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Vivian Ho in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Mulvaney's quid pro quo walkback isn't 'the least bit credible', says Schiff – as it happened

Adam Schiff.
Adam Schiff. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Live political reporting continues in Monday’s blog:

Evening summary

  • Hillary Clinton became the center of the news cycle, not just because of her suggestions about representative Tulsi Gabbard, but because the state department finally completed its investigation into her emails.
  • Pete Buttigieg came under fire for acception a donation from a Chicago city attorney who fought to block the release of the video in the Laquan McDonald shooting. Julián Castro made a point to say, “At a time where police violence remains such a critical issue, it shouldn’t take four months to return such a problematic contribution.”
  • The supreme court will decide the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency that Elizabeth Warren considers her baby.
  • Rudy Giuliani pressured both the state department and the White House to grant a visa to a former Ukraine official who promised dirt on Hunter Biden.

Thanks for tuning in, everybody. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies!

Updated

It wouldn’t be a late Friday live blog without ANY impeachment inquiry fodder, now would it?

Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney to Donald Trump, tried to get both the State Department and the White House to grant a visa to a former Ukraine official who he believed had dirt on the Democrats, CNN is reporting.

At the center of this particular piece of the impeachment pie is Ukrainian prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin, who was pushed out of his position in 2016 after pressure from Western leaders, including then-Vice President Joe Biden, over concerns that he was not pursuing corruption cases.

Shokin claimed he was pushed out to stop an investigation into the Ukrainian natural gas company for which Hunter Biden sits on the board - allegations that have been backed by no evidence whatsoever - but either way, Giuliani is on the record with CNN saying he wanted to interview Shokin in person because he promised to reveal dirt on Democrats.

This week, diplomat George Kent revealed just how badly Giuliani wanted to interview Shokin in person during Kent’s closed-door testimony before Congress. In the end, Giuliani had to resort to Skype.

Partying like it’s 2016 up in here. How many times did Hillary Clinton get mentioned in the blog today?

One very important detail from the Slate story that this tweet leaves out: in addition to Kirstjen Nielsen, the event that Clinton is backing out of will also feature Representative Tulsi Gabbard - you know, the Democratic presidential candidate whom Clinton suggested the Russians were grooming? The one who responded to such allegations by calling Clinton “the queen of warmongers, the embodiment of corruption”?

Elizabeth Warren responds to the Supreme Court announcing that it will decide the constitutionality of her baby, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:

State Department investigation into Clinton's emails completed

More than three years and one whole presidential election cycle ago, the State Department launched an internal investigation into Hillary Clinton and her use of private email as secretary of state. According to a letter sent to Senator Chuck Grassley this week and released Friday, it’s finally done.

Investigators determined that 38 people sent classified information that ended up in Clinton’s personal email in 91 separate cases. There was an additional 497 violations for which no individual was found culpable.

However, investigators found “no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information”. But “the use of a private email system to conduct official business added an increased degree of risk of compromise as a private system lacks the network monitoring and intrusion detection capabilities of State Department networks”, the report states.

The 38 people who sent classified information are current and former State Department officials, and could face some disciplinary action or a note in their files, according to the Associated Press.

If you’d trot your mind back to 2016, you’ll recall that Clinton’s emails became a main focal point of Trump’s campaign after then-FBI director James Comey held a news conference about them just months before the election. FBI specialists did not find evidence that the server had been hacked, the Justice Department’s inspector general said.

A lot of government ethics watchdogs were skeptical when the White House announced yesterday that next year’s G7 summit will take place at at golf resort owned by Donald Trump. Well:

With Pete Buttigieg still smarting over the decision to make the former Chicago city attorney who fought to block the release of the video in the Laquan McDonald shooting a fundraiser sponsor, Julian Castro takes his shot:

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential frontrunner, proudly states in her Twitter bio that she’s mom to Amelia, Alex, Bailey (her dog) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Today, the Supreme Court announced that it would decide whether the CFPB is unconstitutional. As Axios notes, the issue at hand here is that the CFPB has one director whom the president cannot fire at will, which some say is a violation of the president’s constitutional powers.

The court will either have to uphold the CFPB’s current structure, throw out the CFPB completely, or rule that the director must be fireable.

In a truly banner day for Democratic presidential candidates, the Associated Press is reporting that Mayor Pete Buttigieg is removing a former Chicago city attorney as a fundraiser sponsor and returning his campaign contributions after the AP discovered that this was the same city attorney that fought to block the release of the video in the Laquan McDonald shooting.

Laquan McDonald was a black teenager who was shot 16 times by a white Chicago police officer in October 2014. The shooting sparked public outrage and months of protest once dashcam video of the shooting was released by court order in 2015. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder. He was charged the same day the video was released.

To jog everyone’s memory, Mayor Pete has come under fire for his handling of race and police violence, in particular after a white police officer shot and killed an African American man in his city of South Bend, Indiana this summer.

Though his campaign took steps to remedy the situation, the AP noted that it did so “only after the swell of backlash”. Either way, black activists have already taken note. “The worst case scenario is his people know and they just don’t care, or they don’t know and haven’t vetted him thoroughly,” Charlene Carruthers, former head of Black Lives Matter group BYP100, told the AP.

Hey all, Vivian Ho with the west coast bureau, taking over for Joan Greve. Happy Friday.

Here’s Cory Booker responding in gif form to Tulsi Gabbard calling Hillary Clinton the “queen of warmongers” over allegations that the Russians are grooming Gabbard.

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

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Trump said that Mick Mulvaney had “clarified” his quid pro comments, but Democrats said that they found the acting White House chief of staff’s walkback to be woefully lacking. Mulvaney told reporters yesterday that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country to investigate the Democrats.
  • Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell wrote a Washington Post op-ed criticizing the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, while senator Lindsey Graham said America’s agreement with Turkey could lead to an “ethnic cleansing” of the Kurds.
  • Hillary Clinton hinted that she believed Russia was “grooming” Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard to launch a third-party White House bid. Gabbard responded by labeling Clinton “the queen of warmongers” and calling on her to enter the Democratic primary race so they could sort out their differences directly.
  • Trump announced he would nominate Dan Brouillette, the deputy secretary of energy, to lead the department following Rick Perry’s resignation.

Vivian will have more on the news of the day, so stay tuned – and have a wonderful weekend.

Meanwhile, House Democrats are preparing a resolution to condemn the Trump administration’s announcement that the June G7 summit would be held at the president’s resort in Doral, Florida.

The news immediately sparked complaints that Trump was using the office of the presidency to benefit his businesses, and a number of ethic experts lambasted the decision as a textbook case of self-dealing.

Gabbard calls on Clinton to enter Democratic primary over Russia accusations

Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has responded – in a very forceful way – to Hillary Clinton’s insinuation that the Russians are “grooming” her to launch a third-party White House bid.

Calling Clinton “the queen of warmongers,” Gabbard accused Clinton of leading “a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation.”

The Hawaii congresswoman then demanded that Clinton “join the race directly” to sort out their differences on the matter.

Clinton seemed to reference Gabbard in an earlier interview, saying: “I’m not making any predictions, but I think [the Russians have] got their eye on someone who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.”

Reports have emerged that Russian state media frequently mention Gabbard, but the congresswoman has slammed claims that she is a “Russian asset” as “smears.”

McConnell: Syria withdrawal is a 'grave strategic mistake'

The Washington Post has just published an op-ed from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who argued that Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria was a “grave strategic mistake.”

The Kentucky Republican writes:

Withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria is a grave strategic mistake. It will leave the American people and homeland less safe, embolden our enemies, and weaken important alliances. Sadly, the recently announced pullout risks repeating the Obama administration’s reckless withdrawal from Iraq, which facilitated the rise of the Islamic State in the first place. ...

To keep pressure on Islamic State terrorists, deter Iranian aggression and buy our local partners more leverage to negotiate with Bashar al-Assad to end the underlying conflict, we should retain a limited military presence in Syria and maintain our presence in Iraq and elsewhere in the region. We must also work closely with allies threatened by this chaos, such as Israel and Jordan, and redouble international efforts to pressure the Assad regime. And Congress must finally pass the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act to hold the regime accountable for its atrocities.

McConnell interestingly never mentions Trump by name, but the escalation of Republican opposition to the troop withdrawal could signal trouble for the president as he seeks to keep his party unified in the face of the impeachment inquiry.

Senator Lindsey Graham, who has become one of the fiercest Republican critics of Trump’s Syria policy, has voiced concern about the proposed “ceasefire” (which Turkey has said is actually just a “pause” in operations).

Graham said he spoke to a commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, who voiced fear that Turkey was effectively proposing an ethic cleansing of the Kurdish people.

The South Carolina Republican said: “A buffer zone is acceptable to the Kurds but a military occupation that displaces hundreds of thousands is not a safe zone. It is ethnic cleansing.”

Graham, who has worked with Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen to introduce a bill that would enact sanctions against Turkey, promise to continue congressional efforts to help America’s Kurdish allies.

Trump nominates deputy energy secretary to lead department

Confirming widespread speculation, Trump announced that he would nominate Dan Brouillette, the deputy secretary of energy, to take over the department.

News broke yesterday that energy secretary Rick Perry intended to resign, and the former Texas governor seemed to have been grooming Brouillette as a potential successor in recent months.

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is calling on Nancy Pelosi and other senior House Democrats to hold public hearings in the impeachment inquiry.

The billionaire activist, who has been calling for Trump’s impeachment since shortly after the president took office, said in a statement: “While I am relieved that an impeachment inquiry is finally underway, Speaker Pelosi and House Democratic Leadership need to start public hearings immediately so that the American people can see the full extent of Donald Trump’s crimes, corruption, and cover-ups.

“Every single day, the scandals surrounding Trump’s disastrous presidency continue to reveal the shameless lengths he is willing to go to put his own financial and political interests ahead of the interests of our country.”

House Republicans have similarly complained that the impeachment inquiry is largely taking place behind closed doors, but their Democratic colleagues have insisted that private interviews are necessary to prevent witnesses from coordinating testimony.

Trump's campaign selling 'Get over it' t-shirts

Trump’s re-election campaign is standing by Mick Mulvaney’s quid pro quo admission, so much so that it is now selling t-shirts with a quote from the acting White House chief of staff: “Get over it.”

Brad Parscale, the president’s campaign manager, said in a statement announcing sale of the shirts: “Life isn’t a movie and there are real issues facing Americans today that Washington politicians are not addressing because they’re obsessed with theatrical witch hunts against their political rivals. The President has been fully transparent and it’s time for Democrats to get over it.”

The decision to advertise the quote is somewhat perplexing, considering Mulvaney later walked back his admission that the delaying of military aid to Ukraine was linked to a quid pro quo.

While speaking to reporters at the White House yesterday, Mulvaney acknowledged that Trump had held back the military aid to pressure Ukraine to open an investigation into the Democrats. Mulvaney said: “I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy.”

However, the White House official later walked that back in a statement, saying: “The only reasons we were holding the money was because of concern about lack of support from other nations and concerns over corruption.”

Biden rolls out 51 endorsements from Warren's home state

Joe Biden has just rolled out 51 new endorsements from current and former lawmakers in Massachusetts, the home state of fellow Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.

Biden’s campaign manager said in a statement announcing the endorsements: “The Bay Staters who’ve joined with us today are ready for that fight, and know that Joe Biden can unite the country across party lines to defeat Donald Trump.”

Many of those endorsing Biden similarly backed his unsuccessful presidential bid in 2008, according to a Politico reporter.

However, after Trump captured the Republican nomination in 2016 with virtually no party backing, there has been increased skepticism that endorsements actually matter all that much in primary contests, as a Bloomberg News reporter noted.

Kasich says Trump should be impeached

John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, said he thought that Trump should be impeached.

Kasich, who sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination against Trump, told CNN that he thought the president had “crossed the Rubicon” and deserved to be impeached.

Kasich added: “I say it with great sadness. This is not something that I really wanted to do. ... But this behavior, in my opinion, cannot be tolerated.”

The former governor has repeatedly criticized Trump in the past and recently said that he would not vote for the president in the 2020 election.

The top Republican on the House judiciary committee, Doug Collins, is demanding access to the depositions from the impeachment inquiry, even though his panel is not one of the three leading the probe.

Collins said in a letter to the three Democratic chairs leading the inquiry: “I write to inform you of my intent to exercise my right under House Rule XI, Clause 2(e)(2)(A) to review documents and records in possession of [your committees] so that you may prepare accordingly.

“Please make available all records, documents, transcripts, and other materials related to or obtained in the course of the ongoing joint investigation between the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Committee on Oversight and Reform.”

One of Collins’ Republican colleagues on the judiciary committee, Matt Gaetz, tried to demand access to the investigating panels’ interview with Fiona Hill, Trump’s former top adviser on Russia, earlier this week.

The House parliamentarian ruled that Gaetz could not sit in on the interview because his panel was not one of the three leading the inquiry, so it will be interesting to see if Collins’ demand goes similarly unmet.

Pompeo lashes out at impeachment inquiry

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo criticized House Democrats’ handling of the impeachment inquiry against Trump, echoing Republicans’ complaints that witnesses have not testified alongside government lawyers.

Pompeo told Politico: “They’re not letting state department lawyers in the room … they have not let state department lawyers be part of these hearings ... That’s unheard of … I haven’t seen you all report that.”

However, a Washington Post reporter noted that government lawyers are actually never allowed into the room during depositions.

Updated

Trump is reportedly meeting with Dan Brouillette, the deputy secretary of energy, today. The meeting comes just a day after Brouillette’s boss, Rick Perry, informed the president of his intention to resign.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported on Perry cultivating Brouillette as a possible successor:

Brouillette has recently has taken a higher profile role at the department, filling in for Perry in appearances abroad and on television interviews as well as cabinet meetings. That’s viewed by some as an effort by the secretary to prepare a successor. Brouillette, 57, has also taken a bigger role on some policy matters, such as natural gas exports and touting American energy to foreign allies.

Adam Schiff: Mulvaney's quid pro quo walkback isn't 'the least bit credible'

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, said he did not find Mick Mulvaney’s walkback of his quid pro quo admission to be “the least bit credible.”

The acting White House chief of staff acknowledged to reporters yesterday that the delay in dispersing military aid to Ukraine was due to Trump’s demand for an investigation into the Democrats.

But Mulvaney denied that claim in a statement just hours later, saying: “The only reasons we were holding the money was because of concern about lack of support from other nations and concerns over corruption.”

Updated

Here’s where things stand so far today:

  • Trump told reporters Mick Mulvaney had “clarified” his admission yesterday that the delay in dispersing military aid to Ukraine was the result of a quid pro quo. The acting White House chief of staff issued a statement last night denying the charge, just hours after he told reporters that the aid was delayed because of Trump’s request for an investigation into the Democrats.
  • Hillary Clinton suggested that the Russians may be “grooming” Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard to launch a third-party White House bid.
  • The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Trump’s letter to him urging caution in Syria showed a lack of respect, warning that he would respond to the US president’s breach of decorum in time.

There will be plenty more coming up, so stay tuned.

Trump says Mulvaney 'clarified' quid pro quo comments

Trump is taking questions from reporters about the Ukraine controversy after speaking to the two Nasa astronauts who are participating in the first all-woman spacewalk.

Asked about Mick Mulvaney’s admission that the delay in dispersing military aid to Ukraine was related to the president’s request for an investigation into Democrats, Trump said: “I think he clarified that.”

Last night, the acting White House chief of staff issued a statement that said: “The only reasons we were holding the money was because of concern about lack of support from other nations and concerns over corruption. There never was any condition on the flow of the aid related to the matter of the DNC server.”

But hours earlier, Mulvaney described the requested investigation into the 2016 election and told reporters: “That’s why we held up the money.”

Addressing concerns that the Trump administration had allowed political interests to influence foreign policy, Mulvaney said: “I have news for everybody: Get over it ... There is going to be political influence in foreign policy.”

Updated

Trump addresses astronauts participating in first all-female spacewalk

Flanked by Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump, the president has just concluded a call to Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, the Nasa astronauts who are participating in the first spacewalk conducted entirely by women.

Trump praised Koch and Meir as “very brave, brilliant women” and told them that the country was “very proud” of them.

The president also reiterated his goal of seeing Nasa launch an expedition to Mars. Trump said: “First the moon and then we go to Mars.”

Updated

Hillary Clinton is doubling down on her suggestion that the Russians are “grooming” Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard to launch a third-party White House bid.

Clinton did not mention Gabbard by name when she said: “I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on someone who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.”

When asked if the former secretary of state was referring to Gabbard, Clinton’s spokesperson said: “If the nesting doll fits.”

Trump to reportedly attend criminal justice event alongside 2020 Democrats

Trump reportedly intends to participate in a forum on criminal justice alongside several of the Democratic presidential candidates in South Carolina.

The State, a South Carolina newspaper, reports:

His participation will bring him to a historically black college in South Carolina, where he will share billing with half a dozen Democrats vying to replace him in 2020.

The lead-up to Trump’s decision to join the program at Benedict College in Columbia the weekend of Oct. 25-27 was closely-guarded by organizers, who feared the president would either change his mind or alienate those who had already committed to attending or participating.

Two sources familiar with planning for the event confirmed Trump’s attendance to The State on Friday afternoon. The White House also confirmed Trump intends on going.

Heated debate over impeachment breaks out on House floor

A tense argument about the impeachment inquiry has broken out on the House floor between the Democratic majority leader, Steny Hoyer, and the Republican whip, Steve Scalise.

Scalise, a Republican of Louisiana, is complaining that Democrats are conducting the inquiry behind the closed doors and without holding a formal vote to authorize the investigation, although that is not legally required.

Scalise also falsely claimed that the whistleblower complaint on Trumps’s Ukraine call had been largely debunked, reiterating an oft-repeated talking point of the president’s.

Updated

Trump claims European nations taking Isis fighters

In a tweet thread commenting on the situation in Syria, Trump claimed that the ceasefire in Syria (which Turkey has actually called a “pause”) is working and that some European nations have agreed to take Islamic State fighters from the region.

Updated

Clinton suggests Russians might support Gabbard as third-party candidate

Hillary Clinton has just done an interview with David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s former campaign manager, and wow. She did not hold back.

Hillary Clinton speaks during a lecture on foreign policy in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Hillary Clinton speaks during a lecture on foreign policy in Ann Arbor, Mich. Photograph: Jacob Hamilton/AP

For starters, the former Democratic presidential candidate suggested that Russia had compromising information, or kompromat, on Trump.

Clinton also said she thought Jill Stein, the Green Party’s 2016 presidential nominee, was a Russian asset: “Yeah, she’s a Russian asset – I mean, totally. They know they can’t win without a third-party candidate. So I don’t know who it’s going to be, but I will guarantee you they will have a vigorous third-party challenge in the key states that they most needed.”

Clinton did offer a suggestion of who the next “Russian asset” might be: Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

Clinton said in an apparent reference to the Hawaii congresswoman: “I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on someone who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.”

During Tuesday’s presidential debate, Gabbard lashed out against a New York Times article that noted she was frequently mentioned on Russian state media, a surprising trend given that she is polling in the low single digits.

However, the congresswoman has said she would not launch an independent presidential bid if she lost the Democratic nomination.

Updated

Jane Fonda holds latest climate protest in Washington

Jane Fonda is holding another protest in Washington as part of her Fire Drill Fridays campaign, which is meant to bring more attention to the climate crisis. Watch the Guardian’s live feed below.

The 81-year-old actor was arrested on the steps of the US Capitol last Friday as part of the campaign.

She told the Los Angeles Times recently that she was inspired to act by Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate activist from Sweden who recently condemned inaction to combat the crisis during the UN general assembly.

Fonda said of Thunberg: “[S]he read the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report and she realized that the crisis was barreling straight at us, like a train, and looked around and people weren’t behaving appropriately. It so traumatized her that she stopped eating. I hadn’t realized that she stopped eating and speaking for almost a year. And that really hit me.”

Updated

Today is a quieter day in the impeachment inquiry, with no closed-door interviews scheduled on Capitol Hill.

The schedule will pick up again starting Tuesday, with acting US ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor speaking to the House committees leading the investigation.

A Republican congressman who sits on the House foreign affairs committee, one of the three panels leading the impeachment inquiry against Trump, appeared open to the possibility that the president may have committed impeachable offenses in his conduct toward Ukraine.

However, another House Republican who is a member of the intelligence committee seemed entirely unconcerned that Trump had reportedly delegated his Ukraine policy to Rudy Giuliani, his personal lawyer.

Erdoğan says Trump's letter showed lack of respect

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that Trump’s letter to him urging caution in Syria showed a lack of respect, and he warned that he would respond to it in time.

The White House confirmed earlier this week that Trump sent a letter to Erdogan on the situation in Syria. The letter concluded: “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool! I will call you later.”

Erdogan said the letter was not in line with usual diplomatic customs and showed a lack of respect. The Turkish president, who is meeting with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, said: “When the time comes, necessary steps will be taken.”

Updated

The Baltimore Sun commemorated the loss of the city’s longtime congressman, Elijah Cummings, with a front-page story under the headline “A strong voice stilled.”

Cummings, a key figure in the impeachment inquiry against Trump as the Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee, represented his Baltimore district for more than 20 years.

He died yesterday at the age of 68 and has been heralded by many of his fellow lawmakers as a “giant” in fighting to improve American democracy and the lives of his constituents.

Diplomat reportedly tells House he raised concerns about Hunter Biden in 2015

State department official George Kent told House investigators leading the impeachment inquiry against Trump that he raised concerns about Hunter Biden’s foreign business activities in 2015, according to the Washington Post.

The Post reports:

George Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state, testified Tuesday that he worried that Hunter Biden’s position at the firm Burisma Holdings would complicate efforts by U.S. diplomats to convey to Ukrainian officials the importance of avoiding conflicts of interest, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality rules surrounding the deposition.

Kent said he had concerns that Ukrainian officials would view Hunter Biden as a conduit for currying influence with his father, said the people. But when Kent raised the issue with Biden’s office, he was told the then-vice president didn’t have the ‘bandwidth’ to deal with the issue involving his son as his other son, Beau, was battling cancer, said the people familiar with his testimony.

Another Post reporter said this of Kent’s testimony:

Romney criticizes Trump's Syria policy in blistering floor speech

The Republican senator Mitt Romney delivered a blistering critique of Trump’s Syria policy in a Senate floor speech yesterday, calling the US abandonment of the Kurds “a bloodstain on the annals of American history”.

But as the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake noted, Romney also interestingly suggested that Trump may have been bullied into the decision by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Utah Republican said: “It’s been … suggested that Turkey may have called America’s bluff, telling the president they are coming no matter what we did. If that’s so, we should know it. For it would tell us a great deal about how we should deal with Turkey, now and in the future.”

Romney suggested holding hearings to probe how Trump arrived at the controversial decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria.

Romney’s criticism, combined with the fact that about two-thirds of House Republicans voted in favor of a resolution to condemn Trump’s troop withdrawal, indicates how far apart the president and his party are moving on foreign policy.

Updated

Trump takes hits from former top military leaders

Good morning, live blog readers!

Donald Trump, who took office bragging that he had assembled a team of “my generals” to lead his administration, is now receiving severe criticism from at least three former top military leaders – including his former defense secretary, Gen James Mattis.

Speaking at the Al Smith Memorial Foundation dinner in New York, Mattis mocked Trump for his lack of military service and for calling the former defense secretary “the most overrated general”.

Referring to the bone spurs Trump cited to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, Mattis said: “I earned my spurs on the battlefield. Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor.”

Trump is taking heat from other former military leaders as well. Adm William McRaven, a former commander of the US Special Operations Command, penned a New York Times op-ed entitled Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President. And retired four-star Gen Barry McCaffrey slammed Trump’s Syria policy as “inexplicable”.

Given that Trump has no events on his public schedule today, it seems likely his Twitter feed will soon be offering some commentary on these military critics.

Energy secretary Rick Perry prepares to testify before a House subcommittee.
Energy secretary Rick Perry prepares to testify before a House subcommittee. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

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

  • Today is the subpoena-imposed deadline for energy secretary Rick Perry and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to hand over documents in the impeachment inquiry, but it seems unlikely that they will comply given that they are current Trump administration officials.
  • Secretary of state Mike Pompeo is in Jerusalem, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this morning.
  • The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group will open in Washington today.

The blog is watching all of that, so stay tuned.

Updated

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