The Trump administration is proposing to cut the number of refugees permitted to resettle in the U.S. next year to just 18,000 — down from a record-low of 30,000 last year, according to a State Department press release on Thursday.
Why it matters: The administration also plans to prioritize refugees who have been persecuted for religious beliefs, Iraqis who have helped the U.S. overseas, and legitimate refugees from Northern Triangle countries, per the release. This would be the fourth time the Trump administration lowered the refugee cap, and it had reportedly discussed lowering it to zero. There are more displaced people in the world today than at any point since World War II, according to the United Nations.
The whistleblower report holds one central allegation: President Trump used his office to push Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his White House covered up the paper trail.
The big picture: The report chronicles events around the July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allege a pattern of Trump administration misbehavior.
Public support for impeaching President Trump rose this week after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that the House would open a formal impeachment inquiry, according to polls from Morning Consult/Politico and NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist.
Why it matters: The lack of public support for impeaching Trump has long been cited by Democratic leadership as the main reason not to open an inquiry. But the polls show a significant shift in public opinion this week as the Trump-Ukraine controversy has rapidly unfolded, with Pelosi's announcement on Tuesday, the release of a summary of Trump's phone call with the Ukrainian president on Wednesday, and the declassification of the whistleblower complaint on Thursday.
In a series of interviews Thursday, Rudy Giuliani responded to the release of the full Trump-Ukraine whistleblower complaint, arguing his actions should be "praised" and that "when this is over, [he] will be the hero."
The big picture: The full complaint details Giuliani's involvement in pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over unsubstantiated corruption allegations. Details show that Giuliani traveled to Madrid to meet with one of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's advisers and has been in contact with a number of other Ukrainian officials regarding the matter.
President Trump said Thursday at a private event in New York that the whistleblower whose complaint is at the heart of a controversy involving Ukraine is "almost a spy," reports the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
"Basically, that person never saw the report, never saw the call, he never saw the call — heard something and decided that he or she, or whoever the hell they saw — they’re almost a spy. I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now."
Former Rep. Darrell Issa announced plans on Thursday to come out of retirement to challenge Republican congressman Duncan Hunter in the primary for California's 50th district, reports the AP.
Why it matters: Issa is 1 of 6 primary challengers Hunter will face. Republicans worry Hunter won't be able to keep his seat following a 2018 indictment on charges of misusing campaign funds for personal use.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a briefing Thursday that the White House's alleged efforts to conceal information about President Trump's now-infamous phone call with the Ukrainian president amount to a "cover-up."
Former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said at a Q&A in Indiana that he never saw the whistleblower complaint that alleges President Trump abused his power to solicit election interference from Ukraine, reports the Indianapolis Star.
"Nothing came to me. I left on Aug. 15.... The very next day that was presented to Joe. I feel so bad for Joe. He is caught in a squeeze here and the lawyers are divided. So they are trying to work all that out."
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire said Thursday that he believes the whistleblower who filed a complaint about the Trump administration's interactions with Ukraine "did the right thing" during a hearing before the House Intelligence Committee.
A whistleblower complaint released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday alleges that President Trump used the power of his office to solicit foreign interference from Ukraine for the purpose of helping his 2020 re-election campaign.
The big picture: The allegations detailed in the complaint go beyond the summary of the phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released by the White House on Wednesday.
The whistleblower complaint at the heart of a controversy over President Trump and Ukraine alleges that Trump used "the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 election," and that Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General Bill Barr appeared to be involved in the effort as well.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's initial refusal to turn over the complaint is what led to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's watershed decision on Tuesday to finally support a formal impeachment inquiry. Likely as a result of pressure from that announcement, the administration released both the complaint and, earlier in the day, a summary of Trump's July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The whistleblower complaint regarding the Trump administration's interactions with Ukraine alleges that the White House attempted to "lock down" the memo summarizing President Trump's July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a sensitive computer system designed to hold national security information.
Why it matters: A footnote in the complaint states that the computer system is used for "codeword-level intelligence information, such as covert action," and claims that White House officials stated that it was not the first time that the Trump administration had used the system "for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information."
President Trump is reviving his 2016 playbook, trying to sully or smear the Biden family reputation, like he did with the Clintons during his last campaign.
The big picture: When Trump was running against Hillary Clinton, he seized on her email servers and past scandals. He hammered her on the issue, and used it to define her with many voters. Clinton couldn't put it to rest early, and it dragged her down through the end.
Some advisers to President Trump see two big, long-term problems with the release of the Ukraine call notes: It makes him seem guilty, and sets a bad precedent for protecting private chats with world leaders.
The state of play: One longtime adviser said this looks worse than anything he's seen to date — and it’s documented.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday it's hard to avoid the conclusion that an impeachable offense had been committed by President Trump.
Why it matters: These are the former vice president's strongest words yet on House Democrats opening a formal impeachment inquiry into allegations that Trump may have pressured Ukraine's president to investigate him and his son Hunter Biden.
17 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration Wednesday in an effort to try and stop the rollback of the Endangered Species Act.
Why it matters: The landmark act from the Nixon administration helped save species including the bald eagle and grizzly bear from extinction, per the New York Times. The Trump administration claims the changes will help reduce regulatory burden on the Interior Department. The new rules were to take effect Thursday, AP notes.
The intelligence community whistleblower complaint reportedly concerning President Trump and Ukraine has been declassified, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Twitter and Fox News' "Ingraham Angle" Wednesday night. But it doesn't appear to be immediately available to the public.
Details: 2 sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Axios' Alayna Treene that the complaint has been declassified, but it’s unclear to both whether it's been distributed beyond members of the intelligence community yet. Stewart's comments imply the release to the general public is imminent.
The intelligence community whistleblower behind the complaint reportedly linked to President Trump and Ukraine has agreed to potentially meet with congressional lawmakers if certain conditions are met, according to correspondence with the whistleblower's lawyer released Wednesday.
Why it matters: Congress has yet to hear directly from the whistleblower. 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.
