancy Pelosi was *everywhere* on Capitol Hill today. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Updated

House Republicans just wrapped up a press conference where they praised the finalization of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal while criticizing House Democrats, especially speaker Nancy Pelosi, for bringing forth articles of impeachment.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of California delivered the usual Republican talking points about impeachment, but added that the only reason why Pelosi struck a deal over USMCA is because impeachment is unpopular.

Of course public opinion on impeachment is heavily partisan, but the most recent polls show that a higher percentage of Americans support impeachment compared to the percentage of those who don’t.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy talks impeachment.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy talks impeachment. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Here’s what some of Trump’s friends are saying today in light of the articles of impeachment.

Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was at an event for the Wall Street Journal today and said that he will “do whatever the president wants us to do” and is “not going to talk about the facts until the president tells me to”.

Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina, said in a statement that “this is a sad and dangerous moment for the American political system”, adding that the “House Democrats are turning impeachment into a tool to be used when you don’t like a president’s policies or style.

Republican US representative Jim Jordan of Ohio said the articles of impeachment are “the product of a baseless attempt to upend the will of the people less than 11 months before the election. Democrats remain in denial about the results of the 2016 election and our country’s undeniable success under President Trump’s leadership.”

Next year America faces an epic choice ... and the results could define the country for a generation.

A message from the Guardian US editor-in-chief:

These are perilous times. Over the last three years, much of what the Guardian holds dear has been threatened – democracy, civility, truth. This US administration is establishing new norms of behaviour. Anger and cruelty disfigure public discourse and lying is commonplace. Truth is being chased away.

In the coming year, many vital aspects of American public life are in play – the supreme court, abortion rights, climate policy, wealth inequality, Big Tech and much more. The stakes could hardly be higher – and the need for a robust, independent press has never been greater.

As 2020 approaches, we’re asking our US readers to help us raise $1.5m by early January to support our journalism. We hope you’ll consider making a year-end gift.

We also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Guardian in 2019. You provide us with the motivation and financial support to keep doing what we do.

Make a contribution.

The text of the articles of impeachment say that Donald Trump should not only be removed from office, but should also be disqualified from holding “any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States” again.

While there is no mention of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the text of the articles of impeachment say that the president’s actions around Ukraine were consistent with “previous invitations of foreign interference in the United States elections”.

The House just released the text of their two articles of impeachment. You can find them here.

Back to impeachment: Trump’s press secretary Stephanie Grisham released a statement this morning that called the articles of impeachment “a baseless and partisan attempt to undermine a sitting president”.

Interesting point on the timing of the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal in light of questions on why the deal was announced the same day as the impeachment inquiry moves forward.

Here are details of the negotiations, according to a release handed to reporters during the press conference:

House speaker Nancy Pelosi was just asked whether it was a coincidence that the trade deal was announced the same day House Dems revealed their articles of impeachment against Donald Trump.

“No, it’s not a coincidence, it’s just as we get to the end of a session, there have to be some decisions made. The timetable for impeachment is the timetable of the committees, and that came to an end over the hearing yesterday. But for us, we didn’t know what day this will be.”

When a reporter remarked that it must have been a long morning for House Dems, Pelosi remarked “the day is young!” getting laughs from the room.

Pelosi announces new USMCA deal

An hour after House Democrats announced their articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, they are now announcing the details of the deal with Trump on his US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade deal between the three countries.

At a press conference happening now, a group of House Dems are touting the changes they got through in USMCA, including stronger rules that will help litigate disputes and enforce worker and environmental protections.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that US trade representative Robert Lighthizer is on his way to Mexico today to signed the agreement.

Updated

Trump responds to articles of impeachment

Nearly an hour after House Democrats announced their two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, Trump finally responded on Twitter.

A second Tweet posted minutes after simply says “WITCH HUNT!”

Trump then went off on House intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff, who gave extensive justification for why the Democrats are moving forward with impeachment during the press conference.

Updated

Here’s a quick recap of what’s happened this morning.

House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump: One for abuse of power and a second for obstructing Congress.

Jerry Nadler, House judiciary committee, explained the articles at a press conference at the Capitol this morning. First with abuse of power:

“It is an impeachable offense for the president to exercise the powers of his public office to obtain an improper personal benefit while ignoring or injuring the national interest.

That is exactly what President Trump did when he solicited and pressured Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election, thus damaging our national security, undermining the integrity of the next election, and violating his oath to the American people.”

And second with obstruction of Congress:

“President Trump engaged in unprecedented, categorical and indiscriminate defiance of the impeachment inquiry. ...

A president who describes himself as above accountability, above the American people and above Congress’ power of impeachment, which is meant to protect against threats to our Democratic institutions, is a president who sees himself above the law.

We must be clear: No one, not even the president, is above the law.”

Report from the press conference

Shortly after 9am on Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi filed into a conference room with gold-trimmed mirrors and wood paneling. She was trailed by the six House chairmen who have led the investigations into Trump since the party took control of Congress nearly one year ago. Each wore a solemn look, as if to emphasize that the gravity of the moment.

Pelosi began by thanking the chairman for their work over the last year, as the party has navigated special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian interference and then, later, impeachment.

Then Pelosi stepped away from the podium to welcome Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

“Today in service to our duty to the constitution and to our country the House Committee on the Judiciary is introducing two articles of impeachment, charging the President of the United States, Donald J Trump, with committing high crimes and misdemeanors,” Nadler said.

He outlined the two articles, which have been brought against a president only three other times in US history: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

“A president who declares himself above accountability, above the American people and above Congress’ power of impeachment, which is meant to protect against threats to our democratic institutions is a president who sees himself as above the law,” Nadler said. “We must be clear. No one, not even the president, is above the law.”

Then House Intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff, who led the initial phase of the inquiry and oversaw two weeks of public hearings, stepped forward to offer the evidence underlying Democrats’ charges against the president.

Schiff called impeachment an “extraordinary remedy” against presidential wrongdoing, and something he had been reluctant to support. “The actions of President Trump gave Congress no alternative.”

“We stand here today because the president’s continuing abuse of his power has left us no choice,” he said. “To do nothing would make us ourselves complicit in the president’s abuse of his high office, the public trust and our national security.”

When Schiff finished speaking, the Democratic leaders filed out of the room in the same way they entered it, solemnly and without answering questions.

Less than an hour later, Pelosi is set to appear at a second press conference to announce that the US, Mexico and Canada have reached an agreement over a new trade deal (USMCA) – a top priority of the president that will give the president a major legislative victory as he runs for re-election next year.

House Democrats announcing the articles of impeachment.
House Democrats announcing the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

Trump just chose to tweet about the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal, a press conference for which is slated to start at 10am. No word from him about the articles of impeachment against him that was just announced. He is, instead, touting Democratic support for USMCA.

Response from the Trump campaign – Trump himself has yet to comment on the articles of impeachment that were just announced:

Adam Schiff, chair of the House intelligence committee, laid out Democrats’ argument for the “why now” question:

Moment for the history books:

House judiciary committee chair Jerry Nadler said at the press conference announcing the charges, “We must be clear: No one, not even the president, is above the law. “

Democrats announce articles of impeachment against Trump

House Democrats just announced two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump for committing high crimes and misdemeanors. One says that Trump abused his power by putting his political concerns over national interest, the second says he obstructed Congress’ attempts to investigate.

Updated

Friendly reminder that the 9am press conference is just the beginning of what will be a very busy day.

Some reading from Julian Borger to pass the time before the big press conference at 9am, at which two articles of impeachment are expected, and to keep in mind later when Trump ventures once again into the world of diplomacy – what could possibly go wrong? – with a visit from Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

At the time of writing, tensions are rising again with North Korea, which has been the subject of Trumpian threats, praise, handshakes and love letters but no discernible progress towards denuclearisation.

Trump, Julian writes, “called for the population of Seoul to be moved during an Oval Office meeting when tensions between the US and North Korea were at their height, according to a new book about the president’s relations with the US military.

In Trump and his Generals: The Cost of Chaos, the national security and counter-terrorism expert Peter Bergen also gives new details of Trump’s demands that the families of US service members in South Korea be evacuated, which the North Korean regime would have interpreted as a clear move towards war. In both cases, Trump’s impetuous diktats were ignored by his top officials.

Bergen also recounts a familiar inspiration for one of Trump’s demands:

After watching a retired four-star general, Jack Keane, interviewed on Fox News in late January 2018, saying that US troops deployed to South Korea should not take their families with them, Bergen reports that Trump told his national security team: “I want an evacuation of American civilians from South Korea”.

A senior official warned that such an evacuation would be interpreted as a signal that the US was ready to go to war, and would crash the South Korean stock market, but Trump is reported to have ignored the warning, telling his team: “Go do it!”

Alarmed Pentagon officials ignored the order, and – according to Bergen – Trump eventually dropped the idea. It was one of a number of occasions that the defense secretary at the time, James Mattis, ignored direction from the White House. He also refused to send defense department officials to a planned Korea war game at Camp David in the autumn of 2017, or to provide military options for intercepting North Korean ships suspected of sanctions busting.

Full report here:

In terms of what comes next in the impeachment process, I can’t think of much better to do than quote my colleague Tom McCarthy extensively. Viz:

House judiciary committee drafts articles of impeachment

House Democratic leaders hold news conference Tuesday morning to announce at least two articles of impeachment against Trump.

Judiciary committee votes on articles of impeachment

The committee plans to vote on the articles on Thursday, each of which would have to be approved separately. The articles are expected to pass out of committee, where Democrats hold a 24-17 majority, along party lines.

Full House debates articles of impeachment

Upon arrival on the House floor, the articles would come in for debate. While House speaker Nancy Pelosi is in control of when debate begins and how long it lasts, the process could be delayed, temporarily, by Republican monkey-wrenching.

Full House votes on articles of impeachment

Each article is voted on separately, with a simple majority approval of any one article resulting in Trump’s impeachment. With Democrats holding a 233-197 advantage in the House, and the one independent, former Republican Justin Amash, supporting impeachment, the articles are likely to be passed.

Trump impeached

If at least one article is approved by the House, Trump would become the third president in US history to be impeached. This could happen before a scheduled congressional holiday break beginning on 20 December.

Senate trial

An image from CNN on 12 February 1999.
An image from CNN on 12 February 1999. Photograph: CNN/EPA

If Trump is impeached in the House, the Republican-controlled Senate would hold a trial, likely to begin in January 2020. The only such trial to take place in modern US political history, against Bill Clinton in 1999, lasted just more than a month. A two-thirds majority vote to convict on any one article would be required to remove Trump from office. With Republicans controlling the Senate by a 53-47 majority, the defection of about 20 Republicans would be required to remove Trump.

That seems unlikely.

Mitch McConnell speaks.

Trump lashes out at FBI director Christopher Wray

In the aftermath of the Department of Justice report about the Russia investigation Trump is also cross, oddly enough, about the FBI:

I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!

As the Washington Post reports, Wray issued a statement on Monday in which he “said he had ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the report’s recommendations, adding that he would not hesitate to take ‘appropriate disciplinary action if warranted’.”

Christopher Wray.
Christopher Wray. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Trump also tweeted while apparently watching Fox News, writing: “You have to look at the 17 instances of misconduct cited in the Report, they are very bad. The FISA Court” – which approved a surveillance request on Trump aide Carter Page – “was clearly taken for a ride on this, a failure of the FBI up and fown [soc] the chain of command. It’s about as strong a medicine as I’ve seen in a report of this kind in a very long time.”

Wray spoke to ABC on Monday, pushed back on the theory that Ukraine intervened in the 2016 election, a line being pushed by Trump supporters as impeachment continues.

Wray said: “We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election.”

The president has fired an FBI director before – James Comey, in May 2017, in perhaps the single most consequential act of Trump’s presidency, prior of course to the point when he found himself staring down the barrel of impeachment.

Firing Comey didn’t go well for Trump. So would he move against Wray, a man he appointed? Seems unlikely, but then so does everything in America under Trump, shortly before it happens.

In his Tuesday morning tweets, Trump also took aim at some familiar characters from the Russia investigation:

The FBI has had some dark day in its past, but nothing like this. This was VERY SERIOUS MISCONDUCT ON THE PART OF THE FBI.” @brithume@BretBaier [both Fox News hosts] Are you listening Comey, McCabe, lovers Lisa & Peter, the beautiful Ohr family, Brennan, Clapper & many more?

Andrew McCabe is a former deputy director of the FBI, fired by Trump. John Brennan was director of the CIA under Barack Obama, James Clapper director of national intelligence. All have become stringent critics of Trump.

The “lovers Lisa & Peter” are Lisa Page, a former FBI lawyer, and Peter Strzok, a former FBI agent, who had a relationship. Strzok was fired from the bureau in the fallout from the Comey firing. Page left. Here’s what she said about that last week:

…and we have word from the president about how he feels on all of this:

He has a point about the economy, which is very strong indeed if not necessarily the strongest ever but we’ll let him off due to the uncharacteristic “perhaps” and the political point that the economy is bound to be a huge part of the election fight next year.

The “NOTHING wrong” claim is, of course, harder to let pass.

Republicans agree with their president, contending that pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a domestic electoral adversary is not wrong. In a briefing in September, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters to “get over it”.

Here’s some video of that, from CNN:

Mick Mulvaney admits it.

On the flip side, Democrats contend that Trump’s behaviour towards Ukraine – never mind the alleged obstruction of Congress – was very wrong.

The lawyer Barry Berke put it this way at yesterday’s hearing:

If what we’re talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable.

Hence the looming presser.

House Democrats to unveil articles of impeachment

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of another momentous day in American politics.

A day after a judiciary committee hearing marked by outbursts and attempted obstruction from Republicans, House Democrats will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill at 9am, to unveil articles of impeachment against Donald Trump.

Committee chairs Adam Schiff (intelligence), Jerry Nadler (judiciary), Eliot Engel (foreign affairs), Maxine Waters (financial services) and Carolyn Maloney (oversight) will attend. It’s intriguing to note that they are all from either California or New York, big blue states. Expect pushback from Republicans around the idea that Trump’s impeachment is a push against the “real” America, read red or Republican, which elected him in 2016.

The articles of impeachment, which will be voted on in the House before any Senate trial, will concern abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Trump is being impeached over his attempts to have Ukraine investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, and a conspiracy theory about Ukrainian intervention in the 2016 US election, rather than Russian. The obstruction charge relates to the White House’s refusal to let senior aides to Trump testify to the impeachment inquiry.

Trump began the day early, tweeting with characteristic glee about a report released on Monday by the inspector general of the justice department, into the FBI’s handling of the investigation into links between Trump and Moscow and Russian election interference on his behalf.

Each side of the aisle saw what it wanted to see in the report: Democrats hailed the conclusion that there was no political bias in the launching of the investigation, Republicans focused in on findings of procedural errors by the FBI.

On the side of all that, Democrats seem set to give Trump a political win by agreeing to his new United States Mexico Canada trade agreement, or USMCA. Some opponents or critics of Trump wonder why he should be given a political win on this day of all days. Others suggest making a deal with the president will message well in 2020 races fought by moderate Democrats, showing that the party is not all about partisan warfare.

Above all that, Trump is meeting the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, at the White House. One means to say… why not?

The press conference is coming at 9am, anyway. In the meantime, here’s some select reading from yesterday, a momentous day in US political history:

Here’s Julian Borger on the judiciary hearing:

… and Tom McCarthy on what comes next:

… and Luke Harding on an extraordinary part of the DoJ IG’s report:

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