The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

By Bianca Britton and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 4:52 p.m. ET, November 10, 2019
10 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
4:52 p.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Our live coverage of the impeachment inquiry has ended for the day. Read up on the latest news below.

2:24 p.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Graham: Impeachment inquiry is "invalid" without whistleblower's testimony

From CNN's Devan Cole

Zach Gibson/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Zach Gibson/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham asserted today that the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump is "invalid" unless the identity of the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint sparked House Democrats' probe is revealed.

Graham, whose committee would be at the center of Trump's trial in the Senate should the House approve articles of impeachment against the President, also said in his Sunday interview with Fox News that the process would be "dead on arrival" in the Republican-controlled chamber if the whistleblower doesn't testify before Congress.

"I consider any impeachment in the House that doesn't allow us to know who the whistleblower is to be invalid because without the whistleblower complaint, we wouldn't be talking about any of this and I also see the need for Hunter Biden to be called to adequately defend the President and if you don't do those two things it's a complete joke," Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said.

He continued: "It's impossible to bring this case forward in my view fairly without us knowing who the whistleblower is and having a chance to cross examine them about any biases they may have. So if they don't call the whistleblower in the House, this thing is dead on arrival in the Senate."

CNN has reached out to Graham for clarification on what he means by "invalid."

More context: The comments from Graham come a day after House Republicans and Democrats sparred over whether the whistleblower would provide testimony as part of the impeachment inquiry, an aspect of the process that was seen as critical during the start of it, but was put to rest Saturday by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff.

House Republicans had submitted to Democrats earlier Saturday a list of witnesses they'd like to testify as part of the chamber's impeachment inquiry into Trump and Ukraine, seeking testimony from the whistleblower, former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden and former US special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker, among others.

12:18 p.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Sen. Lindsey Graham claims impeachment will be "dead on arrival" in Senate without whistleblower testimony

From CNN's Alison Main

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Fox News today he thinks it is "impossible" for House Democrats to make their case in the impeachment probe without public testimony from the whistleblower and without it, impeachment will be "dead on arrival" in the Senate.

Graham went on to raise speculation about the individual, tying the person to former CIA director John Brennan and the "deep state."

Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the first person he would call to testify before his committee would be inspector general Michael Horowitz, who is looking into the origins of the Russia probe.

Graham said he talked to Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday about the impending release of Horowitz's report and that the "declassification issue has been resolved."

Graham deferred to Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch when asked if his committee would call any of the witnesses requested by House Republicans, including Hunter Biden, since he said the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has jurisdiction over the matter and "we actually have committees in the Senate for a reason."

Graham also reiterated that he would not watch this week's public hearings in the House, saying he doesn't want to "legitimize what [he thinks] is a joke."

11:41 a.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Whistleblower attorney asks why GOP is exposing "client to unnecessary danger"

From CNN's Gregory Clary

One of the attorney’s for the anonymous whistleblower said its his “experience” working with Republicans that the GOP always protects whistleblowers and tweeted a question asking, “why are they now seeking to expose our #WBer client to unnecessary danger?”

This tweet from Mark Zaid comes after the GOP officially requested the whistleblower to testify in the impeachment hearing on Saturday.

Read Zaid's tweet below:

9:58 a.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Kupperman’s team was not consulted before Mulvaney asked to intervene in case regarding subpoena

From CNN's Ariane de Vogue

Mick Mulvaney
Mick Mulvaney

Former Deputy National Security adviser Charles Kupperman’s team was not consulted in advance of acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s court filing saying he wanted to join in Kupperman’s ongoing lawsuit regarding the authority of House subpoenas, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.

The source also said the team was not given advanced knowledge. 

It was unclear whether Kupperman will object to the move by Mulvaney before Monday’s planned court hearing. 

The New York Times first reported this development.

Some more context: Mulvaney is attempting to join a lawsuit testing House subpoena power, which, if allowed, could effectively derail him from giving testimony in the impeachment inquiry until a federal court decides the case.

Mulvaney did not appear for his scheduled testimony Friday morning despite him receiving a subpoena, because the White House told him he should not appear, claiming that legally he is immune. According to transcripts of two other witness' testimony released Friday, Mulvaney was a key broker inside the White House pushing for Ukraine's announcement of investigations that could politically help President Donald Trump.

Mulvaney's move in court adds him to the ongoing case of another uncooperative impeachment witness, former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman, who sued House members and the White House before his scheduled testimony, asking a court to resolve whether he should follow the White House's orders that he is immune from testimony or the House's subpoena.

Kupperman's case isn't set to be resolved for weeks, if not until mid-December or later.

8:49 a.m. ET, November 10, 2019

House Oversight Committee race heats up as impeachment inquiry moves public

From CNN's  Ellie Kaufman

As the closed-door briefing phase of the impeachment inquiry winds down and moves into the public eye with a slate of hearings scheduled next week, one of the committees that has been leading the inquiry, House Oversight, is ramping up the race for its next chairman.

After the death of House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings on October 17, one of the key committees found itself without a leader just as the House's impeachment inquiry was ramping up. The next most senior member on the committee, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, became the acting chairwoman, per House rules. She's now running to keep the spot permanently.

The House Oversight Committee is not only vitally important because of its role in the impeachment inquiry. Oversight played a major role in taking on issues the Democratic Party had with the Trump administration before the Ukraine matter.

The committee held hearings on the census citizenship question, the administration's border policies and their security clearance policies earlier in the year. It also hosted President Donald Trump's former fixer and attorney Michael Cohen for a public hearing in February, before the Russia report was released.

Maloney and Rep. Stephen Lynch, who serves on the committee, have formally announced they are running for the spot. Rep. Gerry Connolly has not officially announced he's running but has expressed interest and is actively talking to colleagues about the role, according to a Democratic aide.

7:10 a.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Transcripts depict Trump as fickle, susceptible to flattery and prone to grudges

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

When President Donald Trump's phone rang in September, he was not eager for a lengthy conversation.

"The President was really in a bad mood," recounted the man on the line, US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who was hoping to learn whether the President was, in fact, withholding security assistance to coerce Ukraine into investigating political rivals.

"I wouldn't say he hung up me," Sondland recalled, "but it was almost like he hung up on me."

The absence of phone etiquette is hardly a surprise for a President not known for his manners. But the episode, recounted by Sondland during his daylong private deposition before lawmakers for the impeachment inquiry, helps color the portrait of a mercurial and loyalty-minded President that emerges from thousands of pages of transcribed sworn interviews.

US President Donald Trump talks to reporters before boarding Marine One and departing the White House on November 8.
US President Donald Trump talks to reporters before boarding Marine One and departing the White House on November 8. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Like a new book written by an anonymous administration official, the transcripts depict a President consumed by festering grievances and an administration perpetually thrown into chaos by rash decisions -- and the tweets that announce them. Unlike that book, these recollections are provided by named individuals, speaking under the threat of criminal prosecution for lying to Congress.

In the transcripts, which have dropped each day this week, Trump emerges as fickle, susceptible to flattery and prone to grudges.

"They tried to take me down," the President said of Ukraine during a now-scrutinized Oval Office meeting in May, venting it was Kiev that had attempted to damage him during the 2016 election -- a theory rooted in conspiracy that, despite efforts by his advisers to debunk, Trump ran with.

Far from acting as guides to his foreign policy, diplomats and senior officials working for him are shown struggling to ascertain his positions and bracing for groundbreaking policy shifts to come without warning. Professional diplomats -- some of whom still work in the administration -- emerge from the testimony appearing shell-shocked by what was happening in Washington, at least at the moments when they could actually learn what that was.

At others, they describe futile efforts -- including by watching Fox News -- to learn what Trump's associates were doing in the countries where they were posted, and after-the-fact realizations that they were being undercut by their own employer.

"With the advantage of hindsight, you're going to think that I'm incredibly naive, but I couldn't imagine all of the things that have happened over the last five or seven months," the onetime US ambassador in Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, said during her interview. "I just couldn't imagine it."

Like others who were interviewed, Yovanovitch expressed her deep concerns at the parallel foreign policy in Ukraine carried out by the President's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. He emerges in the pages of the transcripts both as a proxy for the President and a foot soldier attempting to nudge the Ukrainians into taking actions that would help Trump politically.

6:05 a.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Whistleblower's attorney reacts to GOP call for testimony reiterating client will answer questions in writing

From CNN’s Zach Cohen

An attorney for the unnamed intelligence whistleblower who came forward with information about President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine reacted Saturday to calls for his client to testify in the coming public impeachment hearings by reiterating that person is only willing to answer questions in writing. 

“My client’s complaint has been largely corroborated. Nonetheless, I have offered to have my client respond in writing, under oath, and under penalty of perjury to Republican questions,” Andrew Bakaj said in a statement to CNN.

Bakaj also said there may be ulterior motives at play here.

“Moreover, because I am concerned this is part of a larger effort to unmask my client’s identity, I provide you the following, which I have previously stated publicly: THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING MY CLIENT’S IDENTITY: I urge all of our government leaders - notably all Members of Congress - to step back and reflect on the important role whistleblowers play in our constitutional republic's ability to oversee itself,” he said. 

The attorney said members of the intelligence community must disclose when they have a reasonable belief a violation of law, rule or regulation has happened.

CNN has also obtained a Nov. 6 letter from the whistleblower’s legal team to Rep. Devin Nunes reiterating their offer to answer written questions. The letter explicitly reiterates the legal team’s intention to work with both parties equally.

5:11 a.m. ET, November 10, 2019

Trump receives loud cheers, positive chants at Alabama-LSU football game

From CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi

President Donald Trump received a mostly cheerful welcome from the crowd attending Saturday's major college football game between the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University.

Before the game's kickoff, the President and first lady Melania Trump received a big cheer as they waved to the crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The crowd broke out in a "USA" chant and cheers of "Trump 2020" shortly after the Trumps were introduced.

"AMAZING welcome for @realDonaldTrump & @flotus at Bryant-Denny Stadium! Crowds went crazy!!!" White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who traveled with the first couple to the game, tweeted on Saturday.

Not everyone in the stadium of more than 100,000 people, however, noticed the first couple when they were shown on the venue's screens.

During the game's first timeout, when the President and first lady were more formally introduced, there appeared to be some boos mixed in with the overwhelming cheers.

Before kickoff, Trump mingled with the guests seated with him in the suite. The Trumps were joined in their guest box for the game by Republican politicians from Louisiana and Alabama, including GOP congressman Bradley Byrne. Byrne is running in the Alabama Republican primary for US Senate against Trump's former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.