Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) wrote in a statement Thursday that there has been "a lot of mischaracterization" of her position on the Senate impeachment trial's procedures, and that it is "likely" she would vote to call additional witnesses after each side makes their opening case.
Why it matters: Collins, a moderate Republican facing a competitive re-election race, is viewed as a swing vote on key impeachment issues, including whether to call new witnesses. She voted to call witnesses in the middle of President Clinton's impeachment trial and has said she continues to support the procedures the Senate used then.
The FBI says it will now notify state officials about any attempts to hack their election systems, even when those breaches only affect one county, NBC News reports.
Why it matters: The FBI has traditionally only notified the direct victims of cyber breaches, which in this case would be counties since that's who administers U.S. elections. An FBI official told reporters that "traditional policy did not work in the election context," per NBC.
After being sworn in by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Thursday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered an oath for all senators to deliver "impartial justice" in the impeachment trial of President Trump.
The Senate voted 89-10 Thursday to pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Why it matters: The deal now heads to President Trump's desk for his signature, allowing the president to accomplish one of his biggest policy goals ahead of his 2020 re-election battle — hours before the official start of his impeachment trial
The U.S. Government Accountability Office released Thursday a decision finding that the White House's Office of Management and Budget violated the law when it withheld military aid to Ukraine.
The state of play: The decision from the GAO, an independent government agency, comes just hours before the Senate will kick off President Trump's impeachment trial over his administration's actions on Ukraine.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry announced it is launching a criminal investigation into possible illegal surveillance of former U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and the hacking of natural gas company Burisma Holdings, NBC News reports.
Why it matters: The decision comes two days after Democrats released documents that appear to show Lev Parnas, an associate of President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, indicating he discussed surveilling Yovanovitch in March 2019.
Lev Parnas, a close Rudy Giuliani associate and central figure in the pressure campaign on Ukraine, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last night: "President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. ... I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president."
Why it matters: If true, the claim presents detailed connective tissue between Parnas' activities in Ukraine and Trump.
If Russia's goal in meddling in U.S. elections has been to undermine trust in the democratic process, it has already won — and the U.S. isn't even starting to take the sort of steps that might reverse that outcome.
Why it matters: Free, fair, and trusted elections are the cornerstone of the U.S.'s claim to moral authority. We're only beginning to fathom how badly Vladimir Putin has wounded the American system.
Tuesday's Democratic debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines register was watched by 7.3 million viewers, early data released by Nielsen Media Research shows.
Why it matters: The seventh Democratic debate was watch by slightly more people than the past few debates, which attracted viewers in the six million range. That boost could be for several reasons, including big news events such as President Trump being impeached and the killing of Iran's Gen. Qasem Soleimani. But viewership is still way down from first few debates — which averaged about 12 million viewers each.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren told 2020 rival Sen. Bernie Sanders after the seventh Democratic debate, "I think you called me a liar on national TV," CNN audio broadcast Wednesday indicates.
