Thursday's big news was the party-line impeachment vote, but the story that could make the history books is the White House aide who described a quid pro quo.
Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), who resigned from Congress amid an investigation into allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a staffer, said Thursday that she left her post, in part, because she feared for her life and received threatening calls and emails.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) gave a House floor speech following the first major vote on impeachment Thursday, calling the measure a "coup" against President Trump and warning of a potential "civil war."
The big picture: The House voted 232-196 on Thursday to formally introduce the impeachment inquiry against President Trump after Republicans said the inquiry is not legitimate because a full House vote had not been held.
Tim Morrison, the National Security Council's Russia and Europe director has left his White House post as his Thursday impeachment inquiry testimony looms.
Where it stands: Morrison told the House committees Thursday morning that he resigned on his volition late Wednesday evening, two sources familiar with the matter tell Axios.
The House passed a resolution Thursday to formalize the procedures in President Trump's impeachment inquiry in a 232-196 vote that fell largely along party lines.
Why it matters: Trump and his allies have previously argued that the lack of a full House vote was against longstanding precedent — and used that reasoning to be uncooperative with Democrats' investigation.
With a near party-line vote on impeachment rules expected in the House Thursday morning, Democrats are confident, while Republicans are focusing on swing states to shore up support.
Why it matters: Democrats say the vote will accelerate the inquiry, and will give them more tools to conduct their investigation.
President Trump tweeted early Thursday that the dog injured in last weekend's raid that caused the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi will visit the White House next week. Officials had said the heroic dog's name would be kept confidential, but Trump identified it as "Conan."
The big picture: Trump made the announcement hours after tweeting a "recreated" photo of himself putting a medal on the canine. The altered photo bearing the watermark for the Twitter account of the conservative site The Daily Wire appears to be an edited version of a 2017 AP photo of Trump presenting the Medal of Honor to retired Army medic James C. McCloughan.
Former National Security Council staffer Catherine Croft and Ukraine expert Christopher Anderson testified before House impeachment committees Wednesday.
Why it matters: Croft and Anderson are former advisers to Kurt Volker, the former U.S. envoy to Ukraine, who was named in the whistleblower complaint about the July 25 presidential phone callthat spurred an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
