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Kari Paul in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Judge grants Democrats access to unredacted Mueller report – as it happened

Democrats have fought to gain more access to information Mueller obtained during the investigation.
Democrats have fought to gain more access to information Mueller obtained during the investigation. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Kari Paul logging off for the night. Here is the top news of the last few hours:

  • The Republican National Committee voted to publicly support Donald Trump as he faces impeachment, condemning what it calls a “nakedly partisan impeachment investigation.”
  • Lawyers for the whistleblower who outed Trump for his operations with Ukraine said the government operative does not deserve to have their identity outed.
  • Trump tweeted some feelings about iPhone design at Apple CEO Tim Cook this afternoon.
  • Microsoft won a $10 billion contract with the Department of Defenseover Amazon, who had also made a bid for the partnership.
  • The US deficit hits $984 billion in 2019, increasing 26% in the past year under Trump.

Have a good weekend, folks!

• This segment was amended on 29 October 2019 because the Department of Defense contract won by Microsoft is for $10 billion, not $10 million as an earlier version said.

Updated

Kamala Harris is pulling out of a criminal justice forum in South Carolina on Saturday after Trump received an award there on Friday.

Harris said she objected to the group’s decision to give Trump its Bipartisan Justice Award for the First Step Act, which has allowed thousands of nonviolent offenders to gain early release from federal prison. Harris received the award in 2016.

“Donald Trump is a lawless President,” she said in a statement. “Not only does he circumvent the laws of our country and the principles of our Constitution, but there is nothing in his career that is about justice, for justice, or in celebration of justice.”

Instead, the candidate said she has opted to hold her own criminal justice roundtable.

US deficit hits $984 billion in 2019

The US government deficit has ballooned nearly to $1 trillion as of 2019, the Treasury Department announced Friday, growing 26% in the past year under the Trump Administration.

In the past year the fiscal imbalance in the US widened for a fourth consecutive year despite a sustained run of economic growth, the Washington Post reported.

As the debt rises under Trump, Republicans have had little to say - via the Washington Post:

Republican policymakers have made little noise about the deficit under Trump, a contrast with their dire predictions about rising red ink under President Obama.

In 2013, when federal debt totaled $16.7 trillion, Trump tweeted: “Obama is the most profligate deficit & debt spender in our nation’s history.” The federal government is now more than $22 trillion in debt, according to the White House.

Microsoft won a $10 billion contract with the Department of Defense, it was announced on Friday.

From the New York Times report:

The decision, announced Friday, was a surprise because Amazon had been considered a front-runner to win the 10-year contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, known by the cinematic acronym JEDI. But that was before President Trump began his criticisms of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and, for the past several years, the owner of The Washington Post — a news organization the president refers to as the “Amazon Washington Post.”

• This segment was amended on 29 October 2019 because the Department of Defense contract won by Microsoft is for $10 billion, not $10 million as an earlier version said.

Updated

Donald Trump seemed to have a suggestion for Apple CEO Tim Cook on Twitter Friday evening, saying the home button on the iPhone was “far better” than the swipe function on new models.

iPhone removed the home button in 2017 with its release of the iPhone X.

Representative Ilhan Omar said on Friday she believes Senator Bernie Sanders has “complete fluency in the struggles of working people.”

Sanders recently secured sought-after endorsements from left-wing favorites Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Omar will be joining Sanders at a Minnesota rally on Nov. 3.

Basketball player Charles Barkley said in an interview on Friday Mike Pence “needs to shut the hell up,” after the vice president criticized the NBA for being too accommodating to China.

Pence condemned the NBA for bending to Chinese influence after Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, landed in hot water for tweeting support of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

Although Morey deleted his tweets, league’s Chinese partners quickly suspended ties and state broadcaster CCTV halted all broadcasts of preseason games.

Following the controversy, Pence and others accused the NBA of prioritizing business interests over American values, but Barkley noted many countries - including the US - do business in China regardless.

“I don’t understand why these holier than thou politicians — if they’re so worried about China, then why don’t they stop all transactions with China?” Barkley said.

The band Weezer will be performing at a campaign event for candidate Andrew Yang in Iowa next week.

Yangapalooza will take place in Des Moines Iowa as campaigning in the state heats up ahead of the February 2020 Caucuses.

Yang is not the only candidate with musicians backing him. His opponent Bernie Sanders has garnered support from dozens of artists in recent years, including Killer Mike, Diplo, and Cat Power.

The identity of the whistleblower who revealed Donald Trump’s efforts to gain intel from Ukraine to aid in his 2020 campaign is no longer relevant, their lawyers argued in the Washington Post on Friday.

The whistleblower filed a complaint regarding the president’s behavior in August, which led to a finding the complaint was “urgent” and “credible.”

Throughout the process, Trump and his allies have continued to ask “Where’s the whistleblower?” and the president went as far as suggesting the whistleblower should be executed.

The lawyers argue this behavior is “outrageous” and revealing the identity of the whistleblower is not necessary.

They noted in the instance of Republican-led Benghazi investigation, there were no such partisan efforts to reveal the whistleblower’s identity.

“In that case, no one threatened — let alone attempted — to expose those whistleblowers as a form of retribution,” the lawyers wrote. “The focus was getting to the truth of what happened, as difficult as that truth may have been for some to accept.”

The Republican National committee said on Friday that it “wholeheartedly” backs Trump as he faces an impeachment probe from House Democrats.

The party’s governing body voted to express solidarity with Trump, condemning what it calls a “nakedly partisan impeachment investigation.”

Trump has sought to align his plight with the entire Republican party and keep GOP lawmakers by his side, telling reporters Friday, “This isn’t a takedown of the president. It’s a takedown of the Republicans.”

The RNC executive committee voted unanimously by phone to approve the resolution. It states that the committee “now more than ever wholeheartedly supports President Trump and his administration in making America great again.” Traditionally, the party approves resolutions at its twice-annual meetings.

“Today, members of the RNC Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution of support for our president and the Graham-McConnell resolution condemning the unprecedented actions of House Democrats,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. “However baseless this inquiry may be, if House Democrats are intent on pursuing their political vendetta against President Trump, he should at least be afforded the same due process as every other American.”

Hello readers, Kari Paul here taking over for the next few hours. More news to come.

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

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to grant the House judiciary committee access to grand jury material that was redacted from special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, marking a key legal victory for congressional Democrats. However, the Trump administration will almost certainly appeal the ruling.
  • Two White House budget officials who have refused to testify in the impeachment inquiry were subpoenaed, along with a top aide to secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
  • John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, is reportedly in talks to sit for a deposition in the impeachment inquiry.
  • The funeral for the late congressman Elijah Cummings was held in Baltimore, where a number of prominent Democrats – including Barack Obama – delivered eulogies.
  • Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, was heard discussing his need for money and bashing Joe Biden in two separate butt-dial messages left for an NBC News reporter.
  • Hours before the butt-dial report was published, Trump defended Giuliani as “one of the greatest crimefighters and corruption-fighters,” while dismissing longtime diplomat Bill Taylor as a “never-Trumper.” Taylor testified earlier this week that he was told Ukrainian military assistance was held up to pressure officials there to publicly announce investigations into Biden and the 2016 election.

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

The executive director of the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington celebrated the ruling on the Mueller grand jury material as a victory for checks and balances.

However, the editor-in-chief of the Lawfare blog immediately warned those cheering the ruling that the Justice Department will almost certainly appeal.

Judge Beryl Howell specifically cited the White House’s refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry as a reason why the Justice Department should allow the House judiciary committee access to the Mueller grand jury materials.

In a letter written earlier this month announcing the White House would not cooperate with the investigation, lawyer Pat Cipollone told senior House Democrats: “As you know, you have designed and implemented your inquiry in a manner that violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process. ...

“In order to fulfill his duties to the American people, the Constitution, the Executive Branch, and all future occupants of the Office of the Presidency, President Trump and his Administration cannot participate in your partisan and unconstitutional inquiry under these circumstances.”

In her ruling, judge Beryl Howell specifically addressed some Republicans’ argument that the impeachment inquiry is illegitimate because the House never held a formal vote to launch it.

Howell wrote that this argument, which has been adopted by the White House, “has no textual support in the U.S. Constitution [or] the governing rules of the House.”

Judge Beryl Howell wrote in her ruling granting the House judiciary committee access to the Mueller grand jury materials that Congress is “the appropriate body to resume where the Special Counsel left off.”

The Justice Department will almost certainly attempt to appeal the judge’s decision, but her sweeping defense of congressional oversight could still put Trump and his allies in a difficult position.

Judge affirms legitimacy of impeachment inquiry

In her ruling ordering the Justice Department to turn over the Mueller grand jury information to the House judiciary committee, Judge Beryl Howell also crucially concluded that House Democrats are in the midst of an impeachment inquiry.

This ruling could thus undercut arguments from the White House and some of Trump’s congressional allies that the inquiry is illegitimate because no formal vote was held to launch the investigation.

Updated

The judge, Beryl Howell, wrote in her ruling that the House judiciary committee should gain access to “[a]ll portions of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Report on the Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election that were redacted pursuant to” grand jury restrictions.

Howell also gave the Justice Department an Oct. 30 deadline to turn over “any underlying transcripts or exhibits referenced in the portions of the Mueller Report that were redacted.”

House Democrats have been fighting for months to gain more access to the information Mueller learned in the course of his investigation.

Judge grants House Democrats access to unredacted Mueller report

A federal judge has just ruled that the Justice Department must grant the House judiciary committee access to the grand jury material redacted from special counsel Robert Mueller’s report by Wednesday.

The ruling marks a major win for House Democrats, who have fought to gain more access to the information Mueller obtained through the course of his investigation.

The focus of the impeachment inquiry has obviously now shifted to the Ukraine controversy, but the grand jury material could potentially provide evidence for the articles of impeachment that House Democrats are expected to eventually file.

The report that Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, repeatedly butt-dialed an NBC News reporter immediately sparked a lot of Twitter jokes and a number of unfortunate puns.

Giuliani butt-dials reporter (twice)

Meanwhile, NBC News is reporting that Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, repeatedly butt-dialed one of its reporters and was overheard talking about Joe Biden and his need for cash.

NBC News reports:

Late in the evening on Oct. 16, Rudy Giuliani made a phone call to this reporter. ...

The call came in at 11:07 p.m. and went to voicemail; the reporter was asleep.

The next morning, a message exactly three minutes long was sitting in his voicemail. In the recording, the words tumbling out of Giuliani’s mouth were not directed at the reporter. He was speaking to someone else, someone in the same room. ...

Giuliani can be heard telling the man that he’s ‘got to call Robert again tomorrow.’

‘Is Robert around?’ Giuliani asks.

‘He’s in Turkey,’ the man responds.

Giuliani replies instantly. ‘The problem is we need some money.’

The reporter noted that, in a separate butt-dial message left more than two weeks earlier, Giuliani can be overheard trashing Biden and his son. The former New York mayor repeated many of the unfounded corruption allegations against the Bidens that Trump has spouted in recent weeks.

And it appears that Giuliani has somewhat of a habit of mistakenly calling journalists, per a Washington Post reporter.

In his remarks on criminal justice reform, Trump quipped that Jared Kushner, his son-in-law who pushed for passage of the First Step Act, “could be a liberal.”

The president also joked (sort of?) about wishing Kushner, who serves as a senior White House adviser, would “leave me alone.”

Updated

Trump is currently delivering remarks on criminal justice reform at the historically black Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

The president was introduced by Matthew Charles, who said his release from prison was made possible by the First Step Act that Trump signed into law.

When the president started speaking, he spent the first few minutes patting himself on the back for the First Step Act and then thanked the Republican lawmakers in attendance.

The president singled out governor Henry McMaster – who, Trump said, supported him “before it was fashionable.” Trump added: “I never want to see his approval rating above mine.”

Trump is expected to soon start speaking about criminal justice reform at Benedict College, a historically black school in Columbia, South Carolina.

However, a large portion of the small audience will reportedly be the president’s allies and guests, ensuring a warm reception.

Senator Lindsey Graham boasted that 50 of his Republican colleagues have now signed on as co-sponsors of a resolution criticizing House Democrats’ handling of the impeachment inquiry.

It appears that only three Senate Republicans have not yet put their names on the resolution: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Romney by name in recent weeks after the senator voiced concerns about the president’s communications with Ukraine.

Updated

Republicans reportedly pressured Trump to release Ukraine aid

In the weeks before Trump released the delayed military aid to Ukraine, a number of Republican lawmakers and administration officials reportedly urged him to do so.

CNN reports:

In a phone call on September 11, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman made one last pitch to the President, telling him that with the end of the fiscal year fast approaching, if he didn’t act soon there wouldn’t be time to get the money out the door, according to six sources familiar with the call.

Trump put up his usual defenses with Portman, claiming the US was getting a poor deal in Ukraine and that European allies weren’t doing their fair share to help the embattled former Soviet republic, the sources said.

But in a move that surprised officials from Washington to Kiev, after months of holding up the money the President finally relented. That evening after his call with Portman, Trump released the funds. ...

Portman’s call was part of a broader congressional campaign to push Trump to lift the hold on the aid. Vice President Mike Pence -- who was in the room with Trump when he spoke to Portman -- had just returned from a meeting in Poland with Ukraine’s new president and was urging Trump to release the money.

Trump again slams diplomat who testified to quid pro quo

While speaking to reporters before leaving for South Carolina, Trump criticized the diplomat who testified in the impeachment inquiry earlier this week and defended his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

The president said Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who said he was told that Ukrainian military assistance was being held up in exchange for public announcements of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election, was a “never-Trumper.”

When a reporter pointed out that Taylor had been selected by secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Trump replied: “Everybody makes mistakes.”

Trump also defended Giuliani, who was reportedly involved in efforts to pressure Ukraine to open the investigations, as “one of the greatest crimefighters and corruption-fighters.”

The president added: “He looks for corruption everywhere he goes.”

Trump greeted by protests in South Carolina

Meanwhile, Trump has arrived in South Carolina, where he will deliver remarks on criminal justice reform at the historically black Benedict College this afternoon.

The president was greeted on the tarmac by some of the state’s Republican lawmakers and a group of supporters, but protests against his speech were occurring elsewhere in the city of Columbia.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Michael Duffey, one of the OMB officials who has now been subpoenaed by the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry, played a key role in holding up military aid to Ukraine.

The Journal reported:

While career civil servants put an initial hold on the aid, Michael Duffey, associate director of national security programs in OMB, was given the authority for continuing to keep the aid on hold after the career staff began raising their concerns to political officials at OMB, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Duffey also began overseeing the process for approving and releasing funds, called apportionment, for other foreign aid and defense accounts, according to a public document indicating the change.

The House committees also issued a subpoena to Ulrich Brechbuhl, a state department official who serves as a top aide to Mike Pompeo.

The depositions of the three officials are set for early November, confirming that the impeachment inquiry’s interviews will continue into next month.

Some House Democrats reportedly hope to start public hearings on impeachment in mid-November, but others are skeptical of that timeline as the committees continue to seek interviews with more witnesses.

Impeachment inquiry subpoenas budget officials who refused to testify

The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry against Trump have subpoenaed two senior White House budget officials who have refused to testify.

Russ Vought, the acting director of the office of management and budget, announced in a tweet earlier this week that employees of the agency would not be complying with deposition requests.

Michael Duffey, the OMB’s associate director of national security programs who was reportedly involved in holding up military aid to Ukraine, was originally scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry on Wednesday.

Given that they are currently employed in the Trump administration, it seems unlikely that the officials will comply with the subpoenas.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, is reportedly in talks to sit for a deposition in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. Reports have indicated that Bolton raised concerns about Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal layer, getting involved in US-Ukrainian relations.
  • The funeral of the late congressman Elijah Cummings is currently taking place in Baltimore, where Barack Obama just finished delivering a eulogy.
  • Democrats accused the Trump administration of using the Justice Department as a political weapon following reports that the DOJ is opening a criminal investigation into the Russia probe.

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

Clinton and Obama speak at Cummings' funeral

Former president Bill Clinton just finished speaking at Elijah Cummings’ funeral, and Barack Obama is now delivering his eulogy to the late congressman.

Clinton said Cummings’ legacy would be “how ardently he honored his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Cummings served as the chairman of the House oversight committee and played a key role in Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Bolton's reported intention to testify in impeachment inquiry sparks surprise

A number of political commentators expressed surprise – and in some cases, glee – at the news that John Bolton is in talks to sit for a deposition in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Trump’s former national security adviser reportedly expressed concerns about the role of Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, in outreach to Ukrainian officials.

Trump Organization reportedly exploring sale of DC hotel

The Trump Organization is reportedly considering a sale of its Washington hotel, which has been at the center of a host of ethical concerns since the president took office.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The Trump Organization is exploring a sale of the rights to the company’s opulent Washington, D.C., hotel, a move it says is motivated partly by criticism that the Trumps are flouting ethics laws by profiting from the property.

President Trump’s family business has hired the real-estate firm JLL to market the Trump International Hotel, Eric Trump, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization, told The Wall Street Journal. ...

The company is hoping to fetch more than $500 million for the lease rights, or a price of about $2 million a room key, say people familiar with the matter. That would make the sale one of the highest-priced hotel deals ever by this popular industry valuation metric.

However, the sale itself could raise new concerns about conflicts of interest, particularly if foreign investors move to purchase the hotel in an effort to gain influence with the White House.

Trump defends use of the word 'lynching' to describe impeachment inquiry

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn before departing for South Carolina, Trump defended his use of the word “lynching” to describe House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

The president was harshly criticized for using the tern earlier this week, as many accused him of making light of the decades of racist violence that left thousands of African Americans dead.

However, when asked whether he would apologize for his use of the term, Trump replied that Democrats had used the term in the past.

Joe Biden was forced to apologize earlier this week after a 1998 clip resurfaced of the then-senator calling Bill Clinton’s impeachment a “partisan lynching.”

House Democrats threatens lawsuit over publication of nude photos

A Democratic congresswoman, Katie Hill of California, is threatening to sue the Daily Mail after the outlet printed nude photos of the freshman lawmaker.

The Guardian’s Tom McCarthy reports:

Lawyers for Katie Hill, 32, a Democratic, first-term representative from a suburban Los Angeles district, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Mail demanding that ‘you remove these photos from publication at once’.

The lawsuit, which was first reported by Politico, also suggested that the Daily Mail had defamed Hill by stating that she has a Nazi-inspired tattoo on her body, which Hill denied.

The bipartisan House ethics committee opened an investigation of Hill this week for possibly having engaged in a relationship with a staff member in violation of House rules.

Hill has said that she had an ‘inappropriate’ relationship with a staffer.

China fires back after Pence's speech about Hong Kong protests

China has responded to Mike Pence’s speech yesterday on the future of the US-Chinese relationship, in which the vice president criticized Beijing’s response to the protests in Hong Kong.

Bloomberg News reports:

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, blasted Pence’s ‘arrogance’ and said no force would stop the country’s progress. She accused him of seeking ‘to disrupt China’s unity or internal stability’ and called Hong Kong, Taiwan and the far west region of Xinjiang ‘internal affairs.’

‘The U.S. has already abandoned and cast aside its morality and credibility,’ Hua said. ‘We hope these Americans can look at themselves in the mirror to fix their own problems and get their own house in order.’

Pence’s speech came at a crucial moment in the US-Chinese relationship as the two countries continue to engage in trade talks.

Trump announced earlier this month that the US and China had agreed on a “phase one” trade deal, but Beijing is reportedly requesting more negotiations before signing the agreement.

Conway criticizes the process of the impeachment inquiry

Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Trump, criticized the process of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry while speaking to reporters at the White House.

Conway said: “In a constitutional democracy, respectfully, do not get to substance until you go through process ... do you want to skip or subvert the process?”

This echoes an argument from many of Trump’s congressional allies who have accused House Democrats of being secretive in their handling of the inquiry, while generally avoiding comment on the quid pro quo allegations against the president.

Conway also denied she had threatened a Washington Examiner reporter when she raised the possibility of digging into the journalist’s personal life.

Conway said: “It’s not a threat. I never threatened her ... If I threaten someone, you’ll know it.”

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, criticized the attorney general over reports that the Justice Department is launching a criminal investigation of the Russia probe.

Warner also called for Barr to testify before Congress on the matter, but it seems unlikely that his panel will sign off on that, given Republicans’ control of the Senate.

However, the Democratic-controlled House may be inclined to demand that Barr publicly explain the investigation.

Nancy Pelosi received a standing ovation when she began delivering her eulogy for the late congressman Elijah Cummings in Baltimore, where the House speaker was born.

In her eulogy, Pelosi nodded to Cummings’ significant role in the impeachment inquiry against Trump, given that the Democratic congressman served as the chairman of the House oversight committee.

The White House is avoiding questions on John Bolton after reports emerged that Trump’s former national security adviser is in talks to speak to impeachment investigators.

Bolton was reportedly critical of Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, becoming involved in relations with Ukraine despite being a private citizen.

Details of sixth Democratic debate announced

The sixth Democratic debate will be held in Los Angeles on Dec. 19 and be hosted by PBS and Politico, the Democratic National Committee announced.

Democratic presidential candidates stand on stage before the fourth debate.
Democratic presidential candidates stand on stage before the fourth debate. Photograph: Tony Dejak/AP

The DNC has also raised the thresholds for participating, which could threaten the qualification of all but the top five candidates – Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris.

Candidates will now have to hit 4 percent in at least four qualifying polls to make the cut. Alternatively, they can qualify by hitting 6 percent in two early-state polls. Candidates must also receive contributions from at least 200,000 donors, but the fundraising qualification has proven easier to hit in past debates.

Considering this could be the first time that only the top-polling candidates will face off against each other, it’s unfortunate that viewership will likely be low. The debate falls on the Thursday before Christmas and will be the sixth such event of this election cycle so far.

Cummings' funeral held in Baltimore

The funeral for the late congressman Elijah Cummings is being held in his longtime home of Baltimore, which he represented in the House for more than 20 years.

A number of prominent Democrats – including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi – are expected to speak at the funeral.

Some of Cummings’ congressional colleagues also offered their memories of him during a ceremony yesterday at the Capitol, where he was lying in state.

Key impeachment witness' lawyer confirms he will testify if subpoenaed

Barbara Van Gelder, lawyer for White House official, Tim Morrison, just sent the Guardian this line: “If subpoenaed, Mr. Morrison plans to appear for his deposition. We will not be commenting on what he will say to the Committees.”

Morrison’s deposition in the impeachment hearings is highly significant as he is senior director for Europe and Russia in the national security council and is reported to have taken part in the 25 July phone call between Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which is at the core of the impeachment case.

Reports suggest he will confirm testimony by acting ambassador Bill Taylor and other witnesses, saying that Trump was putting pressure on Zelenskiy to investigate his political opponents.

Morrison was brought into the NSC by John Bolton. The two share a ultra-hawkish attitude to arms control, opposing constraints on US military might. He is considered a Boltonite, not a Trumpite.

'Anonymous' op-ed writer reportedly plans to quote Trump in book

The author of an anonymous New York Times op-ed last year, who claimed to be part of an internal White House “resistance” against Trump, is writing a book and reportedly plans to quote from conversations with the president.

Axios reports:

The anonymous ‘senior Trump administration official’ who will release a tell-all book, ‘A Warning,’ next month was a frequent participant in meetings with President Trump and plans to recount specific conversations, sources tell me.

The state of play: The author, who has been silent since last year’s mysterious New York Times op-ed, has access to extensive, internal notes that will be revealed in the book, out Nov. 19.
‘You will hear a great deal from Donald Trump directly, for there is no better witness to his character than his own words,’ the author writes on the book’s back cover.

However, if the person intends to quote directly from conversations with Trump, it remains unclear how he or she will maintain anonymity.

Defense secretary confirms troop presence remaining in Syria

Mark Esper, the secretary of defense, confirmed that a small number of US troops will remain in Syria to prevent the Islamic State from gaining access to key oil resources.

The announcement comes weeks after Trump announced he was withdrawing all US troops from northern Syria and less than an hour after the president tweeted that troops were “COMING HOME.”

This announcement will likely do little to assure Trump’s base that the president is moving to end US engagements in the Middle East.

Bolton reportedly in talks to speak to impeachment investigators

John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, is reportedly in talks to sit for a deposition with the House committees investigating impeachment.

CNN reports:

Former NSC official Fiona Hill testified before the committee last week that she saw ‘wrongdoing’ in the American foreign policy and tried to report it to officials including the National Security Council’s attorney, according to multiple sources.

‘She saw wrongdoing related to the Ukraine policy and reported it,’ one source said. The same source told CNN that Hill testified that Bolton referred to Giuliani -- Trump’s personal attorney -- as a ‘hand grenade’ who was ‘going to blow everybody up.’

Bolton also reportedly instructed Hill at one point to tell White House lawyers: “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up,” referring to the US ambassador to EU and Trump’s acting chief of staff.

Bolton left the administration rather abruptly last month after Trump announced his departure in a tweet, and the former official has since been publicly critical of the president’s foreign policy.

Trump insists troops are coming home (eventually)

Trump seems to be lashing out against reports that hundreds of US troops will remain in northern Syria, despite the president’s announcement that he was withdrawing American forces from the region.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The White House is considering options for leaving about 500 U.S. troops in northeast Syria and for sending dozens of battle tanks and other equipment, officials said Thursday, the latest in an array of scenarios following President Trump’s decision this month to remove all troops there.

The options, presented by military officials, would represent a reversal from the American withdrawal Mr. Trump wanted. It also would modify U.S. objectives—from countering Islamic State extremists to also safeguarding oil fields in eastern Syria with additional troops and new military capability.

However, Trump was on Twitter this morning insisting things in Syria were “gong well” and US troops were “COMING HOME.”

The president is also exaggerating the situation he inherited in Syria. There was never any agreement to completely withdraw from Syria after a month, and US forces only became involved in the country in 2014.

Trump is essentially demanding credit for a promise that he has not kept.

Democrats slam reported investigation of Russia inquiry

Good morning, live blog readers!

We are almost to the end of a very damaging week for the president, with more evidence of a quid pro quo in the Ukraine scandal coming to light, but it appears that the Trump administration may be using every tool at its disposal to fight back.

News broke last night that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into its own Russia investigation, which Donald Trump spent more than two years criticizing as a “witch-hunt”.

The New York Times reports:

Justice Department officials have shifted an administrative review of the Russia investigation closely overseen by Attorney General William P. Barr to a criminal inquiry, according to two people familiar with the matter. The move gives the prosecutor running it, John H. Durham, the power to subpoena for witness testimony and documents, to convene a grand jury and to file criminal charges.

The opening of a criminal investigation is likely to raise alarms that Mr. Trump is using the Justice Department to go after his perceived enemies. Mr. Trump fired James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director under whose watch agents opened the Russia inquiry, and has long assailed other top former law enforcement and intelligence officials as partisans who sought to block his election.

Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairmen of the House intelligence and judiciary committees, issued a statement last night warning that the reported criminal investigation could signal the Justice Department has become “a tool of political retribution”.

Schiff and Nadler said: “These reports, if true, raise profound new concerns that the Department of Justice under AG Barr has lost its independence and become a vehicle for President Trump’s political revenge.

“If the Department of Justice may be used as a tool of political retribution, or to help the President with a political narrative for the next election, the rule of law will suffer new and irreparable damage.”

The casket of Elijah Cummings lies in state in at the Capitol.
The casket of Elijah Cummings lies in state in at the Capitol. Photograph: UPI/Barcroft Media

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

  • Trump will participate in a criminal justice reform forum in Columbia, South Carolina, before traveling to Camp David.
  • The funeral for the late congressman Elijah Cummings will be held in Baltimore. A number of notable Democrats – including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi – are expected to speak.
  • Game 3 of the World Series will take place tonight in Washington as the city’s Nationals play the Houston Astros.

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

Updated

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‘Stop Tagging Me’: Woman Is Pregnant After Sleeping With 400+ Men. An Account for The Maury Show Wants Left Out of It
Controversial adult content creator Tia Billinger, popularly known as Bonnie Blue, announced her pregnancy after going through a ‘400 man challenge.’ In response, social media began tagging an account named ‘The Maury Show’ on X to sleuth for the father.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
‘Did we just enter a wormhole?’: Woman witnesses the most hilarious conversation between a diner and server that has her going
If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you know how some conversations sound like a glitch in the matrix. If not, TikTok creator Marianne (@its.marianne.faith) is here to explain exactly how a back-and-forth between a server and a diner goes.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
How Jersey Shore's Pauly D Got A Fan To Apologize After She Tried To Shade His DJ Performance
I love this.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
‘Funniest but WTF things that’s ever happened to me’: Woman learns from viral meme a ‘voice in her head’ told her she has tumor
Don't believe everything you see on the internet.
We Got This Covered
We Got This Covered
The View Made A Change I'd Never Seen Before After Whoopi Goldberg Was Snowed In
I wonder why this was done.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
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