Axios

San Antonio — Axios Cities Reporter Kim Hart leads a conversation at the National League of Cities' City Summit on the priorities for building stronger communities across the country ahead of 2020, featuring presidential candidates Julián Castro and Joe Walsh.

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton returned to Twitter on Friday with a series of cryptic posts and a claim that the White House refused to grant him access to his personal Twitter account.

Why it matters: House Democrats have sought his testimony in the ongoing impeachment inquiry because he is considered a key witness in the Ukraine investigation. While there's online speculation his tweets could be tied to that, it's also worth noting that he has a forthcoming book about his time in the Trump White House.

Oliver Davis, the longest-serving African American man on the Common Council of South Bend, Ind., endorsed Joe Biden over Pete Buttigieg, the city's mayor, reports Politico.

Why it matters: The endorsement highlights two common criticisms of Buttigieg: his lack of political experience beyond local government and his struggle to appeal to black voters.

Hillary Clinton tweeted Friday to ask if congressional Republicans would hold President Trump to account at the close of two weeks of public impeachment hearings, stating that she believes he has committed "impeachable crimes."

"The question is not whether Trump has committed impeachable crimes. He has. The question is whether Republicans in Congress will affirm that an American president is not above the law."

The big picture: As recently as this month, Clinton refused to close the door on jumping into the 2020 presidential race. However, a key filing deadline has already passed in the early-voting state of New Hampshire.

Go deeper: The highlights from all of the public impeachment hearings

Several witnesses who testified in the House impeachment inquiry this week highlighted their immigrant backgrounds, sharing their families' stories in highly personal opening statements, the AP's Jill Colvin and Colleen Long write.

Why it matters: They drew a connection to how those experiences led them to public service and a strong desire to safeguard U.S. national security. Their stories offered a sharp counterpoint to President Trump, who has often derided immigrants as a threat to American national security.

After seven public hearings with 12 different witnesses, the impeachment inquiry is moving on to the next stage: a public report and a handoff to the Judiciary Committee.

What's next: House Intelligence Committee staffers have been drafting a report that they plan to deliver to the Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks that lays out their case for impeachment, two sources familiar with their plans tell Axios.

Democrats are chasing two contradictory impulses in their quest to defeat President Trump: Move past Barack Obama's policies, but tap into the party's affection for him.

Why it matters: It's hard to watch a Democratic debate without being reminded of Obama's legacy. "We have to rebuild the Obama coalition," Sen. Kamala Harris said at Wednesday's debate, a point that was echoed by other candidates. "I keep referring to that because that's the last time we won."

The first Honduran migrant was sent to Guatemala on Thursday to pursue his asylum case, the AP reports, kicking off a "landmark" Trump administration policy.

Flashback: Guatemala signed a "safe third country" agreement in July, agreeing to take in more Central American asylum seekers in an effort to slow migration in the U.S. The policy mostly impacts immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador whose routes to the U.S. go through Guatemala. Thousands of Guatemalans left the country last year to seek asylum in the U.S., Al Jazeera notes.

Three refugee resettlement agencies filed suit on Thursday against the Trump administration for an executive order signed in September that permits state and local officials to block resettlement in their jurisdictions, the groups announced.

The big picture: The order requires cities and states to give written consent before refugees can be settled there. The three agencies, HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit, Church World Service and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, are asking the court to block the order as it is tried in court.

President Trump on Thursday, just hours before the midnight deadline to shut down the government, signed a short-term measure funding the government through Dec. 20, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: The House passed the measure earlier this week, and the Senate approved it on Thursday. The measure sets another shutdown deadline days before Congress breaks for the end-of-year holidays. Congress and Trump will have only four weeks to work through disputes over border wall funding and to agree on broader spending bills.

Go deeper: U.S. budget gap hits $134.5 billion, up 34% in a year

A lawyer for White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney released a statement Thursday casting doubt on the testimony of former top Russia adviser Fiona Hill, who told investigators that EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland had a "deal" with Mulvaney to engage in a quid pro quo with Ukraine using a coveted White House visit.

Why it matters: Sondland testified that he kept Mulvaney and a number of other top administration officials apprised of his efforts to push Ukraine to announce investigations into the Bidens and the 2016 election. Mulvaney himself admitted at a press conference in October that Trump conditioned military assistance to Ukraine on the announcement of the 2016 investigation, before later walking it back.

The White House along with Senate Republicans agreed on Thursday to hold a full Senate trial if the House votes to impeach President Trump, Politico reports.

What we know: A group of Republicans met privately with Jared Kushner, Kellyanne Conway and White House counsel Pat Cipollone Thursday morning to outline a strategy for a possible impeachment trial. The White House wants the Senate to hold a trial that does not overtly dismiss the articles of impeachment, two meeting attendees told Politico.

Former White House top Russia adviser Fiona Hill testified Thursday that it is "not credible" that EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland did not understand that the investigation President Trump was pushing for into Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma was equivalent to an investigation of the Bidens.

In a stunning moment at Thursday's impeachment hearing, former top White House Russia adviser Fiona Hill asked whether she may respond to Republican attacks, after three GOP congressmen in a row used their five-minute question allotments to criticize the impeachment inquiry and its witnesses.

Fiona Hill, the former top Russia expert on the National Security Council, shot back at the Republican counsel during Thursday's impeachment hearing for suggesting that she had concerns about Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's judgment, as her successor Tim Morrison testified earlier this week.

Fiona Hill, President Trump's former top Russia expert, testified during Thursday's impeachment hearing that she told EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland earlier this year that the Trump administration's policy on Ukraine was "all going to blow up."

The big picture: Hill illustrated a dual-track policy that "diverged" seemingly at Trump's direction. According to her testimony, Sondland claimed to be reporting directly to the president and other senior White House officials to pursue a "domestic political errand" — investigations linked to the Biden family's business dealings in Ukraine — while National Security Council staff focused on traditional foreign policy.

The California Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled against a law requiring presidential and gubernatorial candidates to disclose their past five years of tax returns for a spot on the state's primary ballot, per the Sacramento Bee.

Why it matters: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill in July in an effort to compel Trump to release his tax returns. While campaigning in 2016, Trump argued he could not release the records because he was under audit. The chairwoman of the California Republican Party sued over the law, sending the matter to the state's high court.

David Holmes, a State Department official at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, testified on Thursday about a now-infamous phone call in Kyiv in which he overheard President Trump and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland discuss the "investigations" that are now at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

President Trump tweeted Thursday that he has tried — and failed — to overhear others' phone conversations as State Department official David Holmes testified in the impeachment inquiry.

"I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great. Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!"

Why it matters: Holmes was a last-minute addition to the hearing after Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified about Holmes' recollection of overhearing a July 26 phone call between Trump and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland

Go deeper: Live updates on Hill and Holmes' impeachment testimony

David Holmes, a State Department official at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, is testifying Thursday in the House's impeachment inquiry.

The big picture: While a portion of Holmes' statement focused on the July 26 call between President Trump and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland that made him a last-minute addition to the hearings, he spent the majority of his time laying out how the Trump administration's Ukraine policy affected things on the ground in Kyiv.

Sen. Kamala Harris secured the endorsement of Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) before kicking off her Black Women Action weekend in South Carolina, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: That makes 11 endorsements from the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for Harris, which is more than any other presidential candidate has received so far.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg continue to lead the Democratic field, as the top 10 candidates take the stage on Wednesday night in Atlanta for their fifth debate — against the backdrop of the public impeachment inquiry of President Trump.

The big picture: The candidates touched on voting rights, abortion, legalizing marijuana health care, wealth tax, the current impeachment inquiries, foreign policy, climate change, child care and other issues.

The fifth Democratic debate on Wednesday ended with more shared laughs than attack lines, striking a stark contrast to the partisan impeachment hearings that have dominated news coverage over the past two weeks.

The big picture: The Pete Buttigieg pile-on landed more softly than many had projected. Instead, the top four candidates in early state polling — Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — pulled many of their punches, giving some of the lower-tier candidates a chance to make waves in a debate that will otherwise do little to shake up the race.

Former Vice President Joe Biden emphasized the issue of domestic violence at the 5th Democratic debate Wednesday night, saying that we must "keep punching" at the issue to eliminate it.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, both military veterans, clashed at the 5th Democratic debate Wednesday night after the representative questioned the mayor's military judgement.

The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill 24-10 Wednesday that would decriminalize marijuana at a federal level.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Cory Booker went head-to-head Wednesday over legalizing marijuana, with the senator joking that Biden "might have been high" when he recently said he opposes federal legalization.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg acknowledged his struggle with black voters at the 5th Democratic debate Wednesday, saying that he welcomes "the challenge" and relates to the fight for civil rights through his experience as a gay man.

Sen. Kamala Harris said at the 5th Democratic debate Wednesday that "[President] Trump got punked" into holding summits with Kim Jong Un and cozying up to North Korea's leader.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar argued at the 5th Democratic debate Wednesday that Americans should have faith in a woman's ability to beat President Trump, stating, "Nancy Pelosi does it every single day."

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Kamala Harris went head-to-head at the 5th Democratic debate Wednesday over their views of the Democratic Party.

Tom Steyer defended his billionaire status at the 5th Democratic debate Wednesday following months of attacks over using wealth to bankroll his campaign.

The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and "Black Voices for Trump" sent coordinated mass emails during the Democratic debate Wednesday attacking Mayor Pete Buttigieg for his record on race and policing in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana.

Why it matters: As Axios' Jonathan Swan reported on Sunday, top Republicans are taking Buttigieg seriously as a potential general election candidate after his breakout poll in Iowa and his rise in New Hampshire. Several top Trump advisers have raised concerns that Buttigieg is more talented than Joe Biden and that he will be harder to brand as a leftist radical than Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders.

Go deeper:

• Buttigieg campaign apologizes for using stock photo of Kenyan woman
• Behind Pete Buttigieg’s Iowa rise
• Buttigieg to face frontrunner scrutiny after surprise Iowa poll

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to address the impeachment inquiry on Wednesday when he told an economic forum in Moscow the "internal political struggles" in the U.S. are having a "negative effect" on American relations with Russia.

Hopefully, no one accuses us of election interferences in the United States. Now they're accusing Ukraine. Well, let them deal with that themselves."