Searching for smart, safe news you can TRUST?

Support safe, smart, REAL journalism. Sign up for our Axios AM & PM newsletters and get smarter, faster.

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Denver news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Des Moines news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Tampa Bay news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Charlotte news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In a tweet Sunday, President Trump attacked Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, for her testimony in a closed-door impeachment hearing, calling her a "Never Trumper" while also claiming he doesn't know who she is.

The big picture: Over the past few weeks, the president has continually claimed that he does not know several of the key people involved in the impeachment inquiry — despite them serving in his own administration.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman: On the morning of the impeachment testimony from the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert, Trump said in a tweet, "Why are people that I never even heard of testifying about the [July telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky]."

  • Vindman, who was the first person to directly listen to the call to testify before the House committees, said that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney "coordinated" a plan to condition a White House meeting for Zelensky on an investigation into the Bidens.

Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch: Trump said earlier this week that he "really [doesn't] know her" on the same day the House released its transcript of her testimony.

  • She testified that Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani led a campaign to oust her over unsubstantiated allegations that she badmouthed the president and was seeking to stop Ukraine from opening an investigation into the Bidens.

Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine: Trump said in a tweet last month that he doesn't know Taylor — and called the career diplomat a "Never Trumper."

  • Taylor told the impeachment committees that he understood the president to be conditioning the release of military aid on the Ukrainian president's willingness to announce investigations into Trump's political rivals, including the Bidens.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman: Trump told reporters last month that he didn't know the pair, who are business associates of Rudy Giuliani with ties to Ukraine and are facing charges for allegedly funneling foreign money into Republican political campaigns.

  • Earlier this week, Parnas indicated that he would be willing to comply with the impeachment inquiry. His lawyer said that he "was very upset by President Trump’s plainly false statement that he did not know him."

EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland: Trump told reporters at the White House that he "hardly [knows]" Sondland, who donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee.

  • Sondland revised his closed-door testimony to reflect that he told an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that military assistance would not be released until Zelensky issued a statement agreeing to investigate Burisma, a gas company with ties to Biden's son.

Jennifer Williams: Trump tweeted "whoever that is" when referring to Williams, who serves as an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence on Europe and Russia.

  • Williams testified that Trump's call with Zelensky — which she listened in on — was "unusual and inappropriate," and that it "shed some light on possible other motivations behind a security assistance hold."

Go deeper:

Go deeper

Bryan Walsh, author of Future
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Cracks in nuclear command and control

An atomic bomb test in Nevada in 1957. Photo: © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to members on Friday that she's spoken to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley about preventing President Trump from accessing the nuclear codes.

Why it matters: Pelosi's message surfaced an uncomfortable reality about America's nuclear control structure: if the president wants to use nukes, there is no clear way to stop him.

Updated 3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Vaccine: Biden to release nearly all available vaccine doses to the public — Why some experts want to relax vaccine prioritization — Fauci says COVID variants threaten some treatments more than vaccines.
  2. Politics: Manchin says he will "absolutely not" support $2,000 stimulus checksBiden's one-two stimulus punch.
  3. Economy: U.S. markets unbothered by Capitol insurrection— Job losses suggest labor market's "dark days" could return.
  4. World: U.K. reports highest daily COVID-19 death toll since start of the pandemic and approves Moderna's vaccine for emergency use — Countries begin to line up for Chinese and Russian vaccines.

Boeing passenger jet missing after departure from Jakarta

A crew-only area for Indonesian carrier Sriwijaya Air is seen at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport on January 9, after contact with Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 bound for Pontianak from Jakarta was lost and feared to have crashed into the sea shortly after take-off. Photo: DEMY SANJAYA / Getty Images

A Sriwijaya Air passenger jet is missing after taking off from Jakarta and losing contact with air traffic controllers on Saturday just minutes after departure.

The state of play: The last contact between the control tower and the plane, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, was around 2:40 p.m. local time, Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawait said, per the AP. The Boeing 737-500 was en route to Pontianak on the island of Borneo. Multiple reports indicate there were 62 people on board including crew members.