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Lois Beckett and Kari Paul in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

John Bolton reportedly asked to sit for impeachment deposition – as it happened

Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton.
Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton. Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images

Live political reporting continues on Thursday’s blog:

Kari Paul, signing off for the night. Here are the top news items of the evening to keep in mind.

  • The top Russia expert on Trump’s National Security Council is expected to leave the White House “imminently”.
  • Donald Trump tweeted a fake image of himself awarding a medal of honor to the military dog involved in the raid that killed the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
  • The interior department is grounding its entire fleet of drones due to security concerns.
  • California senator and 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris is laying off a number of staffers as she restructures her campaign.
  • Rep. Katie Hill will have her final day in Congress on Friday. She is resigning following the publication of nude images of her.
  • Former vice president Barack Obama will be visiting Silicon Valley on Nov. 21 to fundraise for the DNC in one of his first political appearances in recent memory.

Former president Barack Obama will be visiting California on Nov. 21 to raise money for the Democratic Party.

The event in Silicon Valley marks his first public appearance of the 2020 campaign cycle and will be the most political appearance he has made since last year’s midterms.

Ticket prices for the Democratic National Committee fundraiser range from $10,000 to $355,000 to attend.

Updated

Katie Hill will have her final day in office on Friday of this week.

The California representative announced Sunday that she would resign from Congress following the publication of nude photos of her and allegations that she engaged in a relationship with one of her staffers.

California senator and 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris is laying off a number of staffers in her Baltimore headquarters and sending others to work from Iowa.

Harris’s campaign manager Juan Rodriguez announced the changes in a statement on Wednesday, saying he and all other consultants on the campaign would be taking a pay cut.

“These decisions are difficult but will ensure the campaign is positioned to execute a robust Iowa ground game and a minimum 7-figure paid media campaign in the weeks leading up to caucus,” the memo stated.

The interior department is grounding its entire fleet of drones due to security concerns, the Wall Street Journal reported.

With more than 800 aerial drones, the department has one of the largest fleets in the federal government.

The drones are used to fight forest fires, survey erosion, monitor endangered species and inspect dams. They are being grounded due to increasing concerns about national security risks related to their parts being made in China.

From the Journal:

US officials worry that the country’s reliance on Chinese drones may be putting critical US infrastructure at risk. They are concerned the drones may be sending information back to the Chinese government or hackers elsewhere to use for cyberattacks or other offenses.

In September, a group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced legislation to bar federal agencies from buying drones from China and any other country deemed a national-security risk.

Stopping drone use would cost the department millions, officials say. It estimates officials executed more than 10,000 drone flights as part of its job to manage more than 500m acres of US land and that using drones saved more than $14m in taxpayer dollars in 2018.

Updated

Hello, Kari Paul here in San Francisco, taking over the blog for the next few hours. More news to come shortly.

The top Russia expert on Trump’s National Security Council is expected to leave the White House “imminently”, NPR reports.

Tim Morrison, the official, is slated to testify in the House’s impeachment inquiry this Thursday, according to NPR.

Updated

In Iowa earlier today, Joe Biden talked about his daughter being a social worker, and quipped that “I wish I had raised one Republican, they’d made some real money,” CNN reported.

It’s an awkward joke to make as Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, remains at the heart of the House’s impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. Hunter Biden, a lawyer and former lobbyist, reportedly made up to $50,000 a month for serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, a decision that he later called “poor judgment” on his part.

This is Lois Beckett in the Guardian’s West Coast office, taking over our live politics coverage. My colleague Kari Paul will be taking over the coverage shortly.

Donald Trump tweeted a fake image of himself awarding a medal of honor to the military dog involved in the raid that killed the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The image, apparently produced by the Daily Wire, a conservative site, is an altered version of an actual photograph of Trump awarding the medal of honor in 2017 to James McCloughan, a retired Army medic who was honored for saving the lives of 10 people during the Vietnam war, the New York Times reported.

In the image Trump tweeted, the McCloughan’s head has been replaced with the head of the dog, reportedly named “Conan”, with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

McCloughan laughed when a Times reporter showed him the two images. including one where his head has been replaced with the head of a dog with its tongue lolling out of its mouth. Military dogs “are very courageous”, he said.

Updated

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:

  • John Bolton has been asked to testify in the impeachment inquiry next week, but it’s unclear whether Trump’s former national security adviser will comply with the request.
  • Two state department officials, Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson, testified in the impeachment inquiry. They reportedly told investigators that Trump voiced distrust of Ukraine as Bolton raised concerns about Rudy Giuliani’s role in US-Ukrainian relations.
  • The House rules committee is currently marking up the resolution outlining next steps in the impeachment inquiry. Republicans have reportedly suggested a number of edits, but they are unlikely to be approved by the Democratic majority of the panel.
  • Twitter announced it is banning political advertising on its platform as Facebook faces backlash over its decision to allow false statements in political ads.
  • Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is overhauling her campaign, which has seen dwindling fundraising and polling numbers in recent months.

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

The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry sent a letter to John Bolton’s lawyer asking Trump’s former national security adviser to voluntarily appear before the investigators.

The House chairs do not appear to be subpoenaing Bolton at this time. However, the committees have previously issued subpoenas shortly before scheduled interviews due to the White House’s efforts to block witnesses’ testimony.

Once again, Bolton seems unlikely to respond to the panels’ request before a judge issues a decision on the case of Charles Kupperman, who is seeking a ruling on whether to comply with his congressional subpoena or the White House’s order not to testify.

It’s not yet clear whether John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, will appear for his scheduled deposition in the impeachment inquiry.

Bolton’s former deputy, Charles Kupperman, is currently in the midst of a legal battle seeking guidance on whether to comply with the congressional subpoena or the White House’s order not to appear.

Given that Bolton and Kupperman share an attorney, Bolton may wait for that judgement before making a decision on whether to talk to impeachment investigators.

Twitter bans political advertising

Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey has announced it is ending political advertising on its platform as Facebook faces backlash over its decision to allow false statements in political ads.

The Guardian’s Julia Carrie Wong reports:

The new policy, announced via Dorsey’s Twitter account, will come into effect on 22 November and will apply globally to all electioneering ads, as well as ads related to political issues. The timing means the ban will be in place in time for the UK snap election.

Twitter had previously implemented rules and restrictions for political advertising.

The announcement comes as Facebook is embroiled in a controversy over its decision to exempt ads by politicians from third-party fact-checking and from a policy that bans false statements from paid advertisements.

John Bolton shares a lawyer with Charles Kupperman, his former deputy at the national security council who declined to appear for his deposition in the impeachment inquiry earlier this week.

Kupperman is seeking a judge’s ruling on whether he should comply with the congressional subpoena or the White House’s order not to testify. That eventual decision could determine whether Bolton appears as well.

Bolton reportedly asked to sit for impeachment deposition next week

The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry reportedly intend to call John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, to sit for a deposition next Thursday.

Previous witnesses have reportedly told impeachment investigators that Bolton voiced concerns about the role that Trump’s external advisers, namely Rudy Giuliani, were playing in determining Ukraine policy.

The panels also intend to call John Eisenberg, a lawyer at the national security council, and Michael Ellis, one of Eisenberg’s deputies.

Updated

The Guardian has obtained the memo outlining a massive restructuring of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

The memo begins: “With fewer than 100 days until the Iowa Caucus and in a competitive resources environment, we are implementing an organizational realignment to go all-in on Iowa.”

It goes on to say: “From the beginning of this campaign, Kamala Harris and this team set out with one goal - to win the nomination and defeat Donald Trump in 2020. This requires us to make difficult strategic decisions and make clear priorities, not threaten to drop out or deploy gimmicks.”

In recent weeks, Cory Booker and Julián Castro have issued fundraising pleas to their supporters, warning that they would not be able to continue in the race without raising certain amounts of money.

Harris is not issuing such a plea here; however, the restructuring may encourage her supporters to send the campaign more money as it reportedly bleeds cash.

Harris’ press secretary appeared to acknowledge the restructuring in a tweet, while urging the California senator’s supporters to maintain faith in her prospects.

The communications director for Kamala Harris appeared to confirm reports that the campaign is massively restructuring in light of dwindling fundraising and polling numbers.

The California Democrat’s campaign appears to be redoubling efforts to focus on Iowa, but Harris is still trailing in polling there to Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.

House members mark up impeachment resolution

The House rules committee has now gathered to mark up the resolution outlining next steps in the impeachment inquiry.

The Republican members of the committee will almost certainly make suggestions to edit the resolution, but they are unlikely to be taken up by the Democratic majority.

Senior House Democrats reportedly intend to vote on the measure tomorrow morning and are confident that the overwhelming majority of their caucus will back it.

Harris reportedly restructuring amid polling and fundraising woes

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who was talked about as a top contender in the race after a strong first debate performance just four months ago, is now dramatically restructuring in light of cashflow issues and dwindling polling numbers.

Politico reports:

The moves come as Harris is hemorrhaging cash and in danger of lacking the resources to mount a competitive bid against better-funded rivals in Iowa. The overhaul will touch nearly every facet of Harris’ operation, with layoffs or re-deployments coming at headquarters, as well as in New Hampshire, Nevada and her home state of California, a Super Tuesday prize that her advisers once viewed as a big asset.

Campaign Manager Juan Rodriguez will cut his own salary, according to the memo, which was just over $10,000 a month in the third quarter of the year. Harris’ consultants will also have their payments reduced and the campaign plans to trim and renegotiate other contracts to slash overhead. Along with getting back in the black, a big motivation behind the cost-cutting decisions are plans to stash enough resources for a seven-figure media buy in the weeks before the Iowa caucus.

Past presidential campaigns have made comebacks after pursuing extensive overhauls, but the decision to do so indicates how uncertain Harris’ camp feels about a path forward in such a crowded field.

New poll brings Gabbard closer to November debate

A new poll has brought Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard one step closer to qualifying for the November debate.

According to the USA Today/Suffolk University poll, Gabbard is receiving the support of 4% of Democratic voters, putting her above candidates such as Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar. Gabbard now only needs one more poll to make the debate stage.

The poll also found that Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren continue to lead the race nationally. Biden was the top choice of 26% of poll respondents, compared to Warren’s 17%.

Updated

Anderson arrives for his deposition

Christopher Anderson has now arrived for his deposition in the impeachment inquiry after Catherine Croft talked to the House investigators for about five hours.

Anderson and Croft did not have as much of a direct window into Trump’s Ukraine policy, but the career diplomats were still expected to provide helpful details on how the White House navigated US-Ukrainian relations alongside the president’s external advisers, like Rudy Giuliani.

Croft's deposition in impeachment inquiry concludes

Catherine Croft, a Ukraine expert at the state department, has concluded her deposition in the impeachment inquiry.

Christopher Anderson, a career diplomat who served under former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, will speak to the impeachment investigators next.

According to reports of his opening statement, Anderson intends to tell the House committees that former national security adviser John Bolton voiced concerns about the influence of Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, on Ukraine policy.

House Democratic leadership intends to hold a vote on the impeachment resolution tomorrow morning, but that timing could clash with the testimony of Tim Morrison, a national security council official who reportedly listened in on Trump’s Ukraine call.

Morrison’s testimony was the most highly anticipated going into this week, but there’s a bit less drama surrounding it now that Alexander Vindman has told impeachment investigators of his own firsthand account of the call.

Nonetheless, Morrison could provide a crucial link between the White House and Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who said he was told Ukrainian military assistance was held up to demand public announcements of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

If senior House Democrats schedule a vote at the same time as Morrison’s testimony, it could distract from any potential leaks out of his appearance, as yesterday’s confusion over the resolution slightly distracted from Vindman’s testimony.

It appears that congressional Republicans are not granting Trump’s request that they attack the “substance” of the impeachment inquiry, rather than the process.

Matt Gaetz, one of Trump’s closest allies in the House, has just announced that he is filing an ethics complaint against Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee.

Gaetz is accusing the California Democrat of violating House rules in his handling of the inquiry, particularly by exaggerating the White House memo on the call between Trump and the Ukrainian president. (Schiff has argued that his remarks on the memo were meant to convey “the essence” of the call.)

However, even some of Trump’s fiercest defenders, like Gaetz, have seemed to avoid weighing in on the president’s reported efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival. That reluctance may only feed Democrats’ argument that Trump’s actions are indefensible.

Taylor reportedly willing to testify publicly

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine who testified to impeachment investigators that he was told Ukrainian military assistance was held up to demand announcements of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election, is reportedly willing to testify publicly.

CNN reports:

There has not been a request yet made for Taylor to testify publicly, according to [a source familiar with the diplomat’s thinking]. But Democrats privately say that Taylor would be a logical choice for one of the first witnesses when the House begins public impeachment hearings. He meticulously documented how he believed the White House had linked Ukraine’s announcing an investigation that could help the President politically with unfreezing of US security aide and a one-on-one meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Taylor’s public testimony would not likely reveal much new information for those who have been closely following the impeachment inquiry.

However, it would be a striking visual to have this longtime diplomat, who has served under Republican administrations, publicly detailing the White House’s demands for a foreign power to investigate the president’s political rival. For the millions of Americans who have not been following every update from the investigation, it could make the public hearings a turning point in the impeachment saga.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has officially filed with the New Hampshire secretary of state to appear on the state’s February primary ballot.

The filing period begins today and continues through 15 November, so all of the Democratic candidates will be making the trek up to New Hampshire over the next couple of weeks.

Updated

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Trump is urging Republicans to attack the “substance” of the impeachment inquiry, but Mitch McConnell continues to target the process of the investigation without weighing in on the allegations facing the president.
  • Two career diplomats, Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson, are testifying today in the impeachment inquiry. The two reportedly plan to tell investigators about Trump’s distrust of Ukraine and concerns about Rudy Giuliani’s role in US-Ukrainian relations.
  • John Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state who has been nominated to become the next US ambassador to Russia, told senators at his confirmation hearing that the former US ambassador to Ukraine was recalled early because Trump lost confidence in her even though she had not done anything wrong.

The blog will have much more coming up, so stay tuned.

Alex Padilla, the California secretary of state, has ruled out a bid for Katie Hill’s House seat in the wake of the freshman congresswoman’s resignation.

Hill announced Sunday that she would resign from Congress following the publication of nude photos of her and allegations that she engaged in a relationship with one of her staffers.

During his confirmation hearing to become the next US ambassador to Russia, the deputy secretary of state, John Sullivan, told senators that the state department has tried to block interview requests tied to the impeachment inquiry “on advice” of the department and “direction from the White House”.

Reports have previously indicated that the state department has tried to block some of its employees, including Maria Yovanovitch, from testifying after conferring with the White House.

However, the House committees leading the inquiry have responded to those efforts by issuing subpoenas to witnesses, which several administration employees have now complied with.

Updated

White House indicates timeline of trade deal unchanged after summit cancelation

The White House said in a statement that Trump still intended to finalize the “phase one” trade deal with China in the near future, even though Chile has canceled the summit where it was originally supposed to be signed.

White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley said: “As of now, it appears APEC will not occur in Chile, and it’s our understanding the organization does not currently have a secondary site prepared.”

But Gidley added: “We look forward to finalizing Phase One of the historic trade deal with China within the same time frame, and when we have an announcement, we’ll let you know.”

Trump celebrated the news that the US economy grew faster than expected in the last quarter, although the annualized rate of 1.9 percent is still down from the 2 percent seen between April and June.

The president cheered the “Greatest Economy in American History.” However, many journalists were quick to note that Trump warned the economy was in “deep trouble” in 2012, even though the economy was then growing at a rate of ... 1.9 percent.

Christopher Wray is now testifying alongside other senior officials before the House homeland security committee on domestic terrorism.

The FBI director told the House members that he considered domestic terrorism to be “a persistent, evolving threat.”

Wray also described a growing, troubling trend of “racially motivated extremists” traveling to Eastern Europe to train.

Touching on intellectual property theft, Wray told lawmakers that the FBI has about 1,000 open investigations involving allegations of China stealing US technology.

John Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state who has been nominated to become the next US ambassador to Russia, affirmed Maria Yovanovitch’s account of her removal as ambassador to Ukraine.

Yovanovitch testified to impeachment investigators earlier this month that Sullivan told her she was being recalled early, even though she had “done nothing wrong.” During his confirmation hearing this morning, Sullivan verified those details.

Sullivan testifies about Giuliani's 'campaign' to oust Yovanovitch

The senate confirmation hearing for John Sullivan, deputy secretary of state and nominee to be the next ambassador to Moscow, is underway and Ukraine and impeachment have quickly come to centre stage.

John Sullivan attends the launching ceremony of the US-Brazil Security Forum last year.
John Sullivan attends the launching ceremony of the US-Brazil Security Forum last year. Photograph: Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images

It was Sullivan’s job to tell the ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, that she was being recalled early. Sullivan said he believed she had served admirably but that Donald Trump had lost confidence in her. He asked Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, for clarification but was told only that the president had lost confidence in her.

He said he was aware that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was involved “in a campaign against our ambassador to Ukraine”. He confirmed he had been shown a dossier of material attacking Yovanovitch, saying it had come from the White House to the state department counselor, but he was not aware it had been put together by Giuliani. He said the dossier “didn’t provide to me a basis for taking action against our ambassador.”

He said that the confidence of the president was “the coin of the realm” for an ambassador, without which it was impossible to function properly. He noted his uncle had to leave his post as ambassador to Iran and subsequently resign because he lost the confidence of President Jimmy Carter.

The filing period for the New Hampshire presidential primary begins today and will run through Nov. 15.

Over the next couple weeks, all the Democratic presidential candidates will make the journey to the New Hampshire secretary of state’s office to ensure they appear on the February ballot.

Mitch McConnell once again criticized the “bizarre” process of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, but the Senate majority leader declined to comment on the allegations against Trump.

McConnell’s apparent reluctance to weigh in on the Ukraine allegations is particularly notable given that, just this morning, Trump called on congressional Republicans to attack the “substance” of the impeachment inquiry, rather than the process.

It seems that many GOP lawmakers, including McConnell, are hesitant to defend the president’s alleged actions – hence their focus on the specific procedures of the inquiry.

The Chilean president also announced that he was calling off the UN climate change conference, known as COP25, that was set to be held in Santiago.

The announcement shocked many, given that the Chilean foreign minister said just six days ago that there was “no chance” of the global meetings being cancelled due to the escalating protests.

The announcement that Chile was cancelling next month’s APEC summit comes amid intensifying protests in the country.

CNN reported earlier this week:

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera replaced his Cabinet Monday following days of violent protests that have paralyzed the country, seen the military return to the streets, and led to the deaths of at least 20 people. ...

Despite the reshuffle, thousands of protesters returned to the streets of the Chilean capital Monday, calling for Pinera’s resignation and clashing with security forces in violent street battles.

A fire broke out on the corner of a main street in Santiago, engulfing clothing stores, a McDonald’s and a medical center, according to CNN Chile. Police have responded by firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons.

Chile pulls out of APEC summit, casting doubt on trade deal

Chile has just announced that it is pulling out of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which was scheduled to take place next month.

The announcement could jeopardize Trump’s “phase one” trade deal with China, given that the president intended to sign the agreement at the summit.

Asked about the cancelled summit, White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley told reporters: “We don’t know. I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

Senate holds Sullivan confirmation hearing

The Senate foreign relations committee is holding a confirmation hearing for deputy secretary of state John Sullivan’s nomination as the next US ambassador to Russia.

As the deputy to secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Sullivan will certainly be asked by the panel’s Democrats about how the department navigated Ukraine policy with some of Trump’s external advisers, namely Rudy Giuliani, trying to influence decisions.

Sullivan was also the official tasked with informing Maria Yovanovitch that she was being recalled from her post. Yovanovitch testified earlier this month that Sullivan told her she had “done nothing wrong” and that the president had pressured officials to remove her, an account Sullivan reportedly does not intend to dispute.

House Democrats discussed their resolution outlining next steps in the impeachment inquiry during a morning meeting, and members reportedly had no questions for the chairman of the rules committee.

Bolton warned of Giuliani's influence on Ukraine policy, diplomat will reportedly testify

Christopher Anderson, one of the career diplomats testifying in the impeachment inquiry today, will reportedly tell House investigators that John Bolton voiced concern about Rudy Giuliani’s role in deciding Ukraine policy.

Anderson worked for two years as an assistant to Kurt Volker, Trump’s former special envoy for Ukraine.

CNN reports:

According to Anderson’s prepared statements, he helped in May to develop ‘key deliverables’ to show newly-elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ‘commitment to reform. 1) demonstrating Zelenskyy’s independence from powerful vested interests and pursuing anticorruption reform as well as antitrust reform; 2) strengthening U.S.-Ukrainian energy cooperation; and 3) improving our bilateral security relationship which included Ukraine increasing its purchases of key U.S. military equipment.’

In the mid-June meeting, ‘Bolton stated that he agreed with our three lines of effort and that he also supported increased senior White House engagement,” according to the prepared statement.

‘However, he cautioned that Mr. Giuliani was a key voice with the President on Ukraine which could be an obstacle to increased White House engagement,’ Anderson is expected to tell the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees.

Updated

Croft arrives on Capitol Hill for testimony

Catherine Croft, a Ukraine expert at the state department, has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify in the impeachment inquiry.

The career diplomat reportedly intends to tell the House committees leading the inquiry that she repeatedly heard Trump voice distrust of Ukraine, despite the state department’s official position of support for the country.

Trump urges Republicans to attack 'substance' of impeachment inquiry

Trump has a fairly light public schedule today, which is leaving him plenty of time this morning to attack House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry over Twitter.

The president is urging congressional Republicans to attack the “substance” of the impeachment inquiry rather than the process.

Many of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill have criticized the inquiry for being too secretive, claiming Democrats are wrong to conduct closed-door interviews and not allow Republicans to call witnesses.

However, it seems like those complaints may now be moot. If the resolution that House Democrats released yesterday is approved, the inquiry will probably soon move to public hearings and Republicans will be allowed to request witnesses – although the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee is allowed to deny those requests.

The resolution’s release is surely at least partly why Trump is urging his allies to cast doubt on the specific allegations against him. The president also dismissed Alexander Vindman, a national security council official and Purple Heart recipient, as a “Never Trumper witness”.

Vindman reportedly told impeachment investigators yesterday that he heard Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president and was so alarmed by it he notified his superior of his concerns.

Vindman also reportedly testified that the White House omitted key words and phrases about Joe Biden from its memo on the call, which Trump is incorrectly referring to here as a “transcript”. Vindman’s testimony will probably cast more doubt on the memo and redouble Democrats’ demands to see a full readout of the call.

Updated

Career diplomats to reportedly testify about Trump's distrust of Ukraine

Good morning, live blog readers!

House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump continues today with the testimony of two career diplomats, Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson.

Croft and Anderson will reportedly testify that Trump and some of his advisers voiced distrust of Ukraine in a manner that did not align with the official position of the state department. According to her opening statement, Croft will tell impeachment investigators that she heard Trump “describe Ukraine as a corrupt country”, both “directly and indirectly”.

Their testimony is not expected to create as many waves as that of Alexander Vindman, the national security council official who reportedly told the House committees yesterday that he was concerned after hearing Trump’s Ukraine call and reported it to his superiors.

However, each witness seems to be helping to build a larger picture of a president using foreign policy to try to advance his re-election prospects – and a team of advisers who largely let him do it.

Hillary Clinton speaks at the funeral service for Elijah Cummings.
Hillary Clinton speaks at the funeral service for Elijah Cummings. Photograph: Lloyd Fox/AP

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

  • Trump will present the medal of honor to Master Sgt Matthew Williams for “gallantry in Afghanistan” at 5pm ET.
  • The FBI director, Christopher Wray, will testify before Congress at 10am ET.
  • Bill and Hillary Clinton will speak at Georgetown University this evening.

That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated

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