Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, told House investigators on Tuesday that President Trump conditioned the release of military aid on the Ukrainian president's willingness to promise to investigate natural gas company Burisma and alleged interference in the 2016 election, according to a copy of Taylor's opening statement obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Taylor's explosive testimony, which relies largely on his conversations with U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, draws a direct line from congressionally approved military aid to Ukrainian interference in domestic U.S. politics — the quid pro quo that Trump and his allies have long denied.
It’s been one month since Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry, and things are moving much faster than in prior impeachments. Dan digs in with Axios political reporter Alayna Treene.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has received the biggest surge of all 2020 Democratic contenders in social media mentions by percentage increase between Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 according to social intelligence company Storyful.
Why it matters: It's another example of a 2020 Democrat experiencing a boost online thanks in part to fringe voices on the right. Earlier this year, Axios reported on ways far-right voices were helping to elevate Andrew Yang.
Members of Congress and 2020 candidates reacted Tuesday to President Trump's tweet in which he compared the House's impeachment inquiry to "a lynching."
What they're saying: House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said on CNN, "That is one word no president ought to apply to himself. You know, I've studied presidential history quite a bit, and I don't know if we've ever seen anything quite like this."
President Trump called the House's impeachment inquiry into allegations that he leveraged military funding for Ukraine to push an investigation against his political opponents "a lynching" in a Tuesday tweet.
"So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here - a lynching. But we will WIN!"
It's been nearly one month since Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24.
Why it matters: It's remarkable how fast it has gotten off the ground. You can see how quickly the Ukraine phone call came out of nowhere to become the all-consuming impeachment topic — way faster than the impeachment inquiries into Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
In a Fox News interview broadcast Monday, President Trump defended presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) against claims of being a Russian asset and said he'd like his attorney general to investigate Hillary Clinton.
President Trump denounced Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) Monday as he said Republicans "have to get tougher and fight" because the Democrats are "trying to hurt" the GOP before the 2020 election, as the House impeachment inquiry looms.
"I think they're lousy politicians. But two things they have: They're vicious and they stick together. They don't have Mitt Romney in their midst. They don't have people like that. They stick together. You never see them break off."
— Trump speaking about Democrats
The big picture: Trump made the remarks during a lengthy Cabinet meeting, a day after "Axios on HBO" broadcast an interview with Romney during which he said Trump's appeals to China and Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden were "shocking" and a "mistake."
An effort by House Republicans to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for his actions in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump failed with a 218-185party-line vote on Monday.
Context: The resolution, crafted by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), centered on Schiff's mocking interpretation of Trump's July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a committee hearing last month. In the resolution, Biggs called it "a false retelling" that "misled the American people." The incident prompted Trump to brand Schiff "a sick man" at the time.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Mike Allen in an interview for "Axios on HBO" that he uses a "secret Twitter account," which he later confirmed is named "Pierre Delecto" after Slate's Ashley Feinberg published a story connecting details from the anonymous account back to Romney.
The turmoil let loose in Syria this week stems in part from the absence of a clear U.S. strategy to counter terrorism and negotiate a diplomatic solution to the country's bloody civil war.
The big picture: President Trump’s hamfisted statesmanship and disregard for national security expertise notwithstanding, America's Syria policy from the Obama administration onward has instilled doubts among Middle Eastern and European allies, leading even NATO member Turkey to decisively cross the U.S.
In lengthy public comments at a Cabinet meeting on Monday, President Trump railed against media criticism of his decision — which he has since walked back — to hold next year's G7 summit at his Doral resort in Miami.
Julián Castro said Monday that his 2020 presidential campaign must raise $800,000 by Oct. 31 — or it "will be silenced for good."
Why it matters: Castro's existential ultimatum follows a similar plea last month from Cory Booker, who pulled in $1.7 million in just over a week to stay in the race. If Castro is successful, other lower-tier Democrats may attempt to replicate their strategies to pull in quick bursts of fundraising to try to make waves in the crowded primary field.
A new Suffolk University/USA Today poll found a 3-way race in Iowa as Pete Buttigieg catches up to Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Why it matters: The new result are significantly different than the Suffolk/USA Today poll taken at the end of June, which found Biden leading Warren by double digits and Buttigieg trailing at 6%.
House Democrats today will release a four-page memo making the Ukraine case against President Trump, "Truth Exposed: The Shakedown ... The Pressure Campaign ... The CoverUp," plus a video, "Do Us a Favor."
Plus, in a challengeto Republicans who often have resisted such measures, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office says the SHIELD Act (Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy), a package to protect elections from foreign interference, is expected to come to the floor for a vote this week.
As President Trump's standing with Republican lawmakers grows more precarious, the two senators to watch — for totally different reasons — are Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and we talked to both of them last night on "Axios on HBO."
Why they matter: With Trump's impeachment by the House growing ever more likely, he has to keep his red wall of Republican Senate support so that, like President Clinton, he'll be acquitted rather than removed after a Senate trial.
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke told MSNBC's "PoliticsNation" Sunday there's "so much that is resonant" in the Trump administration of Nazi Germany, suggesting the president may have been inspired by Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
"President Trump, perhaps inspired by Goebbels and the propagandists of the Third Reich, seems to employ this tactic that the bigger the lie, the more obscene the injustice, the more dizzying the pace of this bizarre behavior, the less likely we are to be able to do something about it."
