President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday he has obtained legal representation from commercial and criminal litigation lawyer Robert Costello, as well as Eric Creizman and Melissa Madrigal from the Pierce Bainbridge firm.
The big picture: Giuliani is a key player in the Trump-Ukraine saga. He has continually campaigned for Ukrainian officials to investigate the Bidens and to dig into the origins of the Russia probe. House impeachment committee members and several witnesses have accused Trump of withholding military aid to Ukraine to pressure its government to announce these investigations.
Former FBI Director James Comey suggested in a Washington Post op-ed Wednesday that elected officials should uphold their oaths of office by removing President Trump from office.
The big picture: Comey questioned whether members of Congress would be upholding their oaths if they do not take action against Trump for allegedly withholding military aid to Ukraine to pressure its government to investigate his political rivals. Comey specifically singled out Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who voted to impeach former President Bill Clinton but has said Trump's actions don't warrant impeachment.
The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday released the transcript of its closed door interview with Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine.
Why it matters: In his opening statement, Taylor told House investigators that he understood President Trump to be conditioning the release of military aid on the Ukrainian president's willingness to announce investigations into Trump's political rivals, including Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
The November Democratic primary debates, hosted by MSNBC and the Washington Post, are scheduled to take place in Georgia on Nov. 20. Ten presidential candidates qualified to appear on stage, leaving former HUD Secretary Julián Castro as the notable exception.
How it works: Each candidate needed to hit 3% in at least four accepted polls to qualify, or 5% in two single-state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and/or Nevada. Candidate were also required to attract 165,000 unique donors and a minimum of 600 unique donors per state in at least 20 states.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) announced Wednesday that she is endorsing Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president, breaking ranks with other members of "the Squad," a group of four progressive first-term Democratic congresswomen.
Why it matters: The backing marks one of Warren's highest-profile endorsements, though it's not a huge surprise as the two previously campaigned together while running for Senate and the House in Massachusetts last year. The other members of the Squad — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders last month.
The state of play: Paul's comments ignited a split within the Republican Party. Some Senate Republicans rebuked his comments, while some Trump allies — including the president's own son, Donald Trump Jr. — have publicly stated the whistleblower's alleged identity, which has been promoted among right-wing media.
The Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would expand a law to make animal cruelty a federal felony, for which people could face fines and up to seven years in prison.
The big picture: The “Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act,” or "PACT," builds on a law that previously only criminalized animal cruelty if those at fault made and sold videos of the act. If President Trump signs the bill, which has already been passed by the House, authorities will be able to prosecute people for crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling, or sexually exploiting animals.
In an upset in the Kentucky governor's race,Democratic challenger Andy Beshear declared victory over Republican incumbent Matt Bevin, who refused to concede but lagged, 49.2% to 48.8%, with 100% of the vote in.
Behind the scenes: Senior officials at the White House and Republican Governors Association thought Bevin would win, but nobody who was studying the race closely felt overly confident about that outcome.
Juli Briskman, who was fired from her job after a photo of her giving the middle finger to President Trump's motorcade went viral in 2017, won a seat on the board of supervisors for Loudon County, Va., on Tuesday night, per the AP.
The big picture: Briskman's new seat includes the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va.
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was escorted from Northwestern University in Illinois Tuesday night under heavy security after student demonstrators tried to stop him from giving a speech, reports Fox News, which labeled it a "cancel culture" protest.
Democrats flipped Virginia's state Senate andHouse of Delegates on Tuesday, while Kentucky Democrat Andy Beshear held a razor-thin lead over his Trump-backed opponent and the Republicans held on to win the Mississippi governor's mansion.
The big picture: Democrats' win in Virginia adds control of the House of Delegates and the state Senate to the governor's mansion. President Trump used the House impeachment inquiry against him as a political rallying cry in Mississippi and Kentucky gubernatorial races — but its success in campaigns has yet to be seen.
The heads of government agencies including the FBI, Department of Justice and National Security Agency warned in a joint security statement Tuesday that foreign actors would seek to interfere in the 2020 election.
Russia, China, Iran, and other foreign malicious actors all will seek to interfere in the voting process or influence voter perceptions."
Pushing back against Sen. Elizabeth Warren's claims that he is "running in the wrong presidential primary," former Vice President Joe Biden wrote in a Medium post on Tuesday that Warren's approach to politics is elitist and condescending.
"I have fought for the Democratic party my whole career. I know what we stand for, who we stand with and what we believe. And it’s not just policies or issues. It’s in my bones. That’s not something everyone in this primary can say,"
