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

Trump reportedly pushed Australian PM to investigate Mueller inquiry – as it happened

Kari Paul, logging out for the evening. Here is what you should know from this afternoon:

  • Donald Trump reportedly pushed the Australian PM to investigate Mueller inquiry in an attempt to discredit it.
  • In addition to Trump’s call to Australia, his administration has held private meetings with foreign intelligence officials in the UK and Italy in an attempt to discredit ongoing investigations into Russian interference with the 2016 elections, the Washington Post reports.
  • The US issued economic sanctions against Russians for meddling in past elections in an attempt to prevent interference in upcoming presidential elections.
  • The whistleblower responsible for revealing Donald Trump’s call to Ukraine was within their rights to do so, the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community said in a statement released Monday.
  • Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani signaled in a tweet on Monday he may not comply with an impeachment subpoena issued by the House, saying it “raises significant issues concerning legitimacy.”

The Australian government agreed to help Donald Trump investigate the origins of the Mueller inquiry into 2016 election manipulation.

Trump called the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and asked him to help discredit investigations exposing Russian interference. According to two officials with knowledge of the call, Trump asked Morrison to help the US attorney general, William Barr, find evidence for a review into the Mueller inquiry.

On Tuesday morning the Australian government confirmed the call had taken place and said Morrison had agreed to assist.

“The Australian government has always been ready to assist and cooperate with efforts that help shed further light on the matters under investigation,” it said in a statement. “The PM confirmed this readiness once again in conversation with the president.

Read the full report from the Guardian here.

Updated

Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani signaled in a tweet on Monday he may not comply with an impeachment subpoena issued by the House, saying it “raises significant issues concerning legitimacy.”

In a letter presented to Giuliani on Monday, the heads of the intelligence, oversight, and foreign affairs committees in the House of Representatives asked for more information related to Trump’s recent appeals to the president of Ukraine to investigate political opponent Joe Biden.

They asked Giuliani to produce all text messages, phone records and other communications related to the conversations with the president “in order to determine the full extent of this effort by the President and his Administration to press Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election”.

Giuliani said in a tweet the subpoena will be given “appropriate consideration” but cast doubt on it.

Updated

The House Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming targeted the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in a tweet on Monday, saying the Ukraine scandal involving Donald Trump “is starting to seem like a political set up”.

Pelosi said in an interview with 60 minutes that Trump had told her the call with Ukraine, on which he is accused of colluding to discredit political opponent Joe Biden, was “perfect”.

“He told me it was perfect,” she said. “’There was nothing in the call.’ But I know what was in the call. I mean, it was in the public domain. He didn’t even know that it was wrong.”

Pelosi began an impeachment inquiry officially last week.

Updated

The whistleblower responsible for revealing Donald Trump’s call to Ukraine was within their rights to do so, the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community said in a statement released Monday.

The statement comes after Trump baselessly claimed the whistleblower who publicized his Ukraine call was able to do so due to a recent rule change enabling it. The ICIG said the disclosure was submitted in the same form it has had in place since 24 May 2018.

Any individual who wants to report an urgent concern “need not possess first-hand information in order to file a complaint”, according to the rule.

Updated

The attorney general, William Barr, has held private meetings with foreign intelligence officials in an attempt to discredit ongoing investigations into Russian interference with the 2016 elections, the Washington Post reports.

The investigation reveals the administration’s troubling dedication to investigating adversaries, the Post reports:

Current and former intelligence and law enforcement officials expressed frustration and alarm Monday that the head of the justice department was taking such a direct role in re-examining what they view as conspiracy theories and baseless allegations of misconduct.

Barr reportedly made personal appeals to British intelligence officials, Italian officials and Australian officials to help discredit the Mueller investigation, the report says.

Updated

Capitol Hill reporters are “mourning” the end of representative Chris Collins’ congressional career. His pending guilty plea for insider trading means that two of Trump’s earliest congressional endorsers have now been indicted.

And many people looked back at this moment from January 2017, when Collins bragged about trading in on insider secrets while standing in the Capitol.

The US issued new economic sanctions against a number of Russian nationals on Monday in response to meddling in past elections.

Seven Russians targeted by the sanctions were involved in an internet “troll factory” that manufactured news and online activity meant to manipulate American voters.

The sanctions come as social media sites and the US government seek to prevent election interference ahead of the 2020 presidential elections. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move is meant to make clear the US “will not tolerate foreign interference” in elections.

“The United States will continue to push back against malign actors who seek to subvert our democratic processes,” Pompeo said, “and we will not hesitate to impose further costs on Russia for its destabilizing and unacceptable activities.”

Updated

Hello readers, Kari Paul here in San Francisco, taking over the blog for the next few hours. Stand by for more news.

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

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer who reportedly played a key role in trying to convince Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, has been subpoenaed by three House committees.
  • Trump similarly asked the Australian prime minister to assist in a Justice Department investigation of the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, according to the New York Times.
  • Secretary of state Mike Pompeo was present for Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president, the Wall Street Journal reported. The news could throw even more of a spotlight on the state department in the impeachment inquiry.
  • Trump was denounced for threatening the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, Adam Schiff, with imprisonment for treason.
  • Mitch McConnell confirmed the Senate would follow through on its constitutional duty and hold a trial on whether to remove Trump from office if the House impeached him.

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

NBC News has now confirmed the New York Times’ reporting that Trump asked the Australian prime minister for assistance in a Justice Department investigation of the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

While speaking at the UN General Assembly last week, secretary of state Mike Pompeo dismissed any concerns that state department officials had acted improperly in its dealings with Ukraine.

Pompeo also belittled the whistleblower for relying on “secondhand knowledge” in the complaint about Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president.

This now seems particularly ironic because, if the Wall Street Journal’s reporting that Pompeo participated in the call is correct, he could have quite easily cleared up any confusion by providing firsthand knowledge of the conversation.

Trump pushed Australian PM to work with Barr in Russia investigation, report says

The late-afternoon headlines are really piling up. The New York Times is now reporting that Trump similarly encouraged the Australian prime minister to work with attorney general William Barr in an investigation meant to discredit the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller.

The Times reports:

The White House restricted access to the call’s transcript to a small group of the president’s aides, one of the officials said, an unusual decision that is similar to the handling of a July call with the Ukrainian president that is at the heart of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump. Like that call, the discussion with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia shows the extent to which Mr. Trump sees the attorney general as a critical partner in his goal to show that the Mueller investigation had corrupt and partisan origins, and the extent that Mr. Trump sees the Justice Department inquiry as a potential way to gain leverage over America’s closest allies.

And like the call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, the discussion with Mr. Morrison shows the president using high-level diplomacy to advance his personal political interests.

President Trump initiated the discussion in recent weeks with Mr. Morrison explicitly for the purpose of requesting Australia’s help in the Justice Department review of the Russia investigation, according to the two people with knowledge of the discussion. Mr. Barr requested that Mr. Trump speak to Mr. Morrison, one of the people said.

Updated

Another poll has found that Americans are evenly split on impeaching Trump, even as support has risen in recent days.

According to the CNN/SSRS poll, 47% of Americans are in favor of impeaching the president and removing him from office, compared to 45% who oppose it.

That nearly matches the Quinnipiac poll released earlier today, which found 47% of Americans backing impeachment and 47% opposing it.

Updated

Pompeo reportedly took part in Ukraine call

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo took part in Trump’s controversial call with the Ukrainian president, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Pompeo has already been sent a subpoena from three House committees, and some senior state department officials are scheduled to speak to the panels.

If Pompeo has firsthand information about the call, it could drag the state department even more directly into the impeachment inquiry.

Adam Schiff of the intelligence committee, Eliot Engel of the foreign affairs committee and Elijah Cummings of the oversight committee wrote a letter to Giuliani asking him to hand over materials relevant to the impeachment inquiry by Oct. 15.

The three Democratic committee chairmen wrote: “Our inquiry includes an investigation of credible allegations that you acted as an agent of the President in a scheme to advance his personal political interests by abusing the power of the Office of the President.”

The subpoena goes on to specifically request any communications Giuliani may have showing evidence that other Trump administration officials were involved in the “scheme.”

Last week, Giuliani tweeted this screenshot of an apparent text from Kurt Volker, the president’s special envoy to Ukraine who resigned on Friday.

Giuliani subpoenaed by three House commitees

The Democratic chairmen of three House committees announced they have subpoenaed Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

The former New York mayor has reportedly played a key role in trying to convince Ukraine to launch an investigation of Joe Biden and his son, a claim that Giuliani himself has confirmed in television appearances.

When pressed last week by CNN’s Chris Cuomo whether he urged Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, Giuliani eventually said, “Of course I did.”

Despite the possibility that Trump encouraged a foreign country to meddle in the 2020 election for his own personal benefit, the president’s approval rating among Republicans remains sky high, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll.

A political commentator argued last week that the most telling aspect of Trump’s approval rating may be how little it has changed since he took office.

More data from the latest Quinnipiac poll: a HuffPost reporter noted that support for impeachment has particularly picked up speed among African Americans.

Americans evenly split on impeaching Trump, poll finds

A new poll found that Americans are evenly split on whether Trump should be impeached and removed from office.

According to the Quinnipiac University poll, 47% of Americans say Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 47% say he should not. Those numbers represent a 20-point swing from less than a week ago.

A narrow majority of Americans approve of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, with 52% of respondents supporting it while 45% oppose it.

The numbers confirm that impeachment remains a hotly contested issue among Americans, but the ground is clearly shifting rapidly on the subject.

Updated

Whistleblower's lawyer defends anonymity

One of the whistleblower’s lawyers has sent a tweet defending the person’s anonymity despite Trump’s claim that the White House is trying to find about more about the official.

The lawyer, Andrew Bakaj, warned that retaliating against the whistleblower would be a violation of federal law.

This post has been updated to add more context about Trump’s comments.

Updated

The whistleblower’s lawyers have raised concerns about their client’s safety in a letter to the office of the direction of national intelligence.

Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, similarly expressed fear for the whistleblower’s safety earlier today.

Updated

Trump’s comment that the White House was trying to find out more about the whistleblower raised concerns that the president would defy the federal protections the anonymous person is entitled to.

During the House intelligence committee’s hearing last week with the acting director of national intelligence, Democrats voiced fear that Trump’s handling of the complaint could scare off future whistleblowers.

This post has been updated to add more context about Trump’s comments.

Updated

Asked about whistleblower's identity, Trump says he's 'trying to find out' about the person

When asked by a reporter whether he knew the identity of the whistleblower, Trump said that the White House is “trying to find out” about the whistleblower.

The whistleblower has remained anonymous, but the New York Times controversially reported last week that he is a CIA official with an expertise on Ukraine.

This post has been updated to add more context about Trump’s comments.

Updated

House Republican resigns in advance of pleading guilty to insider trading

In non-impeachment news, representative Chris Collins, a Republican of New York, has reportedly sent a letter of resignation to Nancy Pelosi a day before he was expected to plead guilty to insider trading charges.

The Washington Post reports:

Collins, 69, allegedly tipped off his son to confidential information about an Australian biotechnology company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, that he learned as a member of its board. Collins and several others used the information to avoid more than $700,000 in losses, according to prosecutors.

He is scheduled to change his plea Tuesday afternoon in a Manhattan federal court. ...

Collins won reelection last year after initially suspending his campaign, then reversing that decision despite pressure from Republicans to step aside and allow another GOP candidate on the ballot. Collins was sworn in for a fourth term in January but was not seated on any House committees pending resolution of his indictment.

Several candidates have announced campaigns to challenge Collins in 2020, including GOP state Sens. Chris Jacobs and Rob Ortt as well as Democratic lawyer Nate McMurray, who came about 1,000 votes shy of unseating Collins last year.

In addition to calling Trump a “corrupt human tornado,” Hillary Clinton also reacted to reports that the State Department is still investigating the email practices of her employees while she was secretary of state.

The Washington Post reported Saturday:

As many as 130 officials have been contacted in recent weeks by State Department investigators — a list that includes senior officials who reported directly to Clinton as well as others in lower-level jobs whose emails were at some point relayed to her inbox, said current and former State Department officials. Those targeted were notified that emails they sent years ago have been retroactively classified and now constitute potential security violations, according to letters reviewed by The Washington Post.

In virtually all of the cases, potentially sensitive information, now recategorized as ‘classified,’ was sent to Clinton’s unsecure inbox.

State Department investigators began contacting the former officials about 18 months ago, after President Trump’s election, and then seemed to drop the effort before picking it up in August, officials said.

Clinton’s reaction to this news was ... dismissive.

Hillary Clinton has once again weighed in on the impeachment inquiry against Trump, this time in as concise a way as possible.

The former Democratic presidential candidate has voiced support for House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, applauding Nancy Pelosi for formally launching it last week.

Clinton said Thursday at an event for the abortion rights group NARAL: “This is a moment of reckoning, a historic moment, and I’m very grateful to Speaker Pelosi for her leadership.”

Trump criticized for suggesting arrest of House Democrat investigating him

Democratic lawmakers and commentators have sharply criticized Trump for suggesting that the House intelligence committee chairman, Adam Schiff, should be arrested for treason.

A Democratic presidential candidate argued it presented more evidence for Trump’s impeachment:

A former senior adviser to Barack Obama compared Trump’s actions to those of Vladimir Putin:

A former Clinton White House aide pointed out that the true treason may lie elsewhere in this controversy:

But one senior lawmaker, the Republican Senate majority leader, seems entirely unconcerned about Trump pondering the imprisonment of a political opponent:

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Trump has suggested that the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee should be arrested for treason over his opening statement at a congressional hearing last week, an idea that flies in the face of the Constitution.
  • Mitch McConnell confirmed that the Senate would be obligated to hold a trial on whether to remove Trump from office if the House impeaches him.
  • Another House Republican, Mac Thornberry of Texas, announced he would not seek re-election – again signaling the GOP’s low expectations of retaking control of the chamber next year.

The blog is still covering the latest on impeachment, so stay tuned.

Trump's lawyer dismisses impeachment inquiry as a 'skirmish'

Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s personal lawyers, dismissed House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry as a “skirmish” in comparison to the “war” that was special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Sekulow helped guide Trump through Mueller’s investigation, which ended earlier this year after nearly two years and has largely receded into the background as concerns over the president’s Ukraine call came into focus.

Former Republican senator pens op-ed opposing Trump's re-election

Jeff Flake, a former Republican senator, has written a Washington Post op-ed imploring fellow members of his party to oppose Trump’s re-election.

Jeff Flake participates in an “Intelligence Squared” debate at Fordam University.
Jeff Flake participates in an “Intelligence Squared” debate at Fordam University. Photograph: Lauren Lancaster/The Guardian

A frequent Trump critic, Flake chose to forego another Senate election last year rather than face a bruising primary against one of the president’s more ardent supporters.

Now, the Arizona Republican is encouraging GOP lawmakers to come out against Trump’s potential second term. But he is more cautious when it comes to impeachment.

Flake writes:

Two years ago I stood in the Senate chamber and said: ‘There are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles.’ ...

Now, two years later, it is my former Republican Senate colleagues who have a decision to make. Or, as I see it, two decisions to make. The first is difficult; the second is easy. ...

[A]lthough impeachment now seems inevitable, I fear it all the same. I understand others who might have similar reservations. The decision to impeach or not is a difficult one indeed.

Now for the easy decision. If the House decides against filing articles of impeachment, or the Senate fails to convict, Senate Republicans will have to decide whether, given what we now know about the president’s actions and behavior, to support his reelection. Obviously, the answer is no.

“TrumpCare” does not exist – this has not stopped some firms from advertising insurance products under this banner, according to a new report from Axios.

A woman holds a sign during a Senate Democrat’s press conference on Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare.
A woman holds a sign during a Senate Democrat’s press conference on Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

“Trumpcare” ads are targeted to the 7% of Americans, numbering roughly 20 million, who buy their insurance directly through brokers.

Often, firms selling Trumpcare sell short-term, bare bones insurance coverage likely to leave patients under-covered, Axios found.

Since the president failed to repeal Obamacare legislatively, most of the work he has done on healthcare has happened through arcane rule changes.

Many of those changes have made it easier for companies to offer cheap, low-coverage plans, effectively encouraging people to roll the dice with their health and finances.

America’s private healthcare system means under-covered patients can be left with thousands, and in some cases hundreds of thousands, of dollars in medical debt.

Updated

Trump has just finished speaking at a ceremony to welcome Mark Milley, the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

The president began his remarks by noting the rain falling at the Virginia celebration. Trump said he had been told rain signals good fortune and predicted that Milley would be “the luckiest general in history.”

The president was characteristically exuberant in his comments on the US military, calling it the “greatest fighting force, without question, in the history of the world.”

He also thanked the outgoing chairman, Joseph Dunford. Trump said the Marine general looked the part of a senior military official, joking that he could be straight out of “central casting.”

He also oddly noted that Dunford helped him form an opinion about running for president in 2016.

And the president couldn’t finish a speech without mention the crowd size at his campaign rallies. Noting the thousands of people who attend his events, Trump said that the creation of the Space Force is one of the biggest applause lines.

Trump is currently attending a ceremony to welcome Mark Milley, the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, in Fort Myer, Virginia.

The Army general is succeeding Joseph F. Dunford Jr., who was appointed by Barack Obama.

McConnell confirms Senate would hold trial if House impeaches Trump

Mitch McConnell has confirmed that the Senate would hold a trial to determine whether to remove Trump from office if the House impeached him.

The Senate majority leader said: “I would have no choice but to take it up.”

The Kentucky Republican made similar comments on his constitutional obligation back in March. But this is the first time since the House announced its formal impeachment inquiry that McConnell has confirmed the Senate would hold a trial.

Another House Republican from Texas announces his retirement

Representative Mac Thornberry, a Republican of Texas, has announced he will not seek re-election next year.

Thornberry, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, has served in Congress since 1995. He is the sixth House Republican from Texas to announce he will not seek re-election next year.

His departure, along with at least 15 others in the House Republican caucus, underscores the impress that the GOP does not have high expectations of taking back the House next year.

A fact-check has struck again to tear down one of Trump’s claims about the Ukraine controversy.

In this case, the president suggested that the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, Adam Schiff, should be arrested for treason after parodying the White House memo on the Ukraine call during a congressional hearing.

But such exaggeration is not illegal, as the Constitution specifically outlines. From CNN’s fact-checking reporter:

John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, ended his first public appearance since leaving the administration by issuing a warning about North Korea.

But the hawkish Bolton deflected another question about whether “bromance diplomacy” was good foreign policy, an apparent reference to Trump’s glowing comments about Kim Jong-un.

Trump repeats falsehoods about Ukraine call

Despite an avalanche of fact-checks, Trump is still repeating his favorite falsehoods about his call with the Ukrainian president.

Just in case you missed the first few dozen times the blog covered this: there is no evidence that Joe Biden or his son, Hunter, engaged in corruption. The former Ukrainian prosecutor who first investigated corruption claims against a company with ties to the younger Biden has even said he saw no evidence that the Bidens violated Ukrainian law.

Trump is also wrong on how much money European allies have given Ukraine. Since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, the European Union has given $16.5 billion in grants and loans to Ukraine. In comparison, the United States has provided at least $1.3 billion to Ukraine since late 2013.

And all of this evades the most important questions about Trump’s Ukraine call. Namely, did the president try to solicit assistance from a foreign country in the 2020 election? And did his aides try to conceal details of the call to cover that up?

Bolton criticizes Trump's foreign policy in first public appearance since ouster

John Bolton – who was ousted (or left voluntarily, depending on who you ask) as Trump’s national security adviser earlier this month – criticized the president’s foreign policy in his first public appearance since departing the administration.

Bolton has always taken a hard line on foreign adversaries like North Korea and Iran, a position that increasingly diverged with Trump’s as the president sought to dial back the United States’ international presence.

But Bolton’s appearance is also a notable marker for how much has happened this month. The former official left the administration days after reports emerged that he pushed back against Trump’s secret plan to host the Taliban at Camp David for peace talks within days of the Sept. 11 anniversary.

That controversy was about three weeks ago. And it’s been completely expelled from newspapers’ front pages and cable news’ chyrons over reports that the president tried to solicit assistance from a foreign country in the 2020 election.

Welcome to the Trump era of news.

The Daily Beast has more on Trump and his allies’ false claim about a rule change that allowed the whistleblower to report on his conversations with White House officials:

From Donald Trump on down, prominent Republicans used part of their weekend to falsely accuse Trump’s hand-picked intelligence community inspector general (IC IG) of secretly changing the requirements for intelligence workers to submit whistleblower tips as part of a deep state plot to clear the way for the Aug. 12 complaint about Trump’s phone call to the president of Ukraine.

The smoking gun in the putative conspiracy is an obscure government form, IC IG ICWSP Form 401, also known as the Disclosure of Urgent Concern Form. The document is put out by the IC IG for intelligence workers who need to file urgent complaints that trigger special treatment under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act.

According to the GOP and an army of conservative commentators, the old version of the form prohibited workers from submitting urgent complaints based on secondhand information; only misconduct witnessed personally could be reported. That changed in early August, the false claim goes, when ICIG Michael Atkinson snuck through a hasty revision to the complaint form that reversed long-standing policy.

Trump baselessly blames whistleblower complaint on rule change

Trump, echoing some of his Republican allies, blamed the whistleblower complaint about his Ukraine call on a rule change allowing certain evidence to be included in such reports.

One of the president’s closest congressional allies, senator Lindsey Graham, voiced a similar concern on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” yesterday.

But Trump’s own White House corroborated several key details of the whistleblower complaint in its own memo on the Ukraine call.

And George Conway, who is married to senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, pointed out in a lengthy Twitter thread Saturday that the evidence the whistleblower provides based on his conversations with White House officials could still be admissible.

Booker reaches fundraising goal

Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker announced in an email to supporters that his campaign has raised the $1.7 million it said it needed to stay in the 2020 race.

Booker said in a statement: “This moment is a testimony to the power of what’s possible when people unite in common purpose and work toward a shared goal.

“Thanks to this outpouring of support, we see a viable path forward to continue growing a winning campaign. I’m staying in this race – and I’m in it to win.”

Booker’s campaign sent a fundraising plea to supporters earlier this month, warning that the New Jersey senator would be forced to drop out if they did not see a surge of donations. They set a goal of raising $1.7 million by the third-quarter fundraising deadline, which is at midnight tonight.

The campaign now said it hopes to raise a total of $2 million before tonight’s deadline.

Trump suggests arresting House intelligence committee chairman

Good morning, live blog readers!

Here’s something you don’t get to say every day in a democratic country: the president is floating the idea of arresting a senior lawmaker of the opposing party who is investigating him.

During the 2016 election, Donald Trump’s supporters relished chanting that Hillary Clinton should be “locked up.” But the president is now turning his attention to Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee who is investigating whether Trump solicited assistance from Ukraine in the 2020 election.

The debate around Schiff’s opening statement during last week’s hearing with the acting director of national intelligence centers on whether it was the best judgment call to parody the White House memo on the Ukraine call in order to make a point.

That seems like a pretty far cry from treason – which the Constitution says “shall consist only in levying war against [the United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”

Using that definition, Trump’s alleged attempts to convince a foreign country to meddle in a US election seem like a much more appropriate contender for the “treason” title.

Bernie Sanders pauses while speaking n Hanover, N.H.
Bernie Sanders pauses while speaking n Hanover, N.H. Photograph: Cheryl Senter/AP

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

  • Trump will attend a ceremony for the new joint chiefs of staff chairman and have lunch with the vice president. He will later participate in the ceremonial swearing-in of the new secretary of labor, Eugene Scalia, and meet with the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.
  • Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is rolling out his CEO tax proposal while campaigning in New Hampshire.
  • Tonight is the deadline for candidates’ third-quarter fundraising, and mediocre results could put more pressure on some lower-polling contenders to drop out.

The blog is keeping an eye on all of that, so stay tuned.

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