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The Guardian - US
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Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Impeachment inquiry: Democrats say diplomat's testimony is a 'sea change' – as it happened

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump. Photograph: Getty Images

Summary

That’s it from the liveblog for today. Here’s a recap:

  • Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, testified that Donald Trump withheld military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and the 2016 election. Taylor contradicted ongoing insistence from Trump and his allies that there was no quid pro quo.
  • Democrats signaled that the Taylor testimony was a turning point, indicating that the inquiry will be speeding up in the coming days.
  • Trump and his allies, continued to insist on the president’s innocence. Republican lawmakers took to the House floor, reiterating claims that the inquiry was unfair and unethical.
  • Democrats and Republicans condemned Trump’s statements comparing the impeachment inquiry to a “lynching”.
  • The US envoy to Syria testified that he wasn’t consulted on the decision to withdraw US troops.
  • Russia won joint control of formerly Kurdish territory in Syria

Bill Taylor leaves Capitol Hill after nine-hour-long deposition

Meanwhile... Pelosi creates petition to condemn Trump

Even as House Republicans rally behind Trump and seek to discredit the impeachment inquiry, Pelosi is promoting a public petition to condemn Trump.

There’s no real purpose for such a petition — but it’s a sign that Pelosi is sticking with her impeachment strategy despite Republican attacks.

Republicans take to House floor and speak out against impeachment

Several Republican representatives are speaking out against the impeachment inquiry, repeatedly calling it a sham, echoing language from the president, his press secretary, and his associates.

Republicans including minority leader Kevin McCarthy are once again arguing that the inquiry is invalid because the House has not taken a vote to open it. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that there is no rule or regulation requiring such a vote.

Trump held two days of meetings with House Republicans over the weekend at Camp David, signaling that the White House is working hard to ensure support as evidence mounts in favor of impeachment.

Republican lawmakers are taking advantage of time allotted for one-minute speeches this evening to reiterate their loyalty to Trump.

“The facts will exonerate our president,” said Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

“Instead of wasting valuable time with this baseless inqurity there is so much more we could and should be doing,” said Tim Whalberg of Michigan.

One after another, Republicans repeated claims that the impeachment inquiry was illegitimate and unfair.

Updated

White House: Bill Taylor testimony was 'triple hearsay'

Insisting “there was no quid pro quo”, the White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement: “Today was just more triple hearsay and selective leaks from the Democrats’ politically-motivated, closed-door, secretive hearings.”

She also said the inquiry was “a coordinated smear campaign”.

Updated

Biden campaign weighs in on Bill Taylor testimony

“Trump is so desperate not to love to Joe Biden that he threatened to withhold vital military assistance,” said Biden’s campaign manager Kate Bedingfield in a statement.

“The president has betrayed his office,” the statement reads.

Trump to Netanyahu: ‘You are great!’

In March, Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.
In March, Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Trump wished Netanyahu a happy birthday, calling him “one of my closest allies”, in a letter sent on Monday, after the Israeli prime minister announced his failure to form a coalition government.

“You are great!” Trump added, in a handwritten note next to his signature.

According to Axios, Netanyahu’s office released the letter to show that he still had strong ties with Trump, who remains popular in Israel.

Updated

Syria envoy said he was not consulted on US troop withdrawal

James Jeffrey, the special envoy to Syria, said he wasn’t consulted on the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw troops. In a testimony before the Senate foreign relations committee, he said “I personally was not consulted before the decision.”

He defended the administration, saying that Barack Obama and George W Bush both acted in Iraq without consulting him while he worked as an ambassador and a chargé d’affaires, respectively.

“In my current job, I feel that my views, through Secretary Pompeo have been brought repeatedly and frequently and, I think in many cases, effectively,” he said.

But lawmakers were incredulous.

“Professionally are you indifferent to not being consulted about the matter that is in your lifelong expertise?” asked Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. “Whether you mind it or not, I mind not being consulted.”

Updated

Democrats say Bill Taylor testimony signals 'sea change' in impeachment inquiry

Bill Taylor’s testimony – which contradicts claims by the president, his chief of staff and his and his associates – “is a sea change”, said the Democratic representative Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts. “I think it could accelerate matters,” he said.

The Democratic representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida said: “I do not know how you would listen to today’s testimony from Ambassador Taylor and come to any other (conclusion) except that the president abused his power and withheld foreign aid”

Meanwhile, other Democrats, including those running for president, have reiterated their support for a speedy impeachment.

Updated

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, testified in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry that he was told Trump was holding up military aid to Ukraine until the country’s president publicly announced investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election – contradicting Trump’s repeated denials of a quid pro quo.
  • Trump sparked outrage by comparing the impeachment inquiry to a “lynching”.
  • The anonymous author of a 2018 New York Times op-ed who claimed to be part of an internal White House “resistance” to Trump is now writing a book while maintaining anonymity.
  • Russia has won joint control of formerly Kurdish territory in Syria, marking a crucial victory for Vladimir Putin after the withdrawal of US troops.
  • The UK parliament rejected the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s proposal to fast-track Brexit, virtually guaranteeing that Britain will not leave the EU by its set deadline at the end of the month. (Follow the Guardian’s UK politics live blog for more.)

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

Updated

Bill Taylor also said in his opening statement to the House committees investigating impeachment that a National Security Council official, Tim Morrison, had offered a less than glowing assessment of Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president.

The acting US ambassador to Ukraine said: “Mr. Morrison told me that the call ‘could have been better’ and that President Trump had suggested that President Zelenskyy or his staff meet with Mr. Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. I did not see any official readout of the call until it was publicly released on September 25.”

Morrison’s opinion is a far cry from Trump’s repeated assertions that his call with the Ukrainian president was “perfect” and included nothing improper.

A Washington Post reporter summarized the opening statement of Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, in this way:

Sondland said 'everything,' including military aid, tied to investigations, Taylor testifies

According to the opening statement of Bill Taylor, Gordon Sondland said that “everything,” including the release of military aid to Ukraine, was tied to the country’s president publicly announcing investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, said to the House committees investigating impeachment: “Ambassador Sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the Ukrainian officials to whom he spoke that a White House meeting with President Zelenskyy was dependent on a public announcement of investigations – in fact, Ambassador Sondland said, ‘everything’ was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance.

“He said that President Trump wanted President Zelenskyy ‘in a public box’ by making a public statement about ordering such investigations.”

Taylor says he was planning to resign if Ukraine aid not released

Bill Taylor said in his opening statement to the House committees investigating impeachment that he was preparing to resign in August over the delaying of military aid to Ukraine.

The acting US ambassador to Ukraine said that he had a conversation on August 22 with Tim Morrison of the National Security Council. Morrison indicated during the phone call that Trump was opposed to authorizing any military aid to Ukraine.

Taylor said: “As I had told Secretary [Mike] Pompeo in May, if the policy of strong support for Ukraine were to change, I would have to resign. Based on my call with Mr. Morrison, I was preparing to do so.”

In his opening statement to the House committees investigating impeachment, Bill Taylor said he was told by an official at the National Security Council that Trump had insisted the Ukrainian president himself publicly announce a probe into Joe Biden and his son.

The acting US ambassador to Ukraine said: “President Trump did insist that President Zelensky go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference, and that President Zelensky should want to do this himself.”

However, Taylor said that Trump had told Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, he was not seeking a “quid pro quo,” even as military aid to Ukraine hung in the balance.

At the risk of stating the obvious: if Trump demanded that the Ukrainian president make public announcements of investigations into Democrats before he would authorize the release of military aid, then his actions were the very definition of a quid pro quo.

Taylor expressed concerns about Giuliani's role in Ukraine

Bill Taylor said in his opening statement to the House committees investigating impeachment that he was concerned before accepting the role of acting US ambassador to Ukraine about Rudy Giuliani’s role in the country.

The longtime diplomat said: “I worried about what I had heard concerning the role of Rudolph Giuliani, who made several high-profile statements about Ukraine and U.S. policy toward the country.

“So during my meeting with Secretary [Mike] Pompeo on May 28, I made clear to him and the others present that if U.S. policy toward Ukraine changed, he would not want me posted there and I could not stay.”

After accepting the role, Taylor said he realized that Giuliani – along with Kurt Volker, Gordon Sondland and Rick Perry – controlled “an irregular, informal channel of U.S. policy-making with respect to Ukraine.”

Taylor said: “Although this irregular channel was well-connected in Washington, it operated mostly outside of official State Department channels.”

Taylor stands by text message in which he called potential quid pro quo 'crazy'

The Washington Post has published a copy of Bill Taylor’s opening statement to the House committees investigating impeachment.

In the 15-page statement, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine and longtime civil servant describes how he became “increasingly concerned” that the US-Ukraine relationship was being “fundamentally undermined” by withholding military aid for “domestic political reasons.”

Taylor added that he stood by his Sept. 9 text message to Gordon Sondland and Kurt Volker, in which he said it would be “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

It remains unknown whether the senior Trump administration official who is writing a book about being part of an internal “resistance” is still employed by the White House.

According to CNN, the literary agency representing the author declined to comment on whether the person still worked in the administration.

Anonymous 'resistance' op-ed author penning book

Here’s another piece of news that the president will surely hate: The anonymous author of a 2018 New York Times op-ed that described a “resistance” inside the government to help control Trump is now writing a book.

The Washington Post reports:

The book, titled, ‘A WARNING,’ is being promoted as ‘an unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency’ that expands upon the Times column, which ricocheted around the world and stoked the president’s rage because of its devastating portrayal of Trump in office.

The column described Trump’s leadership style as ‘impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective,’ and noted that ‘his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.’ ...

The forthcoming book will list the author as ‘Anonymous.’ Although the person does not reveal their identity in the book, they will discuss the reasons for their anonymity, according to people involved in the project.

Taylor reportedly contradicts Sondland's testimony

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, reportedly directly contradicted the testimony of Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, in his opening statement to the House committees investigating impeachment.

Several House Democrats involved in the investigation are already calling for Sondland to be called back to testify and answer for the discrepancies between the two men’s accounts.

Taylor reportedly says he was told military aid was contingent upon public announcement of investigations

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, said in his opening statement to the House committees investigating impeachment that he was told military aid to Ukraine was contingent upon public announcements of investigations into Democrats, according to the Washington Post.

The Post reports:

Upon arriving in Kyiv last spring he became alarmed by secondary diplomatic channels involving U.S. officials that he called ‘weird,’ Taylor said, according to a copy of his lengthy opening statement obtained by The Washington Post.

Taylor walked lawmakers through a series of conversations he had with other U.S. diplomats who were trying to obtain what one called the ‘deliverable’ of Ukrainian help investigating Trump’s political rivals.

Taylor said he spoke to Ambassador Gordon Sondland, the U.S. envoy to the European Union.

‘During that phone call, Amb. Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President [Volodymyr] Zelensky to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election,’ Taylor said in the statement.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter had been a board member of Burisma, a large Ukrainian gas company.

McConnell says he and Trump never discussed Ukraine call, contradicting the president

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, denied ever telling Trump that his Ukraine call was “perfect,” as the president has claimed. Asked whether Trump was lying, the Kentucky Republican replied: “You’d have to ask him.”

McConnell also offered some muted criticism of Trump’s use of the word “lynching” to describe House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, calling it “an unfortunate choice of words.”

Russia wins joint control over formerly Kurdish territory in Syria

There are major news developments happening away from House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry today. Russia and Turkey have just announced a plan to jointly control formerly Kurdish territory in Syria, marking a major victory for Vladimir Putin.

The New York Times reports:

[O]n Tuesday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia played host to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, for more than six hours of talks on how they and other regional players will divide control of Syria, a land devastated by eight years of civil war.

The negotiations ended with a victory for Mr. Putin: Russian and Turkish troops will take joint control over a vast swath of formerly Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria, in a move that cements the rapid expansion of Russian influence in Syria at the expense of the United States and its Kurdish former allies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Syrian Kurdish forces must now retreat more than 20 miles from the border, abandoning land that they had controlled uncontested until earlier this month — when their protectors, the American military, suddenly began to withdraw from the region.

Two Democratic members of the House oversight committee, Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, suggested that Gordon Sondland may have to appear again before congressional investigators to respond to Bill Taylor’s testimony.

Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, testified in the impeachment inquiry last week and insisted in a September text message to Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, that there was “no quid pro quo” involved in the delaying of military aid to Ukraine.

The Republican members of the House committees investigating impeachment have not been as forthcoming as their Democratic counterparts about Bill Taylor’s testimony.

However, even their subdued comments seem to speak volumes about what the acting US ambassador to Ukraine has said behind closed doors.

Taylor reportedly describes White House efforts to secure investigations in exchange for military aid

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, reportedly told House impeachment investigators that the Trump White House attempted to tie investigations of the president’s political rivals to the country’s military aid.

Politico reports:

Taylor prompted sighs and gasps when he read a lengthy 15-page opening statement, two of the sources said. Another person in the room said Taylor’s statement described ‘how pervasive the efforts were’ among Trump’s allies to convince Ukrainian officials to launch an investigation targeting former Vice President Joe Biden and another probe centering on a debunked conspiracy theory regarding the 2016 election.

Taylor also described the extent to which military assistance to Ukraine and a potential White House meeting with Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart were tied to those investigations, the source added.

The Twitter account for Merriam-Webster Dictionary is once again weighing in on Trump’s latest controversy, this time reacting to his use of the term “lynching” to describe House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

The dictionary’s Twitter account has previously mocked the president for his use (and often misuse) of certain words. When Trump appeared to confuse a hyphen and an apostrophe last month, the dictionary tweeted out this helpful reminder.

Mnuchin and Kushner reportedly plan to attend Saudi investment conference

In some non-impeachment news, treasury secretary Steven Munchin and Jared Kushner reportedly plan to attend a Saudi investment conference a year after avoiding the event due to outrage over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The New York Times reports:

The Treasury Department confirmed that Mr. Mnuchin will be participating in the Future Investment Initiative gathering in Riyadh. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, will also be attending the conference, alongside Brian H. Hook, the State Department’s special envoy overseeing Iran policy and Avi Berkowitz, an aide to Mr. Kushner, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Mnuchin is expected to participate in a moderated discussion at the event. He initially planned to attend last year, but reversed that decision as global outrage mounted over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post writer, whose killing in Turkey was orchestrated by the Saudi government.

According to CNN, Bill Taylor told the House committees investigating impeachment that Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, listed a desire for Ukraine to launch investigations into Democrats as one potential reason why military aid to the country was delayed.

Representative Stephen Lynch, a Democratic member of the House oversight committee, said that Bill Taylor took “extensive notes” about his communications while serving as acting US ambassador to Ukraine.

A number of Democrats sitting in on Taylor’s closed-door appearance said that the longtime diplomat was the most important witness to testify in the impeachment inquiry yet.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Bill Taylor is testifying behind closed doors in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Trump. The acting US ambassador to Ukraine said in a text last month that he thought it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
  • Trump was lambasted by many Democrats (and a much smaller number of Republicans) for comparing the impeachment investigation to a “lynching.”
  • A new poll found that half of Americans support impeaching Trump and removing him from office, marking a 13-point increase since late April.

The blog will have plenty more coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated

Another Democratic member of the House foreign affairs committee, Andy Levin of Michigan, described Bill Taylor’s testimony as “very troubling.”

Levin said of the acting US ambassador to Ukraine’s comments: “All I have to say is that in my 10 short months in Congress – it’s not even noon, right – and this is my most disturbing day in Congress so far. Very troubling.”

Meanwhile, one of Levin’s colleagues defended Taylor’s reputation against potential smears from Trump’s allies.

Updated

Meanwhile, representative Mark Meadows, a Republican member of the House oversight committee and a close ally of Trump’s, joked that Bill Taylor’s interview could go on for much longer.

The acting US ambassador to Ukraine started his testimony for House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry about three hours ago.

The opening statement from Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, to the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry solicited “sighs and gasps,” according to a Politico reporter.

The opening statements from Maria Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, were quickly leaked to the press, so it’s likely the same will occur with Taylor’s statement.

A Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, condemned Trump’s use of the term “lynching” to describe House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Collins’ tweet appears to be one of the most forceful criticisms yet from Republicans, as other GOP lawmakers have simply said that they did not “agree” with Trump’s usage of the term.

House Democrat describes Taylor's testimony as 'incredibly damaging' to Trump

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democratic member of the House foreign affairs committee, just emerged from the closed-door interview with Bill Taylor and said the acting US ambassador to Ukraine’s testimony was “incredibly damaging to the president.”

CNN reported earlier today that Taylor intended to use his testimony to fill in some of the gaps surrounding his 9 September text message, in which he said it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

Updated

Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee who has repeatedly criticized Trump in the past, denounced the president’s use of the term “lynching” to describe House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Steele also chastised Lindsey Graham after the South Carolina senator echoed Trump’s use of the term and said the impeachment probe is “a lynching in every sense.”

However, Graham does not appear to be changing his stance at all, insisting that the inquiry is a “political lynching” and refusing to comment on the racist implications of Trump’s comment.

Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, said in a tweet that Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, asked Trump at one point: “What do you want from Ukraine?”

Sondland testified in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry last week and may have shared this detail with the investigating lawmakers behind closed doors, but the transcript of his appearance has not been publicly released.

After Bill Taylor said in a text message last month that he thought it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Sondland replied: “Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind.”

However, reports later emerged that Sondland only sent his “no quid pro quo” message after speaking to Trump.

The King Center, which honors the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, just tweeted out these facts about lynching after Trump used the term to describe the impeachment inquiry.

White House defends Trump's description of impeachment inquiry as 'lynching'

A White House spokesperson defended Trump’s use of the word “lynching” to describe the impeachment inquiry by arguing that the president was not making a historical comparison.

This explanation seems highly questionable, given that the word “lynching” has almost exclusively been applied to the thousands of people (most of them African American) who were murdered in the late 19th and early 20th century.

It seems virtually impossible that Trump is unaware of this history, particularly given that the Senate passed a bill last year to make lynching a hate crime. The president has not yet signed the legislation.

Updated

Taylor was subpoenaed for his testimony, House official confirms

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who is currently speaking to House members for Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Trump, was reportedly subpoenaed for his testimony.

Other officials who have spoken to the three House committees leading the inquiry have similarly been subpoenaed – including Taylor’s predecessor, Maria Yovanovitch.

Senator Tim Scott, the only African American Republican serving in the Senate, offered this muted criticism of Trump’s use of the term “lynching” to describe the impeachment inquiry.

Jimmy Carter hospitalized for second fall in a month

In some news far from Washington, former president Jimmy Carter, 95, has been hospitalized for the second time this month due to a fall in his Georgia home.

The AP reports:

Carter Center spokeswoman Deanne Congileo described the fracture as minor. Her statement said that the 95-year-old was in good spirits at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center after falling on Monday evening, and that he was looking forward to recovering at home.

This is the third time Carter has fallen in recent months. He first fell in the spring and required hip replacement surgery. Carter fell again this month and despite receiving 14 stitches, traveled the next day to Nashville, Tennessee to rally volunteers and help build a Habitat for Humanity home.

Carter is the oldest living former president in U.S. history. He and 92-year-old Rosalynn recently became the longest married first couple, surpassing George and Barbara Bush, with more than 73 years of marriage.

Updated

At least one of Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, said he did not agree with the president’s use of the term “lynching” to describe the impeachment inquiry.

The California Republican said: “That’s not the language I would use. ... I don’t agree with that language, pretty simple.”

Meanwhile, several House Democrats warned that Trump was simply trying to spark indignation to distract from the testimony of Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who said it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

One of Trump’s closest congressional allies, senator Lindsey Graham, echoed the president’s use of the term “lynching” to describe the impeachment inquiry.

Graham has been very critical of Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, and the South Carolina senator said in a recent interview that he would be open to considering evidence in connection to the president’s possible removal from office.

However, it appears that (for now at least) Graham is standing by Trump in slamming the impeachment inquiry in the most controversial terms possible.

Despite widespread outrage to Trump’s “lynching” tweet, at least one of his congressional allies did not raise much concern about the president invoking centuries of violence against African Americans to criticize the impeachment inquiry.

As the acting US ambassador to Ukraine testifies behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, more House Democrats expressed outrage at Trump for comparing the impeachment inquiry to a “lynching.”

From an Illinois congressman:

A Texas congresswoman called it a “disgrace”:

The chairwoman of the congressional black caucus argued that the tweet fits a pattern of Trump using the most vile language possible when he feels cornered:

A CNN reporter similarly suggested that the tweet was Trump’s way of trying to distract from the many controversies he is facing at home and abroad right now:

Taylor to reportedly provide timeline of his work in Ukraine

In his closed-door testimony, Bill Taylor reportedly intends to describe the events leading up to his text messages about a potential quid pro quo in the delaying of military aid to Ukraine, but he is not looking to issue his own statement.

CNN reports:

Taylor, who is testifying before the three House committees leading the Democratic impeachment inquiry, will lay out the reasoning behind his different WhatsApp text messages in his opening statement Tuesday, [a source familiar with his testimony] said. Taylor plans to include a chronology of events, according to the source, dating back to June, when Taylor assumed the post as ambassador, through October. ...

Taylor will not be bringing any new documents to the committee, he will just be referencing those that have already been made public, the source said. ...

Taylor, as the current acting ambassador to Ukraine, is in a difficult and delicate position testifying Tuesday, the source said. Taylor’s view is that he is there to speak to committee and answer their questions, and he’s not looking to issue his own statement publicly. ...

Taylor plans to return to Ukraine on Wednesday, the source said. He wants to keep his job, and thinks it is important work.

Updated

Acting US ambassador to Ukraine arrives for impeachment testimony

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Trump.

The longtime diplomat wrote in a text last month to Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, that it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

House Democrats hope Taylor can shed light on whether Trump held up military aid to Ukraine specifically to pressure officials there to investigate Joe Biden.

Half of Americans say Trump should be removed from office, new poll finds

Half of Americans believe that Trump should be impeached and removed from office, according to a CNN/SSRS poll released this morning.

The results showed that 50 percent of Americans would support Trump’s removal, compared to 43 percent of Americans who would oppose it. That level of support marks a 13-point increase since late April, following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted report.

In comparison, CNN’s polling never surpassed 30 percent when measuring support of Bill Clinton’s impeachment, a Bloomberg News reporter noted.

Reactions are rolling in to Trump’s description of the impeachment inquiry as a “lynching,” and they are unsurprisingly furious.

From the president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

From an Atlantic staff writer:

Representative Jim Clyburn, Democrats’ House majority whip and a former chairman of the congressional black caucus, urged Trump to “know the history of that word.”

Trump calls impeachment inquiry 'lynching' as key witness prepares to testify

Good morning, live blog readers!

It is a big day in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who took over the the post after the ouster of Maria Yovanovitch, is expected to testify at 9:30 a.m. E.T., and he could provide critical information on whether military aid to the country was held up over Trump’s demand for an investigation into the Democrats.

In a September 9 text message to Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, Taylor wrote: “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

A number of House Democrats believe that Taylor’s testimony could provide a smoking gun on the question of whether Trump tried to pressure a foreign power to investigate one of his political rivals, Joe Biden.

The president is clearly worried about Taylor’s testimony, if his morning Twitter feed is any indication. Trump lashed out against the investigation in a series of tweets, even referring to the probe as a “lynching.”

Trump’s use of a term that invokes centuries of racist violence against African Americans will certainly incense many Democrats, and it will may also frustrate some of the congressional Republicans who privately say they are growing tired of defending the president’s most controversial comments and decisions.

Activists protest against the Trump administration’s migrant family separation policy in 2018.
Activists protest against the Trump administration’s migrant family separation policy in 2018. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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

  • Trump will have lunch with secretary of state Mike Pompeo at 12:45 p.m. E.T.
  • Fortune will continue its Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, where Trump’s former homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, will be interviewed at 2:35 p.m. E.T. Nielsen’s expected appearance has set off controversy, given her instrumental role in the migrant family separation crisis.
  • House Republican leadership will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. E.T.

That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned.

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