Trump Impeachment Liveblog Day 2: White House Releases Ukraine Phone Call Memo
Mother Jones illustration; Chris Kleponis/Zuma; Getty
Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. What will today bring? Here are the latest developments in the impeachapalooza.
2:22 p.m. ET: Still confused about what’s going on and how we go here? Listen to a special, breaking news edition of the Mother Jones podcast to hear our Washington, D.C. bureau chief, David Corn, explain the series of events that caused “a tectonic shift on the part of Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership.”
12:53 p.m. ET: If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read this Washington Post story about the freelance Ukrainian diplomacy conducted by one Rudy Giuliani, who seems to be a Margaret Dumont shy of a Marx Brothers movie.
12:35 p.m. ET: It turns out the White House did not want House Democrats to see its talking points memo. See also: Talking Points Memo.
Here’s a screenshot of the White House asking House Democrats to please disregard the talking points on Trump/Ukraine they just emailed them pic.twitter.com/55HgOESWyL
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) September 25, 2019
12:15 p.m. ET: Let’s talk talking points. The White House has a few.
Here are the talking points the White House just circulated on Capitol Hill, passed along by a source: pic.twitter.com/OOo2gxprFK
— Elaina Plott (@elainaplott) September 25, 2019
11:20 a.m. ET: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has vocally supported impeachment since April 18, calls the White House transcript “worse than we thought.”
“I would like you to do us a favor…”
Folks, I am surprised the White House even released this transcript. It’s worse than we thought.
The President sought to use the powers of the United States government to investigate a political opponent.
We have no choice but to impeach. https://t.co/teZ8p83GXL
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 25, 2019
10:59 a.m. ET: Harking back to the language used to describe the tape that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation during the Watergate scandal in 1972, presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) calls the Trump memo a “smoking gun.”
This “transcript” itself is a smoking gun. If this is the version of events the president’s team thinks is most favorable, he is in very deep jeopardy. We need to see the full whistleblower complaint and the administration needs to follow the law. Now. https://t.co/b56nLZZpRi
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 25, 2019
10:55 a.m. ET: Our colleague Matt Cohen breaks down some of the complexities of the impeachment investigation in an interview with Michael Conway, an attorney who served as counsel for the US House Judiciary Committee in the impeachment inquiry of Nixon in 1974. One question that’s been on everyone’s mind: What’s the point of impeachment if a Republican-controlled Senate seems likely to acquit Trump of any charges? Here’s Conway’s answer:
The fact that he’s not actually removed from office doesn’t mean that the public isn’t then better informed about what the charges were presented against them. Same thing with Bill Clinton. Now, Bill Clinton was not convicted, but certainly the public got a better educational message about what was alleged to have happened. So, there’s a value in educating the public even if the Senate doesn’t vote to remove him.
10:40 a.m. ET: Hillary Clinton—remember her?—announces on Twitter that she supports impeachment.
The president of the United States has betrayed our country.
That’s not a political statement—it’s a harsh reality, and we must act.
He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free.
I support impeachment.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 25, 2019
10:24 a.m. ET: The White House releases a memo on Trump’s phone call with Ukraine. Read it here.
