Donald Trump has been impeached by the House of Representatives in a humiliating rebuke after being found guilty of abusing the power of his office in attempting to extort a political favour from Ukraine and obstructing the subsequent congressional investigation into his conduct.
After eight hours of heated debate, Democrats and Republicans voted largely along party lines in the opposition-led lower chamber of Congress as the president himself raged into the abyss at one of his trademark rallies in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Reacting to the news on Thursday morning, President Trump’s former adviser Anthony Scaramucci described him as “a lawless criminal” whose removal from office would “be like the Night King being killed in Game of Thrones”, calling on the Senate GOP to ensure he faces a fair trial when Congress reconvenes in the new year.
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Steve Mnunchin pledges China trade deal in new year
Trump's treasury secretary has told CNBC's Squawk on the Street he is confident the administration will finally nail down its China trade deal in January, curtailing a harmful tarrif war that has dragged on since spring.
More importantly, is he a daywalking vampire or did he just have a heavy night of it? Those shades are baffling.
Bernie Sanders opens Twitter DMs to the public
The Vermont senator has opened the social media equivalent of Pandora's box by allowing the general public to send direct messages to his campaign.
An extraordinary gesture towards transparency given that the man he's presuming to depose won't even release his tax returns.
Trump says F-35 pilots are 'better looking than Tom Cruise and with better bodies'
One of Trump's strangest pronouncements during his rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, last night (and there was some stiff competition) was his claim that US Air Force pilots are better looking that Hollywood action star Tom Cruise.
Vincent Wood has more.
President bemoans Pelosi's threat to withhold articles of impeachment from Senate
Trump continues to hammer out tweets thanking his supporters and praising individual congressman who fought for him on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday at no little cost to their personal credibility.
He's also clearly enraged that Pelosi is seeking to thwart the GOP's plan to shoot down the articles of impeachment in the Senate.
Here's what the Democrats are saying on that today.
Alt-right online celebrities party at Trump's Florida resort Mar-a-Lago as House votes to impeach
Oh look, it's the worst house party of all time.
Who else was invited - Caligula? Nosferatu? Sideshow Bob?
Trump retweets QAnon conspiracy account day after impeachment
The president has been on wild form on Twitter this morning - as you might well have expected - and even retweeted an account called "catturd2" (which has referred to Barack Obama as a "three dollar Muslim pimp") and another pushing QAnon (one of the madder pro-Trump conspiracies, an offshoot of PizzaGate, that believes a mystery operative is working within the US government to bring down the corrupt liberal deep state).
Here's one of the account's earlier tweets for flavour.
Clark Mindock has this on Trump's other social media contributions today.
Michael Bloomberg says 77-year-old career politician and ex-vice president Joe Biden lacks experience to be president
Well, the least you can say about this line of attack on the Democratic 2020 frontrunner from his super-rich challenger is that it's mighty original.
'What is driving this crazy idea?'
The president has been retweeting these messages from Lindsey Graham in the last hour.
Nancy Pelosi seems to have really rattled the GOP by indicating she might not send the articles through to the Senate after all.
The president has been retweeting these messages from Lindsey Graham in the last hour.
Nancy Pelosi seems to have really rattled the GOP by indicating she might not send the articles through to the Senate after all.
Trump impeachment sends stock market soaring, despite president's insistence it would crash
Here's how the markets reacted to Trump's impeachment this morning.
They're actually fine with it, it seems.
Trump points to UK general election result in increasingly desperate impeachment defence
Back on Twitter, Trump has corrected his earlier error, predictably got upset about Rashida Tlaib delighting in his comeuppance and retweeted right-wing journalist Michael Tracey on learning lessons from the UK's general election result.
Here's our Voices piece by Pail Nailer on why that last point is total nonsense.
Lindsey Graham to call Rudy Giuliani: 'I hope you know what you're talking about'
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham has said he will invite Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to testify to his panel about his recent fact finding mission in Ukraine – while urging the attorney to ensure he "knows what he’s talking about" before making grand claims before congress.
Giuliani’s decision to return to Ukraine at the start of the month, while his and Trump’s dealings in the country were central to the impeachment inquiry, drew condemnation from Democratic rivals and Republican allies alike.
Now with the former New York mayor back in the US and his president freshly impeached, Giuliani is due to discuss his allegations of corruption with the senate’s judiciary committee at the request of Graham.
Jim Carrey, Cher, Lizzo and Michael Moore among celebrities cheering Trump impeachment
The reality TV president has many enemies in Tinseltown and Ellie Harrison has this timely roundup of their rejoicing at last night's news from Washington.
Conservatives annoyed by jubilant Rashida Tlaib Instagram post
Nancy Pelosi wore black yesterday and was at pains to insist it was a "sad day" for democracy, quickly silencing an outburst of applause with her gavel and an intense glare.
Apparently Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (known for shouting "impeach the motherf*****!") didn't get the message and posted the following on her Instagram account, annoying the hell ouf of Republican commentators in the process.
Donald Trump Jr shills Christmas wrapping paper as father impeached
Speaking of Don Jr, he isn't letting a little thing like the crushing humiliation of his old man on the world stage stand in the way of a solid business opportunity.
Trump-branded wrapping paper - for the perfect cover-up.
N.B. My colleague Jon Sharman points out the following smallprint disclaimer: "Due to overwhelming demand, the Trump Gift Wrapping Paper will be unable to ship for delivery by Christmas."
Doesn't that just say it all?
President attempts to pressure Democrats into passing over impeachment articles to Senate
Trump's second tweet on the day after the impeachment vote includes a typo, and the false suggestion that the Senate can somehow force the House to send over the approved articles of impeachment.
The House and Senate are both taking off for the holidays, so it wouldn't do much good for Nancy Pelosi to send the documents across the Capitol. But, Trump clearly sees an opportunity to slam Democrats on the issue either way:
The House and Senate are both taking off for the holidays, so it wouldn't do much good for Nancy Pelosi to send the documents across the Capitol. But, Trump clearly sees an opportunity to slam Democrats on the issue either way:
He's since gone back to bemoaning "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!" and retweeting Fox journalists Katie Pavlich and Mark Levin.
Trump haunted by unearthed CNN interview in which he praises 'impressive' Pelosi and demands Bush impeachment
An old interview Trump gave to Wolf Blitzer on CNN in 2008 has resurfaced - with immaculate timing - in which the president is heard praising his current Public Enemy No. 1 Nancy Pelosi as "very impressive" and calling for the impeachment of George W Bush.
His idiot son Don Jr is also being haunted by his own prior statements on impeachment this morning.
There really is always a tweet with these guys, isn't there?
Greg Evans has more on that vintage CNN exchange for Indy100.
'I'm a forensic psychiatrist at Yale. I took a look at Trump's letter to Nancy Pelosi - and it left me very worried'
For Indy Voices, Bandy X Lee - an expert on violence - has picked apart the president's extraordinary, delusional six-page poison pen letter to the House speaker on Impeachment Eve and did not like what she found.
Ukraine appoints new US ambassador
Trump probably never wants to hear from Ukraine ever again but he might be interested to know his old friend Volodymyr Zelensky has announced his new US ambassador today, appointing former UN ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko to the post.
What timing!
The country's previous Washington envoy, Valeriy Chaly, was sacked this summer.
Volodymyr Yelchenko (Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty)
Trump claims Republican unity is 'what people are talking about'
Narrator's voice: "It isn't."
Republicans for Rule of Law urge GOP to take Senate trial seriously
A Republican campaign group has released an advert urging GOP senators to take Donald Trump‘s impeachment trial seriously.
The impending Senate trial must include testimony from witnesses, the Republicans for the Rule of Law group says.
Its new advert is aimed squarely at Lindsey Graham, a Trump booster who has insisted he will resist any attempts to call witnesses.
Jon Sharman reports.
