Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) criticized Republicans, Democrats, the Trump administration and the media over their handling of the whistleblower complaint, suggesting: "Everybody in this whole process should slow down..."
What he's saying: To Democrats, Sasse argued they "ought not to be using the word impeach before they have the whistleblower complaint or before they read any of the transcript."
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told reporters Wednesday after reviewing the Trump-Ukraine whistleblower complaint behind closed doors that the materials he viewed "exposed serious wrongdoing" and provided the committee with information to follow up on.
The big picture: The Democratic members who were willing to speak to reporters after leaving the room expressed alarm at the contents of the complaint. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) called the complaint "troubling and disturbing," while Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said that the materials he read "only corroborate the concerns that this is credible and urgent."
The whistleblower complaint at the heart of a controversy involving President Trump and Ukraine has been released to the House and Senate Intelligence committees, lawmakers confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's initial refusal to turn over the complaint led to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's watershed decision on Tuesday to finally support a formal impeachment inquiry. The Washington Post and NBC News reported on Wednesday that acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire threatened to resign if the administration prevented him from testifying freely before Congress on Thursday. The White House and Maguire have denied these reports.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is standing as a maverick in his party, coming out as one of few Republicans to openly question President Trump's disputed conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Driving the news: Romney tweeted last Sunday: "If the President asked or pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate his political rival, either directly or through his personal attorney, it would be troubling in the extreme." He also told NBC on Monday that Trump should make the whistleblower complaint available to Congress because it would be "very helpful to get [to] the bottom of the facts."
Responding to the release of a memorandum from a July phone call with President Trump on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the UN that he doesn't want be involved in "democratic, open elections" in the U.S.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement Wednesday that the Trump-Ukraine call memo released by the White House "confirms that the President engaged in behavior that undermines the integrity of our elections, the dignity of the office he holds and our national security."
Why it matters: While the White House remains adamant that the call shows no wrongdoing and no quid pro quo, Pelosi appears committed to moving forward with an impeachment inquiry.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on Wednesday called on President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to testify "under oath" before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about his role in pushing the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Why it matters: Shaheen is the first senator to call on Giuliani to testify about the Ukrainian conversation and whistleblower complaint. Her statement comes after Giuliani said on Fox News Tuesday night that he "never talked to a Ukrainian official until the State Department called me and asked me to do it."
Sometime in August, the director of national intelligence referred a whistleblower complaint involving a conversation between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Justice Department for investigation as a potential campaign finance violation, according to a DOJ spokesperson.
"Relying on established procedures set forth in the Justice Manual, the Department’s Criminal Division reviewed the official record of the call and determined, based on the facts and applicable law, that there was no campaign finance violation and that no further action was warranted. All relevant components of the Department agreed with this legal conclusion, and the Department has concluded the matter. "
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told "CBS This Morning" Wednesday that President Trump's public statements about his interactions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are "damning enough" for an impeachment inquiry.
Despite a day that could haunt Trump allies through history, Axios talked to several of them who weren’t despondent.
Here's what they hang their hats on: Expectations for the transcript of Trump's phone call with the president of Ukraine, which he said will be released today, are now higher.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused House Democrats of a "rush to judgment," as he led Republican attacks on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement of the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
Why it matters: Articles of impeachment would ultimately be decided by a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.
President Trump is set to meet face to face with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine for the first time today at the UN General Assembly — right as the House is launching an impeachment inquiry around his July phone call with Zelensky.
What to watch: A senior White House official told reporters Trump will congratulate Zelensky on his election win and his “energy and success” so far on anti-corruption reforms. Trump will also raise trade and “his concerns about what he sees as some predatory Chinese economic activity in Ukraine,” the official said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House will open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, in the aftermath of reports that he pressured Ukraine's president to investigate political rival Joe Biden.
The big picture: After months of what House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler described as "formal impeachment proceedings" — or months of subpoenas and committee investigations — House Democrats are officially taking the plunge.
The intelligence community whistleblower behind the complaint reportedly linked to President Trump and Ukraine has requested to speak to the House and Senate Intelligence committees, their attorney confirmed today.
Why it matters: Congress has yet to hear directly from the whistleblower or be provided the complaint in full by the Trump administration. While Trump has authorized the release of the transcript of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that interaction is said to be only one part of a series of events that make up the complaint.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire said in a statement Tuesday that he has upheld his responsibility "to follow the law every step of the way" while dealing with the whistleblower complaint unraveling this week.
The big picture: Maguire is due to testify before Congress Thursday on a whistleblower complaint regarding a conversation between Trump that involved an alleged "promise" and Ukraine. Trump has confirmed that he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenky regarding 2020 candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, but the nature of the complaint remains unclear.
