Ahead of Vindman’s closed-door deposition, Trump complained about testimony from “people that I never even heard of,” while GOP allies continued to portray the process as unfair. Democrats plan a vote Thursday to formalize rules of the impeachment inquiry moving forward.
9:45 a.m.: House Democrats huddle at DNC offices
House Democrats gathered Tuesday morning inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee to get a political briefing led by Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman.
According to two people familiar with the presentation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it in advance, Bustos presented the results from multiple focus groups held across the country since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) officially launched the impeachment inquiry in September.
The main takeaway of those focus groups, the people said, is that Democrats need to be mindful that they are not seen as rushing to convict Trump and must undertake a robust fact-finding process to lay the groundwork.
“It’s important that when the time comes, the House has to make clear, convincing case” to the American people for Trump’s removal, one person said.
Bustos also presented new polling numbers on health care indicating that Americans continue to trust Democrats over Republicans in handling the issue, but they are eager for action on controlling prescription drug costs — findings that could give Democrats in incentive as they prepare their sweeping drug costs bill, known as H.R. 3, for the House floor.
Pelosi also attended and briefed Democrats on the resolution authorizing new impeachment procedures expected to come up for a House vote on Thursday. The text of the resolution is scheduled to be released Tuesday afternoon, multiple aides said.
— Mike DeBonis
9:15 a.m.: Vindman arrives at the Capitol for deposition
Vindman has arrived at the Capitol for his scheduled deposition with House investigators. He came wearing his military uniform with a Capitol Police escort and entered through the South Door, declining to answer questions shouted by reporters.
Minutes before Vindman’s arrival, Trump was back on Twitter, asking, “Was he on the same call that I was? Can’t be possible! Please ask him to read the Transcript of the call. Witch Hunt!”
9 a.m.: George Conway to Trump's defenders: 'Just stop'
Conservative lawyer George Conway, a leading "Never Trumper," whose Twitter feed has become a platform to condemn Trump, wrote Tuesday morning that Trump's public defenders should stop lying for the president or risk going down in disgrace with him.
"To the members of Congress, public officials and talking heads still defending @realDonaldTrump: Just stop. Especially the lying. He has no defense. Don't go down with him in history in disgrace. The sooner we get this over with and he's gone, the better off everyone will be," Conway wrote on Twitter.
Conway, of course, is famously married to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who is among the most high-profile of Trump's advocates.
8:50 a.m.: Trump says Democrats are trying to distract from his accomplishments
Trump returned to Twitter again Tuesday morning to argue that Democrats are trying to distract from his accomplishments in office.
“The Do Nothing Democrats are working hard to make everyone forget the Best Economy Ever, the monumental weekend raid, Tax Cuts, the Rebuilding of our Military, etc.,” he tweeted. “The Impeachment Hoax is a disgrace.”
Trump also renewed complaints that the whistleblower who sparked the impeachment inquiry has not testified before Congress and argued that the transcript of his July call with the leader of Ukraine shows he did nothing inappropriate.
“Where’s the Whistleblower? Just read the Transcript, everything else is made up garbage by Shifty Schiff and the Never Trumpers!” Trump tweeted, referring to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.).
In another tweet, Trump suggested that Vindman is a “Never Trumper.”
“How many more Never Trumpers will be allowed to testify about a perfectly appropriate phone call when all anyone has to do is READ THE TRANSCRIPT!” he wrote. “I knew people were listening in on the call (why would I say something inappropriate?), which was fine with me, but why so many?”
8:20 a.m.: Clark says Vindman will offer ‘very important testimony’
Rep. Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass.), vice chair of the Democratic caucus, said that she expects Vindman to provide “firsthand evidence of the betrayal of this president of his oath of office, of the integrity of the 2020 elections and of our national security.”
“It is part of the patriots who are coming forward at great risk to them and their careers to share the truth with the American people,” Clark said Tuesday during a CNN interview in which she called Vindman’s deposition “very important testimony.”
Clark also spoke out against Fox News hosts and guests and some Republicans who have tried to make an issue of Vindman’s family fleeing Ukraine as a child, suggesting he has an affinity for the country.
Clark said they are “trying to assassinate the character of a Purple Heart winner.”
She said such talk was coming from “Republicans who have no excuse for the conduct of the president and who see mounting evidence of truly a betrayal of our democracy.”
7:45 a.m.: Trump complains of witnesses he doesn’t know
Ahead of Vindman’s planned testimony on Tuesday, Trump went on Twitter to complain about testimony from “people that I never even heard of.”
“Why are people that I never even heard of testifying about the call,” he said in a tweet in which he argued the transcript of his call with Zelensky proved there was no wrongdoing.
“Just READ THE CALL TRANSCRIPT AND THE IMPEACHMENT HOAX IS OVER!” Trump wrote.
7:40 a.m.: Jordan says lawmakers need to know ‘how this whole thing started’
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking GOP member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and a staunch Trump ally, said Tuesday that lawmakers should focus on the origins of the impeachment inquiry.
“The one thing is clear is this is all based on one anonymous whistleblower, and there are 435 members of Congress, and only one member, only one member knows who that whistleblower is … and that individual is Adam Schiff,” Jordan said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” referring to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.).
“How is that fair that only Adam Schiff knows how this whole thing started?” Jordan said. “This is something that we need to get to the bottom of and know how this whole thing started.”
Jordan also argued that there could not be a “quid pro quo” because the Ukrainians took no public actions to free up the military aid that was being withheld at the time Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens.
“The Ukrainians did nothing to get the aid turned back on,” Jordan said. “President Zelensky didn’t do a statement saying he was going to do certain things. They didn’t start investigations to get the aid turned back on. The aid was turned back on, I think, because United States senators were telling the president, let’s turn this aid back on and let’s do this.”
7 a.m. Rep. Collins suggests unfair process will lead to tainted results
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the ranking GOP member of the House Judiciary Committee, suggested Tuesday that facts unearthed during the impeachment inquiry will be tainted because the process is unfair to Trump.
“We can’t trust Adam Schiff to find the facts when he can’t even deliver basic fairness,” Collins said in a tweet.
In his tweet, Collins attached a piece by Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn in which he accused Democrats of “trampling on impeachment norms.” McGurn noted that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had introduced a resolution last week condemning the House process that now has 50 co-sponsors.
“Even Republicans who don’t like the president can unite on this,” McGurn wrote. “Democrats counter that Republicans are complaining about process because they can’t address the substance. But process is how you get to substance.”
In a separate tweet Monday, Collins weighed in on the decision by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to hold a vote this week on the rules of the inquiry going forward.
“Thank you, @SpeakerPelosi, for finally acknowledging the fact that you attempted to deceive the American people into thinking you were conducting a fair impeachment inquiry,” Collins wrote. “Just one problem: It’s impossible to undo 35 days of @RepAdamSchiff‘s secrecy, leaks, and innuendo.”
6:45 a.m.: White House official to tell impeachment investigators he feared Trump’s demands of Ukraine would undermine national security
An Army officer assigned to the White House plans to tell House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that he was disturbed by Trump’s demand that Ukraine investigate one of his political rivals and feared it would undermine U.S. national security.
Vindman was part of a small group of White House officials assigned to listen in on Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. His testimony returns repeatedly to his fears that Trump’s manipulation of Ukraine policy to discredit Biden is unethical and damaging to U.S. national security.
“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman intends to tell lawmakers, according to a draft of his opening statement.
Vindman is the first White House official to testify who listened to Trump’s controversial call, which was exposed by a government whistleblower and triggered a historic impeachment inquiry. His prepared statement bolsters previous testimony by Fiona Hill, his former boss at the National Security Council, and William B. Taylor Jr., the acting ambassador to Ukraine.
— Greg Jaffe
6:30 a.m.: Trump airs grievances in late-night tweets
Trump went on Twitter late Monday night to air now-familiar grievances about the impeachment probe, taking aim at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and questioning why the whistleblower whose complaint sparked the inquiry hasn’t appeared before Congress.
“The only crimes in the Impeachment Hoax were committed by Shifty Adam Schiff, when he totally made up my phone conversation with the Ukrainian President and read it to Congress, together with numerous others on Shifty’s side,” Trump said in one tweet. “Schiff should be Impeached, and worse!”
During an Intelligence Committee hearing last month, Schiff presented an embellished version of Trump’s call with Zelensky. At the time, Schiff said he was conveying “the essence” of what Trump had relayed to Zelensky. Schiff later said it was meant as a parody, something that he said should have been apparent to Trump.
House members can be expelled by a two-thirds vote of the chamber but are not subject to impeachment.
In a separate tweet, Trump quoted Fox News host Laura Ingraham saying she saw “no underlying crime” in the transcript of Trump’s call with Zelensky.
“100% correct, and the Whistleblower disappeared after I released the transcript of the call,” Trump wrote. “Where is the Whistleblower? That is why this is now called the Impeachment Hoax! The Do Nothing Dems are Doing Nothing!”
Democrats have said recently that they no longer think it is imperative to hear from the whistleblower, an anonymous U.S. intelligence official, because several witnesses have corroborated claims in his complaint.
6:15 a.m.: Graham says he found nothing wrong with Trump’s call to Zelensky
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) sought Monday night to minimize the damage of reports that Vindman would testify that he did not think it was proper for Trump to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and feared it undermined national security.
“As to Colonel, he’s entitled to his opinion about the phone call,” Graham tweeted. “I read the transcript and found nothing wrong with it.”
In tweets, Graham also took issue with Vindman’s opening statement being previewed in the New York Times and other media, including The Washington Post.
“This selective leaking without due process puts the presidency at risk,” Graham tweeted.
He also accused Democrats of using “a sham process for the purpose of driving down Trump’s approval rating.”
“It should come to an immediate end,” Graham said.
6 a.m.: ‘Lock him up’ chant ignites a debate among Democrats: Give Trump his own medicine, or stick to the high road?
It was one of the most memorable moments of Game 5 of the World Series, an eerily familiar chant that arose from the chorus of boos that erupted when Trump was shown on a giant screen at Nationals Park.
“Lock him up! Lock him up!”
The phrase was no doubt delivered with some irony, as a largely elite crowd in the heart of a heavily liberal city offered its own spin on the anti-Hillary Clinton slogan that has become a staple of Trump’s raucous rallies.
But while Trump and his allies have embraced “Lock her up!” as a mantra for their movement, the seemingly spontaneous outburst in Washington on Sunday night highlighted an intensifying debate within the Democratic Party and among the broader Trump resistance: Whether to try to beat a norm-busting president on his terms, no matter how distasteful, or to insist on a more traditional, civil standard for American political discourse.
— Annie Linskey