Live political reporting continues on Thursday’s blog:
Evening summary
- The House judiciary committee’s debate of the impeachment articles is still underway. Each of the committee’s 41 members has 5 minutes to deliver opening statements. Democrats have so far cast the impeachment as part of their solemn responsibility. Republicans have said that the articles are baseless. Keep an eye on The Guardian’s home page for more analysis and updates.
- House Democrats approved a $738bn military bill that included a provision to fund Trump’s Space Force and provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees.
- The Senate foreign relations committee unanimously backed a bill to stop Trump from exiting Nato.
- The justice department’s inspector general Michael Horowitz testified before the Senate judiciary committee about his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. Although FBI agents made significant errors as they began looking into the Trump campaign, their investigation was justified and not politically motivated, he concluded.
- Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who was sentenced for violating campaign finance laws, is asking for a reduced sentence, in exchange for helping federal investigators look into the president’s business dealings.
- Donald Trump signed an executive order that characterizes anti-Israel sentiments and boycotts as antisemitic.
House Democrats are bracing for defections on impeachment vote
A group of moderates from swing districts may break from the rest of the House Democrats set to vote to impeach Trump. According to CNN, a small group of democrats representing districts that elected Trump met this week to discuss a way to avoid impeaching Trump and censure him instead.
The Washington Post also reports that lawmakers and aides expect that at least two, and as many as a half dozen defections.
These Democrats worry that a vote for impeachment could affect their chance of being reelected in Republican-leaning districts where impeachment hasn’t gained support despite the public hearings.
Even if 17 Democrats defect, the impeachment could still go through. The Dems outnumber Republicans 233-197 and can count the support of independent congressman Justin Amash.
Updated
As committee members take the floor, one by one, to deliver their opening statements, Democrats are framing the impeachment articles as part of their solemn responsibility, while Republicans are hearing down the inquiry as a political ploy.
A sampling of their words:
Democrat Zoe Lofgren: “Members of the Congress all take an oath to uphold the Constitution when a president violates a constitutional order we have an obligation to live up to our oath of office to deal with that.
Republican Steve Chabot: “The drafting of impeachment articles drafted solely on secret hearings closed to the media and to the American people... If Geoge Orwell had written the script no one would have believed it”
[Note: the articles are based on both public hearings and closed-door hearings whose transcripts were made public]
Democrat Sheila Jackson: “The President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, perpetrated constitutional crimes. Why does this matter today now in this moment on the journey of America’s history? Because truth matters and where truth rests trust builds.”
Republican Jim Sensenbrenner: “What we’re debating here, in my opinion, is the weakest case in history.”
Doug Collins, the leading Republican on the Judiciary Committee spoke next.
“This is not new. We’ve been trying this for almost three years,” he said, arguing that the articles to impeach Trump aren’t valid because Democrats have been investigating the president for a long time.
It is amazing to me that we’re taking it now as such a solemn oath that we’ve made up something to now come to this point to say, ‘This is very solemn’, like it jumped up and snuck up on you. It’s about like the holiday season, it doesn’t jump up and sneak up on you when you’ve been expecting it the whole time. And that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Collins also said that by pursuing impeachment, “we tear down, not only try to tear down the leader of the free world, President Trump, but we’re tearing down the newly elected leader of the Ukraine” by implying that the Ukranian leader lied when he denied he felt pressured by Trump.
The Republicans have props, including posters criticizing the impeachment. One says “Coastal Impeachment Squad” with a photo of House Democrats including Nadler, Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi.
Updated
Nadler: President Trump’s stonewall was complete, absolute and without precedent
In his opening statement, Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler said that the debate should be framed around three questions:
1) Does the evidence show clearly that Trump committed these acts?
2) Do they rise to the level of impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors?
3) What are the consequences if we fail to act?
He also began addressing some of those questions, highlighting that although other presidents have tried to evade investigations, “President Trump’s stonewall was complete, absolute and without precedent,” justifying the obstruction of Congress article.
Nadler also highlighted evidence that Trump abused power. “President Trump asked for a favor,” he said, and undermined national security.
Updated
House Judiciary Committee begins debating impeachment articles
Legislators are going to be editing House resolution 755, “impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors”.
Judiciary Committee chair Jerold Nadler announced that each of the committee’s 41 members will have the opportunity to deliver a 5-minute opening statement.
Updated
Prosecutors say Lev Parnas hid a $1m payment from Russia
Prosecutors asked a federal judge to revoke bail for Lev Parnas, who they say made false statements about his assets and hit a $1m payment from Russia. Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani, was indicted on campaign finance charges in October. He also helped connect Guiliani with Ukrainian officials who pushed unsubstantiated allegations about Joe Biden,
House passes defense bill that establishes a Space Force and paid family leave for federal workers
Congress passed an annual defense authorization bill that includes a provision for federal workers to take 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
House Democrats who negotiated the bill pushed for the family leave provision in exchange for establishing a Space Force.
CNN has more context:
The paid parental leave provision was added after a significant push from Democrats, who during the course of the negotiation saw an opening with President Donald Trump’s desire to see the establishment of Space Force as a branch of the US military.
In the White House push for Space Force’s inclusion, it was made clear, aides familiar with the negotiations said, that any number of Democratic priorities were potentially on the table. Over the objection of congressional Republicans, the White House agreed to the paid parental leave for federal workers in order to ensure the establishment of Space Force, the aides said.
Democrats celebrated the paid leave provision in the must-pass legislation, although the bill on the whole was met with dismay from some progressive members who felt they lost on many of their other legislative priorities after negotiations with the Republican-held Senate. The bill passed with a bipartisan vote of 377-48. Forty-one Democrats and six Republicans opposed it, along with independent Rep. Justin Amash.
Adam Schiff submits more evidence to judiciary committee
JUST IN: Schiff has submitted classified evidence to the judiciary committee ahead up tonight’s impeachment markup. it’s the letter from the Pence aide who filed additional evidence after her testimony. Schiff says the office of the vice president has declined to declassify it. pic.twitter.com/FjJM63xXZ0
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 11, 2019
The House Judiciary Committee is holding a rare evening session today in order to edit and perfect the articles of impeachment against Trump. Lawmakers aren’t expected to make any major changes to the articles, which charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
It appears the committee may squeeze in last bits of evidence, before finalizng and approving the articles as early as tomorrow morning.
Updated
Trump signs executive order targeting anti-Semitism and Israel boycotts on campuses
As expected, Donald Trump signed an executive order that would essentially allow the government to interpret Judaism as a race or nationality in order to extend Title VI Civil Rights Act protections to people subjected to antisemitism at college campuses.
The order also expands the definition of antisemitism in include criticisms of Israel, relying on guidelines from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
For the signing, joined by lawmakers as well as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Afterward, evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress, who in the past has said that Jews would go to hell, spoke, praising Trump as “the most pro-faith president in history”.
In a New York Times op-ed, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner praised the move. “As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I understand the horrors of anti-Semitism. I could not be more proud of President Trump’s new policy,” he wrote.
But the order has drawn criticism from those who worry that characterizing Judaism as a race or nationality is itself antisemitic. Free-speech advocates are also concerned that conflating political criticisms of Israel with antisemitism will stifle open discussion.
Afternoon summary
Here’s everything that’s happened so far today:
- The justice department’s top watchdog Michael Horowitz testified in front of the Senate judiciary committee today. Horowitz reaffirmed his confidence in his team’s report, despite attacks from Donald Trump and Horowitz’s boss, attorney general William Barr, on the report.
- Joe Biden’s campaign has been swatting away rumors that Biden has been talking about capping his presidency to one term if elected. Biden said that he has not talked to aides about the matter.
- Michael Cohen is asking a federal court for a reduced sentence, citing the help that he has given to federal investigators into Trump’s business activities.
- Former FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have found themselves in the news again, thanks to constant mentions from Trump and his allies. Last night Trump said that Page had a restraining order against Strzok, which she denied on Twitter. George Conway tweeted that Strzok has a compelling defamation case against the president if he wants one.
Andrew Yang responded to allegations brought up by actress Alyssa Milano who cancelled her participation at a fundraiser for the candidate due to “repeated allegations of sexual misconduct” from one campaign staffer against another, according to a tweet thread Milano posted last night.
I have made the difficult decision to withdraw my participation from a fundraiser for the @andrewyang campaign. This is due to repeated allegations of sexual misconduct against a campaign staffer by a campaign staffer which were not appropriately addressed. (1/3)
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) December 11, 2019
Yang said that the staffer is no longer part of the campaign “to the extent that a particular individual was in position to mistreat another employee, that’s no longer the case today.”
NEWS: @AndrewYang on the 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾 allegations:
— Eugene Daniels (@EugeneDaniels2) December 11, 2019
- Says the staffer accused was FIRED.
("To the extent that a particular individual was in position to mistreat another employee, that's no longer the case today.")
- Claims the "mistreatment" WAS NOT sexual. https://t.co/oeaDR4ScJA
Democracy is under attack … as are civility and truth.
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Michael Cohen asks federal court to reduce prison sentence
Michael Cohen, Trump former personal lawyer, filed documents this afternoon asking a federal court to reduce his prison sentence. Cohen’s lawyer say that attorney general William Barr did not act in “good faith” when failing to meet with Cohen after he surrendered to his sentence, even though Cohen has assisted federal investigators in their investigation of Trump’s business.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison in December 2018 for violating campaign finance laws.
New: Michael Cohen filed a motion in federal court seeking a review of his prison sentence, citing his cooperation with Congress and investigations. Cohen’s lawyers contend that AG Barr and DOJ didn’t act in “good faith” out of “a pattern of bling loyalty to a Trump”
— Emily Jane Fox (@emilyjanefox) December 11, 2019
NEW: Michael Cohen just filed a flurry of documents in SDNY supporting a motion to reduce his sentence for cooperation with the government. CC: @CourthouseNews
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 11, 2019
Doc: https://t.co/ZXPDjxk8tJ pic.twitter.com/coW0Y4xoq0
Two sources told CNN that the whistleblower whose account led to the impeachment inquiry is prepping for a potential subpoena from the Senate to testify. Donald Trump and his allies have made thinly veiled threats to the whistleblower, who is still anonymous, making some question the safety of revealing the whistleblower’s identity. Here’s more from CNN:
A subpoena would put the whistleblower in uncharted territory, and raise the risk that his or her identity could come out in the course of the trial in the Senate -- where, unlike in the Democrat-led House, some Republicans have expressed a desire to hear from the whistleblower. ...
Depending on how senators structure their likely trial, a subpoena could compel the whistleblower to cooperate with anything from written questions to a closed-door interview in a secure location to a public hearing that would expose the whistleblower’s identity.
The whistleblower’s legal team is looking at historical precedent and conducting research to see what kind of case it could mount to block the whistleblower from testifying, if it came to that. One source said the legal team is closely monitoring lawmakers’ public statements about their client and is taking note of recent reporting that some Republicans have pushed back on White House demands for testimony.
Friendly reminder that the House judiciary committee’s debate on the two articles of impeachment will begin tonight at 7pm. Reports say that House Democrats plan to vote on each article separately.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said there will be separate House votes on each article of impeachment when they go to the floor next week, even though the articles are written into a single resolution, per @jeremyherb
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 11, 2019
FiveThirtyEight went Senator-by-Senator to see who would be most likely to vote for impeachment, stick with Trump or are hanging out in the middle.
They calculate that 44 Democrats are certain to vote for impeachment and three who will likely be on the fence.
In comparison, the chunk of Republicans (32) are grouped into what they are calling “Pro-Trump but looking at the polls”. This includes some of Trump’s close allies like Lindsay Graham, but also ones that have kept their distance. “What ties all these senators together is that they are generally Republicans who rose to power pre-Trump. That means they are probably more interested in preserving the GOP and their own electoral standing than defending Trump himself.”
Eight Republicans are “Always Trumpers”, meaning they would never break away from the president.
Updated
Horowitz: We stand by the report
Michael Horowitz, top watchdog of the justice department, has been reaffirming his confidence in the report that he released on Monday during a testimony in front of the Senate judiciary committee.
Trump and his allies have been trying to discredit the report, arguing that it does not consider all the available evidence. Attorney general William Barr has said that the FBI acted in bad faith when it conducted its Russian inquiry, contradicting the report. Barr has John Durham, a US attorney general from Connecticut, conducting his own investigation into the Russian inquiry.
Horowitz has repeated throughout the day that he showed Barr and Durham a copy of the report before it was released to the public. He said they expressed their disagreement with it, but he and his team maintain that it is accurate.
“My defense of my team and my work is that we stand by the report. Nothing I’ve heard changed our view,” Horowitz said. “The department, the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, the FBI director, whomever is free to disagree with my conclusions. I didn’t take the [inspector general] job to be popular to not have my feelings hurt.”
Updated
The testimony of Michael Horowitz, top justice department watchdog, is still going. Donald Trump tweeted that the FBI “spied on my campaign!”
They spied on my campaign! https://t.co/sOotkhk5fw
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2019
When asked whether the FBI sent any spies to the Trump campaign from Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, Horowitz said: ”We did not find evidence that the FBI sought to place confidential human sources inside the campaign or plant them inside the campaign”.
In an interview with actress Olivia Wilde for the Hollywood Reporter, speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi talked women in power, 2020 and the entertainment industry. In the interview, Pelosi offered a scathing critique of the press’ role in enabling Donald Trump’s power.
I’ve said to many of my friends in the press, “You’re accomplices, whether you want to be or not,” [and they say,] “If he’s saying it, then it’s news.” I don’t think it’s news, but it monopolizes the airwaves. So there is a lot of responsibility to go around in terms of the creation of whatever that is in the White House.
But he has a tactic, one that is used by autocrats, which is, “Just as long as they’re talking about me, no matter if it’s bad, then you’re not talking about my opponent.” When [the press was] talking about him, they weren’t saying what Hillary was going to do about health care, to make our economy fair.
What we have to do is make sure that our own message is very positive, that we assume nothing about the public’s understanding of how one candidate is not authentic. Nonetheless, if you can fake authenticity, as Jean Giraudoux has said, you have it made.
I see everything as an opportunity. I see what he is as an opportunity for us to have a very sharp, sharp contrast to what that is, to bring America back to a place where our hearts are full of love, for our country, for each other, and that we do not become like him in order to gain power but instead honor what our founders taught us: E pluribus unum, from many one.
And so forget about him.
Joe Biden briefly answered a question on whether he talked to aides about keeping a potential presidency to one term. Rumors are circulating after Politico published a story suggesting Biden may publicly promise to keep his presidency to one term.
“No, I never have. I don’t have any plans on one term. I’m not even there yet,” he said.
NEW: @JoeBiden asked to respond to @politico reporting tells @pdoocy he has not talked to aides about a one-term pledge and does not have a one-term plan. pic.twitter.com/nHcZAisVL5
— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) December 11, 2019
A Republican US representative from Indiana sent a letter to Senator Lindsey Graham asking him to rethink the impeachment strategy he briefly laid out yesterday. In an appearance on Fox News yesterday, Graham said he would not recommend calling anyone, including Donald Trump himself, to testify at an impeachment trial.
“When 51 of us say we’ve heard enough, the trial is going to end,” Graham told Fox News. “The president’s going to be acquitted. … Here’s my advice to the president: if the Senate is ready to vote and ready to acquit you, you should celebrate that.”
The stance is in contrast to what House Republicans like Jim Banks want out of an impeachment trial, which they see as an opportunity to aggressively clear the president of accusations by having testimony from people like Joe or Hunter Biden.
“It is urgent we fight fire with fire and tell them enough is enough,” Banks wrote in his letter, according to Politico. “House Republicans have done all they can to push back and expose their motives to the American people, soon it will be at your doorstep.
Updated
Next year America faces an epic choice ... and the results could define the country for a generation.
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These are perilous times. Over the last three years, much of what the Guardian holds dear has been threatened – democracy, civility, truth. This US administration is establishing new norms of behaviour. Anger and cruelty disfigure public discourse and lying is commonplace. Truth is being chased away.
In the coming year, many vital aspects of American public life are in play – the supreme court, abortion rights, climate policy, wealth inequality, Big Tech and much more. The stakes could hardly be higher – and the need for a robust, independent press has never been greater.
As 2020 approaches, we’re asking our US readers to help us raise $1.5m by early January to support our journalism. We hope you’ll consider making a year-end gift.
We also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Guardian in 2019. You provide us with the motivation and financial support to keep doing what we do.
As the testimony of Michael Horowitz, justice department watchdog, continues, the New York Times published an interesting analysis of the report that argues it transgresses any political implications.
At more than 400 pages, the study amounted to the most searching look ever revealed about the government’s secretive system for carrying out national-security surveillance on American soil. And what the report showed was not pretty.
While clearing the F.B.I. of acting out of political bias, the Justice Department’s independent inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, and his team uncovered a staggeringly dysfunctional and error-ridden process in how the F.B.I. went about obtaining and renewing court permission under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, to wiretap Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.
“The litany of problems with the Carter Page surveillance applications demonstrates how the secrecy shrouding the government’s one-sided FISA approval process breeds abuse,” said Hina Shamsi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project. “The concerns the inspector general identifies apply to intrusive investigations of others, including especially Muslims, and far better safeguards against abuse are necessary.”
CNN just released a new 2020 poll that looks at the big Super Tuesday states. Joe Biden is barely polling ahead of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in California, but he has a strong lead in Texas, where he polls at 35%, compared to Sanders’ 15% and Warren’s 13%.
New @CNN 2020 polls out of two big Super Tuesday states:
— Caroline Kenny (@carolinerkenny) December 11, 2019
CALIFORNIA:
Biden: 21%
Sanders: 20%
Warren: 17%
TEXAS:
Biden: 35%
Sanders: 15%
Warren: 13% https://t.co/DBh73O4YiP
When put head-to-head with Trump, Biden polls close to Trump in Texas, with Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Sanders following close behind. In California, all four of the top-polling candidates held a double-digit lead over Trump.
DOJ watchdog 'surprised' by statement from Barr's investigator
A moment from the testimony of Michael Horowitz, the justice department’s watchdog, is picking up some traction. Horowitz said that he was surprised that US attorney general for Connecticut John Durham, who is leading a separate investigation into the FBI’s Russia inquiry under attorney general William Barr, put out a statement that he did not agree with the report’s conclusions.
“I was surprised by the statement, I didn’t necessarily know it was going to be released on Monday. We did meet with Mr Durham… we met with him in November,” Horowitz said. “He said he did not necessarily agree with our conclusion about our opening of a full counterintelligence investigation.”
Durham and Barr have both been under criticism for publicly distancing themselves from their department inspector general’s report. Yesterday, Barr said he believes the FBI acting in “bad faith” through its Russia inquiry, directly contradicting the report.
Updated
Buttigieg was not part of Canadian ‘bread scandal’
Pete Buttigieg is batting away rumors this morning after he disclosed the clients he worked for when he was a consultant at McKinsey.
When Canadians heard that Buttigeg did work with Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws, rumors started flying that Buttigieg was a part of a bread price-fixing scheme. In 2017, the supermarket admitted to a 14-year scheme to increase the price of bread in its stores – a scandal that is evidently infamous to Canadians.
It’s official: one of Buttigieg’s clients was Loblaws. He previously had said he done work on pricing for a Canadian grocery store. If you’re a Canadian, every red flag you saw is on fire now. If you’re not a Canadian and don’t get it, here you go:https://t.co/CtbxaW2sNg
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) December 10, 2019
Buttigieg’s campaign told Buzzfeed News that the candidate was instead focused on broader price cuts at the chain.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked justice department top watchdog Michael Horowitz to outline the most important takeaways from the report.
Horowitz first said that the investigation was opened “with proper predicate, sufficient predication” and that it was started by someone who was found to have no connection with texts that showed political bias. He then said that members of the FBI did not follow proper protocol when going through with certain steps of the investigation.
As the testimony so far has shown, each party has put their own spin to the report. Republicans see it as evidence that there is a “deep state” conspiracy against Donald Trump, while Democrats see the contrary.
Judiciary committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein of California is questioning Horowitz now. Her first questions hit at getting justice department top watchdog Michael Horowitz to confirm that there was no “deep state” conspiracy behind the opening of the FBI’s investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign.
“As to the opening, we found no bias, no testimonial documents on that,” Horowitz said about the investigation.
Feinstein immediately guides Horowitz through explaining that there was no evidence of political bias or a "deep state" conspiracy playing a role in the opening of the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign pic.twitter.com/dGESeTd3Ys
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 11, 2019
Michael Horowitz, the justice department’s top watchdog, is being questioned by the Senate judiciary committee. Senator Lindsey Graham is asking Horowitz questions after giving a 40-minute opening speech blasting the FBI’s investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign.
As expected, the questions from Graham are trying to prove a “deep state” conspiracy against Donald Trump in the FBI by focusing on the agency’s missteps that were outlined in Horowitz’s report. So far, Graham asked Horowitz whether the mishandling of Carter Page’s, former Trump aide, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) warrant was done out of political bias: “I did not know their state of mind at this point.”
Horowitz tells Sen. Lindsey Graham that he is not able to rule out political bias as the motivation behind the mishandling of the Carter Page FISA warrant: "I did not know [the agents'] state of mind at this point."
— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) December 11, 2019
Horowitz said the DOJ did not fairly treat the Fisa warrants they were trying to get “and [Page] was on the receiving end of them”.
Updated
Biden’s campaign denies one-term rumors
Joe Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield just tweeted out that Biden only serving one term if elected “is not a conversation our campaign is having and not something VP Biden is thinking about”.
Lots of chatter out there on this so just want to be crystal clear: this is not a conversation our campaign is having and not something VP Biden is thinking about. https://t.co/mXNEnX6GrU
— Kate Bedingfield (@KBeds) December 11, 2019
A Politico story this morning reported that there were conversations among Biden’s advisers and top Democrats outside of his campaign about whether Biden should pledge to only serve one term if elected, addressing concerns about Biden’s age and positioning himself as a “transition leader”.
The story says Biden himself has quietly talked about limiting himself to one term. One campaign adviser told Politico “he’s going to be 82-years-old in four yeras and he won’t be running for reelection.”
Updated
An hour after the testimony began, the justice department’s top watchdog Michael Horowitz is giving his opening statement in the testimony.
He started by saying that the report took 19 months, and his team pour over a million documents and conducted 170 interviews with 100 witnesses.
He encouraged people to read the report’s text, which can be found here.
“I would encourage everybody to read the report, although I understand 400+ page report can be hard to get through, we do have a pithy 19-page executive summary with it which I would encourage people to read at a minimum.”
Minutes after Senator Lindsay Graham quoted texts between Peter Strzok, former FBI agent, and Lisa Page, former FBI lawyer, in his opening speech to the testimony of watchdog of Michael Horowitz, George Conway – husband of Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president – tweeted a lengthy thread that Strzok has an “extremely strong slander case” against him for claiming that Page got a restraining order against Strzok.
Trump made the claim last night at a rally, where he hyped up the crowd by mocking Strzok and Page. Page tweeted this morning that “nothing like this ever happened”.
It’s pretty clear that @petestrzok has an extremely strong slander case against @realDonaldTrump for the latter’s false claim last night that @NatSecLisa obtained a restraining order against Strzok.
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) December 11, 2019
Updated
Michael Horowitz, top watchdog in the justice department, is now testifying in front of the Senate judiciary committee. Everyone’s expecting a grilling from Senate Republicans, who believe Horowitz’s report unjustly targets the president, who believes the “deep state” has a conspiracy against him. Senator Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate judiciary committee, is opening the testimony with a lengthy spiel about whether the FBI went to far in its investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
Trump mocks former FBI agent and lawyer at rally
At a rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania last night, Donald Trump spent a few minutes doing what has become a standard gag at his rallies: Mocking former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and former FBI agent Peter Strzok, the text messages of whom Trump says is evidence of a “deep state”.
To the cheers and laughs of his supporters, Trump pretended to be Page and Strzok. “I love you so much Lisa, please” he cooed onstage as his supporters roared with laughter. Trump took it a step further and said that Page had to get a restraining order against Strzok because he couldn’t stay away from her. “I don’t know if it’s true. The fake news will never report on it,” Trump said, encouraging boos from his supporters. A source close to Page told the Daily Beast that the allegation of the restraining order “is absolutely untrue”.
At a rally in October, Trump said Page’s name during a “demeaning fake orgasm”, which she said encouraged her to speak out against the president. Yesterday, Page announced that she is suing the justice department and the FBI for leaking her and Strzok’s texts to the press.
Updated
Here’s the official pic from the closed-door meeting that Donald Trump had with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister. Lavrov at a joint press conference with secretary of state Mike Pompeo said “we have highlighted once again that all speculation about our alleged interference in domestic processes in the US are baseless. There are no facts that would support that.”
The reward for systematically interfering in a US election? An Oval Office visit. pic.twitter.com/OPeMqwSBnw
— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) December 11, 2019
Check out the headline of this ProPublica story that was published this morning: “Donald Trump Jr. Went to Mongolia, Got Special Treatment From the Government and Killed an Endangered Sheep”
ProPublica got its hands on records about a trip Trump Jr. took to Mongolia over the summer. Records and interviews confirmed that Trump killed an argali, an endangered species of large mountain sheep that have made their homes in a remote region of Western Mongolia. The right to kill an argali is granted via an “opaque permitting system” that experts say require “money, connections and politics.”
Trump Jr. reportedly got a permit to kill an argali in September, after he left the region. He met with the president of Mongolia soon after and then left the country. ProPublica says the US and Mongolia supported Trump Jr.’s trip, including by giving him security services.
“What are the chances the Mongolian government would’ve done any of that to someone who wasn’t the son of the United States’ president?” Kathleen Clark, a professor specializing in legal ethics at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, told ProPublica.
Horowitz to go before Senate judiciary committee
Happy Wednesday morning, and welcome to the politics live blog! It’ll be another busy day on Capitol Hill: the Department of Justice’s top watchdog Michael Horowitz is expected to testify in front of the Senate judiciary committee at 10am.
Horowitz released a report on Monday that found the FBI investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia was justified – although it found several missteps the agency made during the investigation. Donald Trump and his allies, including the attorney general, William Barr, have condemned the report, saying it unfairly targets the president. Expect the same pandering from Senate Republicans today during Horowitz’s testimony.
Here’s what else we’re looking at today:
- Impeachment will continue to roll, as the House judiciary committee starts to debate and vote on the articles of impeachment tonight at 7pm and continue tomorrow morning. The committee is trying to impeach Trump on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
- House Democrats are expected to announce a sweeping drug pricing bill – the end result of intense negotiations between moderate and progressive leaders in the party. The bill expands the government’s ability to directly negotiate and lower drug prices.
- Trump will hold the ceremonial swearing-in of Dan Brouillette, the new secretary of energy who was confirmed last week. Brouillette, a former lobbyist for Ford Motor Company, was most recently deputy secretary.
Stay tuned for all the latest news.
Updated
