NEW: Fired US Attorney for SDNY Geoffrey Berman will appear next week before House Judiciary behind closed doors next Thursday, according to a congressional aide
I said this earlier but to repeat: A big reason Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are still not done counting mail-in ballots is because the GOP legislatures in all of those states did not pass a law this year to start processing ballots well before Election Day, like others
Sen. Murkowski on the Stone sentencing revision: "I don't like this chain of events ... The President weighs in, all of a sudden, Justice comes back and says change the deal. I think most people in America would look at that and say hmm, that just doesn't look right."
NEW: CNN has obtained Bob Woodward’s new book Rage, in which Trump admits he knew weeks before first US coronavirus death it was dangerous, airborne, highly contagious and "more deadly than even your strenuous flus," and repeatedly played it down publicly
Rep. Matt Gaetz says Adam Schiff kicked him out of the Fiona Hill deposition.
Gaetz is not on the three cmtes conducting the impeachment inquiry, but he argued that as a member of Judiciary he should be allowed to attend, and b/c there "are no rules" for the impeachment probe
NEWS: Rep. Paul Mitchell, who is retiring this year, tells
@jaketapper
on
@CNN
he's leaving the Republican party and becoming an independent, a la fellow Michigander Rep. Justin Amash
NEWS: The FBI and SEC have started to probe stock transactions made by lawmakers. The inquiry is in its early stages, and has included outreach to Sen. Burr, who sold $628k-$1.7M in stocks on one day last month, w/
@davidgshortell
@evanperez
@KaraScannell
The House overwhelmingly passes resolution disapproving of Russia sanctions relief, 362-53, a symbolic rebuke of Trump admin decision.
There were 136 Republicans who supported the measure and 53 opposed
"My experiences with Emily have led me to believe she is an ethical and moral person, but...she's absolutely making the wrong decision. Biden clearly won. And there really is no question about that," said a former admin official and colleague who'd spoken to her in recent days.
Murkowski to reporters just now: "I thought the President's comments yesterday mocking Dr. Ford were wholly inappropriate and in my view unacceptable."
On whether it affects her vote:
"I am taking everything into account," she said.
NEW: Rep. Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to colleagues, showing nude photos and videos of women he said he slept with, including while on the floor, sources tell CNN. One video showed a naked women with a hula hoop. W/
@foxreports
@ryannobles
NEW: Breaking with
@DevinNunes
, Senate Intel Chair Richard Burr says there were "sound reasons" for judges to approve the FISA warrant on Page. "I don’t think I ever expressed that I thought the FISA application came up short,” he said. W/
@mkraju
NEWS: The President is removing Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, he told the Hill in a letter today obtained by CNN. It's effective in 30 days.
Atkinson was the official who told Congress about the anonymous whistleblower complaint
Wow, Mueller prosecutor Zelinsky withdraws from the Stone case AND includes this footnote(!):
"The Court is advised that the undersigned attorney has resigned effective immediately after this filing as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for District of Columbia"
House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler has asked the National Archives to provide his committee with records related to Justice Kavanaugh's time in the George W. Bush White House that it didn't provide to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation
NEWS: CNN has obtained 2,319 text messages that former President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent and received between Election Day 2020 and President Joe Biden's January 20, 2021 inauguration
NEW: People who have spoken to GSA Admin Emily Murphy say she's struggling with the weight of the election on her shoulders, feeling like she's in a no-win situation trying to follow what she sees as precedent to wait to ascertain, w/
@KristenhCNN
One reason why PA is still counting ballots is that the state's GOP legislature did not pass any legislation to begin processing absentee ballots before Election Day, unlike many other states
This is antidemocratic lying from the Republican National Committee.
There is nothing crooked about Philadelphia or any other community counting its votes. And Biden said nothing whatsoever to suggest crookednesss.
NEWS: The GSA has informed president-elect Joe Biden the administration is ready to begin the formal transition process, according to a letter from administrator Emily Murphy sent Monday afternoon and obtained by CNN, via
@KristenhCNN
(story TK!)
NEW: When Rudy Giuliani met with AG Barr last September on behalf of a Venezuelan client, he was joined by former Rep. Trey Gowdy, whose presence at the meeting has not been previously disclosed, according to new documents
Pelosi calls for the resignation of the Capitol Police chief and says the House Sergeant at Arms has notified her thta he is submitting his resignation
NEW: Fired US Attorney Geoffrey Berman told House Judiciary that AG Barr urged him to resign and warned him him getting fired would “not be good for my resume or future job prospects," per his opening statement obtained by CNN. More TK
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says acting AG Matt Whitaker will testify before his committee in January -- one way or the other. "If we don’t reach a date in the next day or two, we will subpoena him,” Nadler said Tuesday
NEW: Trump & allies have claimed he had a "standing order" to declassify documents from the Oval.
But 18 former top Trump officials say they never heard any such order, and that they believe it to be patently false, w/
@jamiegangel
@elizabethstuart
I asked former WH chief of staff Mark Meadows if it was appropriate for him to email acting AG Rosen pushing election claims.
“I’ll let you answer that,” he said leaving the Senate dining room. “Obviously I’m not going to comment on anything that may or may not have happened.”
NEWS w/
@jamiegangel
@elizabethstuart
: The House Jan. 6 committee has subpoenaed -- and obtained -- records of phone numbers associated with Trump's son, Eric Trump, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Don Jr.
NEW: CNN obtained an early copy of “Peril” from
@realBobWoodward
@costareports
, which details how CJCS Gen. Milley took action in Jan. to limit Trump from launching nuclear weapons, telling officers not to take any action without consulting with him first
NEW: Fox’s Sean Hannity exchanged 80+ messages with Mark Meadows btwn 2020 Election and Biden inauguration, messages that show Hannity's evolution from staunch supporter of Trump's election lies to being "fed up" with the "lunatics" hurting Trump's cause
NEW:
@RepAdamSchiff
sent letters to heads of ODNI, CIA, FBI and NSA taking aim at the new DOJ review of the Russia probe, asking them to provide his committee with any materials requested by Barr, and to tell the panel if they object to any decision Barr makes to declassify info
In the letter, they say accusations of trying to undercut Mueller are off base: "Whatever product is produced by the Special Counsel must be trusted by Americans and that requires asking tough but fair questions about investigative techniques both employed and not employed.”
NEW: Holmes says he heard Trump ask Sondland, "So, he’s gonna do the investigation?" Sondland replied "he’s gonna do it," and says Zelensky would do "anything you ask him to."
Sondland wasn't on speakerphone, but held the phone out b/c it was so loud. Story TK w/
@mkraju
NEWS: An employee at Mar-a-Lago drained the resort’s swimming pool last October and ended up flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, w/
@kpolantz
@kaitlancollins
NEW: "I'm just not going to leave": Former President Trump repeatedly told aides following his 2020 election loss he would remain in the WH rather than let Biden take over, according to reporting provided to CNN from the forthcoming book by
@maggieNYT
New: Voters across the country showing up in person to vote early say one reason they're waiting in long lines is they don't trust the mail to deliver their ballots, following Trump attacks and USPS cuts (w/ a big assist from our teams in battlegrounds)
This morning, Trump said
@SenatorBurr
had found "no collusion." Burr's response to Trump: "The president's using a quote from three weeks ago, that you heard that I said we didn't have any hard evidence. That's fine. But we have a lot of investigation left."
Smith, continued: "But primarily it's been done to build facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq...In this case, I think the president would be wide open to a court challenge saying, ‘where is the emergency?' You have to establish that in order to do this."
Congressman Adam Smith, the new Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, just stated, “Yes, there is a provision in law that says a president can declare an emergency. It’s been done a number of times.” No doubt, but let’s get our deal done in Congress!
A collusion throwback: It has long been suspected but never explicitly stated by the US Kilimnik passed internal Trump campaign data from Manafort to Russian intelligence services. The announcement Thursday establishes a simple and direct channel
The advice everyone needs from
@jaketapper
: Take a deep breath.
And don't forget that PA, MI and WI's mail-in ballots are NOT going to be all counted tonight. So we might be waiting for a while.
The US Capitol Police is planning to move all media out of this hallway when
@SenatorCollins
departs the hearing room she’s in. This hallway is open to the public. We respect her safety and we do this every day. Not sure why today is any different. Video explaining below:
Corker, Menendez and more than a dozen more senators send a letter to Trump that could pave the way for sanctions over Khashoggi disappearance. Full letter and background here
New: The Justice Department told the Treasury Department that it must turn over former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, which first requested them more than two years ago, via
@Tierney_Megan
@FoxReports
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler hires two new lawyers,
@NormEisen
&
@BarryBerke
, who have written the case for possible impeachment or indictment of President Trump
NEW: Don Jr had agreed to a voluntarily interview date with the Senate Intel Committee twice before backing out, a process that led to the subpoena from Burr last month. That and more details on the impasse here, w/
@KaraScannell
@mkraju
CJCS Gen. Milley did not give WH a heads up before his apology today for taking part in last week's photo-op, though he did reach out to former Joint Chiefs chairs. But Milley hasn't faced same blowback as Esper did last wk, w/
@vmsalama
@kaitlancollins
Two WH officials told lawmakers the "blatant" push for politically motivated investigations from President Trump left "no ambiguity" what the Ukrainians needed to do to secure a highly sought meeting — and the effort was coordinated by Mulvaney
NEW: Gowdy and Goodlatte have sent a letter to AG Whitaker, IG Horowtiz and McConnell summarizing their investigation into FBI/DOJ and concerns about the handling of the Clinton and Trump/Russia probes. Full letter is here
NEW: FBI opened its obstruction investigation into Trump before Mueller was appointed, amid belief from Rosenstein and top FBI officials following Comey's firing that the president needed to be reined in, via
@PamelaBrownCNN
and me
Gaetz is now under investigation over sex trafficking allegations, which he denies. There’s no evidence these photos are related to the probe. But they show how Gaetz gained a reputation over his relationships with women.
"It was a point of pride," one source said of Gaetz
Update to yesterday’s story on the election memo: John Eastman tells me his two-page memo was preliminary. Here’s the longer six-page version he prepared on what he saw as Pence’s Jan. 6 options
NEWS: DOJ has subpoenaed former WH Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the Jan. 6 probe, and he’s complied by providing materials he handed previously over to the House Select Committee, sources tell CNN. W/
@evanperez
@PamelaBrownCNN
@KristenhCNN
This is an amazing
@AP
photo today of someone who is among the most-recognizable people in the country and yet has managed to mostly avoid cameras for nearly two years
(The sign is a particularly nice touch)
NEWS: Jerry Nadler was involved in a car accident this morning on his way to Washington, a Nadler spokesman said.
Nadler was not driving and was not hurt in the accident, the spox said. But the start of today's hearing with AG Barr is delayed as a result.
There’s lots of intriguing new details in Peril, including a transcript of Pelosi’s call with Milley on Jan. 8, one of the things that prompted him to act.
“Is there anybody in charge at the White House who was doing anything but kissing his fat butt all over this?” Pelosi asked
NEWS: Nadler has made a new offer to AG Barr over the subpoena for the unredacted Mueller report and evidence. Nadler has given Barr a deadline of 9am Monday and says he will move to hold Barr in contempt if he won't comply, w/
@mkraju
“This is deadly stuff,” Trump told Woodward Feb. 7, 3 weeks before first US Covid death. "Pretty amazing," Trump said, offering a surprising level of detail, adding it was maybe five times "more deadly" than the flu. But Trump continued to downplay the threat over the next month.
Republican chairmen Bob Goodlatte and Trey Gowdy sent a letter today announcing the end of their probe into the FBI, but also urging further investigation. More on what they say they uncovered here
NEW: Fired Intelligence Community IG Michael Atkinson releases a statement on his firing, saying "it is hard not to think that the President’s loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial IG"
NEW: House Intel Chair Adam Schiff and ranking R Devin Nunes (!) have sent a joint letter requesting Mueller and others brief the committee, and to receive the special counsel's counterintelligence materials
CNN obtained the transcript of a portion of the meeting where Trump discusses a classified Pentagon document about Iran. The transcript suggests Trump is showing the document to those in the room.
"Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this," Trump says.
Senate just confirmed Brian Benczkowski to lead the Justice Department's criminal division 51-48. Dems objected to his nomination due to ties to Russian bank Alfa Bank. Manchin only D to vote yes
Democrats are publicly talking up legislative priorities like health care and voting rights, but they are also quietly preparing for what will likely be the largest congressional investigation of a sitting president in recent memory, w/
@FoxReports
@mkraju
Ratcliffe v. Schiff:
Ratcliffe on Fox Biz this morning: "There's no intelligence that supports that and we have shared no intelligence with Chairman Schiff or any other member of Congress that Hunter Biden's laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign."
New bipartisan statement from 10 senators, including 4 Republicans (Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Cassidy), pushing back on GOP efforts to object to Electoral College results:
The book includes details of Pence’s Jan. 5 meeting with Trump, when he refused to try to help Trump overturn the election. “You don’t understand, Mike. You can do this. I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this,” Trump told Pence, per Woodward and Costa
The letter is the first step the Trump administration has taken to acknowledge President Donald Trump's defeat, more than two weeks after Biden was declared the winner in the 2020 election
Michael Cohen is offering Democrats new information in a bid to stay out of jail while he cooperates with Congress, seeking their help in documenting his cooperation, per new letter sent today
NEW: The Senate Intel Committee is at a standoff with Donald Trump Jr. after the committee subpoenaed him to testify again, and he's considering options that include invoking his Fifth Amendment rights or not appearing, w/
@KaraScannell
@mkraju
This. This. This. The Trump campaign's claims are being rejected in court over and over so Rudy is trying to go to the cameras instead and convince his supporters there's widespread fraud when there's not.
While it’s unclear if the room was intentionally flooded or if it happened by mistake, the incident occurred amid a series of events that federal prosecutors found suspicious. Prosecutors have heard testimony the IT equipment in the room was not damaged in the flood, per source
New: Schumer sent a letter to senators this morning laying out the documents he wants turned over as part of the trial, pointing to the redacted emails from OMB's Michael Duffey email released by FOIA to
@publicintegrity
, w/
@mkraju
Rep. Jordan goes after Cummings, accusing him of blasting out a press release after interviewing one witness. "I’ve never seen anything like this," Jordan says.
"Oh please," Cummings shoots back. "Yeah, you’ve done it."
Top officials compare Trump blowups to both "Full Metal Jacket" and "Dr. Strangelove."
In one scene, Trump explodes at SecDef Esper after he said he wouldn't invoke the Insurrection Act. “You took away my authority! ... You’re not the president! I’m the god damn president.”
NEWS, w/
@barbarastarrcnn
: A rare face-to-face meeting between Russian and US military officials last week led to an “outburst” of emotion from a normally stoic Russian general, according to a closely held US military readout
Warner responds to Burr's comments on collusion, saying he disagrees and that the committee still has key witnesses to speak to -- a rare split among the bipartisan Senate Intel duo, w/
@mkraju
Former acting AG Matt Whitaker is returning to the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday to clarify his testimony behind closed doors after Ds demanded he provide more details about his conversations w/ Trump and WH officials, w/
@mkraju
Rep. Stephen Lynch, a senior member of the Oversight Committee, says he expects Cummings will issue a subpoena for Cohen's testimony.
Lynch said that he's spoken with Cummings, and the "overwhelming consensus" among panel members is that Cohen should be subpoenaed.
Milley was worried Trump would ‘go rogue’ after the Jan. 6 insurrection. “No matter what you are told, you do the procedure. You do the process. And I’m part of that procedure,” Milley told officers, per “Peril.” W/
@jamiegangel
@elizabethstuart
NEWS: For more than 3 years, federal prosecutors investigated whether money flowing through an Egyptian state-owned bank could have backed $10M Donald Trump donated to his own campaign days before he won the 2016 election. Story w/
@kpolantz
@evanperez
She's facing pressure from all sides and even death threats. Sources who spoke to CNN couldn't say if she'd been in touch w/ the WH. "She absolutely feels like she's in a hard place. She's afraid on multiple levels. It's a terrible situation," one friend and former colleague said