The House Intelligence Committee’s televised hearings this month inspired a steady increase in public support for the impeachment of Donald Trump over the Ukraine scandal, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests.
That new poll came just before fresh accusations that have rocked the Trump administration on an entirely new set of circumstances beyond impeachment — this time the accusation from three women that EU ambassador Gordon Sondland had retaliated against them after they turned down his unwanted sexual advances, which included alleged forced kissing and exposing himself.
The accusations were detailed by a joint report from ProPublica and Portland Monthly, and were denied by the Seattle hotelier. Even so, they make him the latest high profile Trump ally to be accused of sexual misconduct after the likes of Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the president himself.
Meanwhile, as the House Judiciary Committee announced its plans for the next stage of the inquiry and invited the president to attend, The New York Times reported Mr Trump knew about the CIA whistleblower’s initial complaint when he finally released the withheld $391m (£302m) military assistance to Kiev, a tactic that prompted two White House budget officials to resign in protest, according to the latest published witness transcript.
Before that, president Trump gave his latest 2020 campaign rally in Florida on Tuesday night, denouncing the investigation into his quid pro quo call with Volodymyr Zelensky as “bull****” and encouraging his supporters to chant the word in defiance.
On Wednesday, he spent some of his day tweeting about the day’s events, including a photoshopped image with his face on top of the much younger, much fitter Rocky Balboa’s body.
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Public support for impeachment climbed during TV hearings, says poll
The House Intelligence Committee’s televised hearings this month inspired a steady increase in public support for the impeachment of Donald Trump over the Ukraine scandal, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests.
The latest poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, found that 47 per cent of adults in the United States felt Trump “should be impeached,” while 40 per cent said he should not.
The result, combined with Reuters/Ipsos polling over the past several weeks, showed that the number of Americans who want to impeach the president increasingly outnumbers those who do not.
Just before the hearings started on 13 November, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found that “net support” for impeachment, which is the difference between the number who support impeachment and the number who oppose, was three percentage points.
That increased to four points after the first week of hearings and then to five points as the second week of hearings started. The latest poll shows that net support for impeachment is now at seven points.
Trump invited to attend first House Judiciary Committee hearing
The president has been formally invited to an impeachment hearing at the House Judiciary Committee, scheduled for Wednesday 4 December, when legal experts will determine whether the president’s alleged abuses of power in his handling of Ukraine and its military aid constitute “high crimes and misdemeanours” as established in the US constitution.
In his letter to the White House inviting the president and his attorneys to the hearing, committee chair Jerry Nadler promises a “fair and informative process”.
“At base, the president has a choice to make: He can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process”, Nadler said.
“I hope that he chooses to participate in the inquiry, directly or through counsel, as other presidents have done before him.”
Nadler gave Trump a deadline of 6pm 1 December to respond as to whether he will appear. He also asked for the name of his counsel.
Alex Woodward has this report.
Trump knew about whistleblower complaint when he released Ukraine aid
The New York Times reports this morning that the president knew about the CIA whistleblower’s initial complaint when he finally released the withheld $391m (£302m) military assistance to Kiev.
White House lawyers reportedly told Trump in late August about the complaint - made on 12 August - informing him they were attempting to determine whether they were required to report it to Congress. Quite how detailed the briefing the president received was is not known.
The military assistance - approved by the US government to help the Eastern Europe nation to fight off Russian aggressors to the north - was duly released in September.
Two White House budget officials resigned in protest over aid delay, inquiry transcripts reveal
That decision to delay the aid prompted two White House budget officials to resign in protest, according to the latest published witness transcripts of the private depositions given to the inquiry by Mark Sandy of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs.
The officials in question - one of whom worked in the OMB's legal division - were not named in Sandy's transcript but he said that one of the staffers "expressed some frustrations about not understanding the reason for the hold".
Asked whether the legal department employee was leaving "at least in part because of their concerns on frustrations about the hold on Ukraine security assistance", Sandy answered: "Yes, in terms of that process, in part."
Sandy also revealed that the reason his department was given for the withholding of the aid was that other nations were not donating to Ukraine's defence coffers as generously as the US, a concern that has a familiarly Trumpian ring to it.
"The testimonies from Ambassador Reeker and Mr Sandy continue to paint a portrait of hand-picked political appointees corrupting the official levers of US government power, including by withholding taxpayer funded military assistance to Ukraine, to further the president’s own personal political agenda," House committee chairs Adam Schiff, Carolyn Maloney and Eliot Engel said in a joint statement announcing the release of the transcripts.
Here's Alex Woodward's report.
Trump denounces impeachment inquiry as 'bull****' at latest wild MAGA rally in Florida
President Trump gave his latest 2020 campaign rally in Florida last night, denouncing the investigation into his quid pro quo call with Volodymyr Zelensky as "bull****" and encouraging his supporters to chant the word in defiance.
Speaking at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, at a rally Trump branded "a homecoming" (despite his being from Queens, New York), the president railied at House investigators, accusing them of "trying to rip our country apart" and delaring: "First it was the Russia hoax and now the same maniacs are pushing the deranged impeachment [narrative]."
"You see what’s happening in the polls? Everybody said: 'That’s really bull****,'" he said, prompting the crowd of nearly 20,000 to break into the war cry of the delusional. His supporters would later chant "Conan! Conan!" in tribute to the heroic Special Forces dog that helped track down Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria and who visited the White House this week.
Trump defended his decision to absolve three members of the US military charged with war crimes - a decision that has prompted much controversy and caused US secretary of the Navy Richard V Spencer to step down. "We're going to take care of our warriors. And I will always stick up for our great fighters," he said.
The president worked hard to butter up voters as he described his supporters as the "super elite". "You people are successful as hell," he told them. "You're smarter. You're better looking. You're sharper."
He also sought to play a populist card by claiming "some people" (meaning unidentified, fictional, politically correct liberal bogeymen) are attempting to rebrand Thanksgiving, a (nonexistent) move he is having none of.
Trump also spent time discussing recent controversies, including an unannounced trip he paid to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on a Saturday earlier this month.
Despite lingering questions about the visit, Trump assured the crowd that if he "didn't feel great," he "wouldn't be ranting and raving" in this way. Indeed sir.
Here's Samuel Osborne's report.
A Trump impersonator, Latino supporters and the baby blimp
Here are a few of the best press shots of from last night in Florida.
(Maria Alejandra Cardona/Reuters)
(Joe Raedle/Getty)
(Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty)
(Joe Raedle/Getty)
(Matias J Ocner/Miami Herald/AP)
Trump denies ordering Rudy Giuliani to dig up dirt for him in Ukraine
Prior to yesterday's rally, Trump gave a radio interview to disgraced former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and used his platform to deny that he directed his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani - who had been pushing Ukraine for the investigations - to act on his behalf by pressuring Kiev to dig up dirt on his political rivals.
"No, I didn't direct him, but he is a warrior," Trump told O'Reilly, using the same adjective he would apply to the excused war criminals in Florida.
"No, I didn't direct him, but he is a warrior," Trump told O'Reilly, using the same adjective he would apply to the excused war criminals in Florida.
Giuliani "possibly saw something", Trump added. "He's done work in Ukraine for years."
Rudy better have that "insurance" he joked about because he was well and truly thrown under the bus here and is clearly being set up as the president's fall guy.
Trump also used the appearance to push false approval rating statistics (that went unchallenged) and suggest he will designate the cartels of Mexico as a terror organisation.
Trump jokes about Adam Schiff and impeachment inquiry at turkey pardoning
Before he jetted out for Florida yesterday, Trump took part in the traditional White House custom of pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey, not wasting an opportunity to mock his antagonists in Congress.
Trump joked that Bread and Butter - the pair of North Carolina-bred turkeys he was about to pardon - had been raised to "remain calm under any condition," a trait he said will be "very important because they've already received subpoenas to appear in Adam Schiff'sbasement on Thursday."
"It seems the Democrats are accusing me of being too soft on turkey," Trump told guests seated in the White House Rose Garden, where he was flanked by his wife, first lady Melania Trump. But he told the birds that, "unlike previous witnesses, you and I have actually met. It's very unusual." Ho ho.
Trump's latest act of clemency benefited Butter, a 21-kilogram turkey granted a "full and complete" pardon. Trump said he was also sparing Bread, who weighs 20 kilograms from being served up on a Thanksgiving table. Both gobblers will get to spend the rest of their lives on a farm at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Here's Darren Richman for Indy100.
Melania Trump booed by school kids at opioids event in Baltimore
The first lady was at Trump's side in the Rose Garden there but later attended a summit on the opioid crisis at the University of Maryland Baltimore County campus, where she was roundly booed by many of the high school and middle school students in attendance.
Here's Clark Mindock's report.
Ex-Clinton strategist advising Trump on impeachment
Mark Penn, a forrmer adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, spent more than an hour in the Oval Office last week reassuring Trump on impeachment and offering him insight into how the 42nd president handled the process back in 1998, according to The Washington Post.
Penn and Trump also reportedly discussed the polls, with the pollster encouraging Trump to travel more and focus on governing.
The news is being met with glee in Democratic circles, who fondly recall his sacking by Hillary in 2008 and point to his subsequent career as a Fox pundit for hire as a reason not to take him seriously.
Hollywood royalty lay into 'dictator-like' Trump
Celebrities have been sticking it to Trump with some vehemence this week.
Hollywood legend and All The President's Men star Robert Redford has written an opinion piece for NBC's THINK platform in which he accuses Trump of a "dictator-like attack... on everything this country stands for" and turning America into a "monarchy in disguise".
"What is happening, right now, is so deeply disturbing that instead of the United States of America, we are now defined as the Divided States of America," the veteran wrote. "Leaders on both sides lack the fundamental courage to cross political aisles on behalf of what is good for the American people."
"We're at a point in time where I reluctantly believe that we have much to lose - it is a critical and unforgiving moment," he said. "This monarchy in disguise has been so exhausting and chaotic, it's not in the least bit surprising so many citizens are disillusioned."
Over on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Robert De Niro - promoting The Irishman - compared the current state of America with "living in an abusive household".
"To me, it’s more than heartbreaking, it’s a really, really serious situation we’re in,” the actor said of the Trump presidency. "I don’t want to bring people down but… it’s a serious situation.
"It’s like living in an abusive household. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, what crazy thing is going to happen next, what’s going to make you say, 'What the hell is going on?'"
Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride andWhen Harry Met Sally director Rob Reiner meanwhile had this to say on Melania...
...the winner though is surely Mia Farrow, who tweeted this about Don Jr and Eric's taste for big game hunting.
Here's the legislation to which she refers.
President returning to Buckingham Palace for Nato reception
Trump will return to Buckingham Palace next week, five months on from his pomp-and-ceremony state visit in the summer.
The president and first lady are due to attend a reception for Nato leaders hosted by the Queen next Tuesday. It is part of a string of events designed to mark 70 years since the founding of the alliance, about which Trump has frequently griped.
Prince Andrew will not on the guest list, however, in the wake of his damaging BBC Newsnight interview in which he was grilled on his friendship with the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein - also a former pal of Trump's, you will recall.
Federal prosecutors looking into Giuliani's donations to Trump fund
Things keep getting worse for the president's personal lawyer.
In addition to getting dropped in it by Trump yesterday, federal prosecutors with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are reportedly looking into Rudy Giuliani’s donations to a pro-Trump super PAC while "exploring a wide range of potential crimes" involving two of his associates - Soviet-born businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman - who were previously charged with campaign finance violations.
Chris Riotta has more.
Trump's education secretary to expand rights for students accused of sexual assault
Trump’s education secretary Betsy DeVos will narrow the government’s scope of what is considered sexual harassment and expand rights for students accused of sexual assault in a new series of rules for universities.
Chris Riotta reports.
Texas GOP accidentally emails 2020 strategy to rival Democrats
The Texas Republican Party accidentally emailed its strategy for the 2020 election to rival Democrats, revealing a plan over the next 12 months that will see it attempting to push back on the narrative that the GOP lacks diversity and working to counteract Donald Trump's potential negative impact on the race.
Whoops.
Here's Clark Mindock's report.
Joe Biden still leading Democratic 2020 challengers in latest CNN poll as Pete Buttigieg rises
Here's the latest national polling on the 2020 Democrats from CNN, with Joe Biden still well out in front and Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg his only serious contenders at present.
Barack Obama 'would speak out to stop Bernie Sanders securing 2020 nomination'
Barack Obama has indicated privately that he would speak out to stop Vermont senator Bernie Sanders from securing the Democratic nomination in 2020, Politico reports today.
A close adviser to the 44th president told the site: "He hasn’t said that directly to me. The only reason I'm hesitating at all is because, yeah, if Bernie were running away with it, I think maybe we would all have to say something. But I don't think that's likely. It's not happening".
While Obama has largely stayed quiet about the specific candidates he did say earlier this month: "Look, we have a field of very accomplished, very serious and passionate and smart people who have a history of public service, and whoever emerges from the primary process I will work my tail off to make sure that they are the next president."
(Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times/AP)
Ex-DNC employee forced to argue in Devin Nunes lawsuit: 'Cows can't operate a Twitter account'
Devin Nunes - the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee currently facing questions about a mystery trip to Vienna last December that may or may not embroil him in the Ukraine scandal - is still attempting to sue over the Twitter accounts Devin Nunes' Cow and Devin Nunes' Mom that mock him so relentlessly and hilariously.
Nunes is seeking $250m (£194m) in damages, accusing Twitter of "facilitating defamation".
The below is a genuine comment from a new filing from the attorney of Adam Parkhomenko, a former Democratic National Committee (DNC) employee allegedly associated with the former account who received a subpoena from the Republicans' lawyer Steven Bliss demanding emails, text messages and direct Twitter messages between the operators of the accounts and himself.
"No reasonable person would believe that Devin Nunes’ cow actually has a Twitter account, or that the hyperbole, satire and cow-related jokes it posts are serious facts. It is self-evident that cows are domesticated livestock animals and do not have the intelligence, language, or opposable digits needed to operate a Twitter account."
Ex-baseball star under fire for tweet about teaching kids to shoot in case Bernie Sanders wins 2020 election
Like Obama, another man not keen on the thought of a Bernie Sanders administration is retired baseball star Aubrey Huff.
The latter though is so opposed to Sanders he posted this truly alarming message below from a firing range claiming he had been teaching his kids to score head shots in anticipation of a future Bernie presidency.
Comedian Kathy Griffin and actor Tom Arnold are among those taking the fight to Huff.
Alex Woodward has more.
