I’m reminded of a time that former Rep Duncan Hunter Senior yelled at me for reporting on his son’s alleged misuse of campaign funds. And when he told me his son would be president someday. And when he showed up to Politico offices to scold my editors for my reporting.
.
@NancyPelosi
returned from the WH meeting with the president today and went STRAIGHT for the most sensitive part of Trump’s ego: his masculinity.
“It’s like a manhood thing with him — as if manhood can be associated with him,” she told her colleagues just now.
IMPEACHMENT LATEST: After
@SecPompeo
told Ds his officials won't comply w/their requests, State employees appear to be DEFYING Pompeo.
1st: Volker says he will testify. Yovanovitch too.
& now
@karoun
@John_Hudson
report the State IG is coming 2 Hill tomorrow to turn over docs
BIG THIS AM:
@RepAdamSchiff
says that w/Trump-Ukraine-reports, "we very well may have crossed the Rubicon here.”
"I have been very reluctant to go down the path of impeachment …. but ... that may be the only remedy that is co-equal to the evil that that conduct represents.”
Inside the WH meeting
@SenSchumer
said to Trump: “you are using people as leverage. Why won't you open the government and stop hurting people?” Trump responded: "Because then you won't give me what I want."
Overheard while watching the debate just now: “I’m not sure I’m a Democrat anymore.” -Democrat next to me complaining abt how far left the party has moved
I'm still in shock.
Democrats FINALLY HAD THEIR MOMENT to take a shot at Trump. Call in witnesses. Show the world what he did on Jan 6 beyond what we know.
And they chose not to.
All for the sake of Biden's agenda.
SCOOP: 30 freshman House Democrats are trying 2 draft Rep.
@JustinAmash
(I) as an impeachment manager 4 the Senate trial of Trump
Pelosi makes the call, but these Dems want a bipartisan showing & Amash is among the most conservative members in the House
Sitting above the chamber, you see the stark contrast in color btw the GOP & Dem side: the Rs are all in dark suits. Almost all white men. The Dem side is speckled with pinks and purples and greens being worn by the historic # of women. Also very ethnically diverse.
A House GOP candidate Trump recently praised as an upcoming "star,"
@mtgreenee
, just posted a FB photo of herself holding a gun next to images of "Squad" members
@AOC
,
@RepRashida
&
@IlhanMN
.
This is a threatening message to 3 lawmakers by an incoming member of the House.
NEW & IMPORTANT: A growing # of Hill Rs say they can no longer defend some of Trump’s recent actions, particularly his brazen decision to host the G-7 at Doral.
There’s a sense among some that Trump is taking their loyalty for granted & they’re sick of it
This is incredible.
A GOP senator knew abt & confronted Trump abt WH allegedly leveraging aid to Ukraine for investigations
@rebeccaballhaus
@siobhanehughes
->
NEWS: GOP Sen. Ron Johnson tells WSJ that the U.S. ambassador to the EU told him in August that the status of aid to Ukraine was tied to Trump’s interest in having Kiev investigate certain matters. Johnson confronted Trump, who denied it. w/
@siobhanehughes
BREAKING: Ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch tells Congress Trump pressured State Dept. to remove her
Said she was “incredulous that the US gov chose to remove an Ambassador based...on unfounded & false claims by people w/clearly questionable motives."
FLAG IT: Trump will visit Baltimore Thursday -- a majority-black city he recently called a ‘rodent infested mess’ -- to attend the GOP retreat.
My R sources are already privately speculating that this could be disastrous, inciting local protests
BREAKING: House Dems expected to unveil two articles of impeachment against Trump -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, per multiple leadership sources and members close with the investigation.
Presser tomorrow. Markup likely Thursday.
BREAKING: A White House whistleblower says 25 security clearance denials were reversed during Trump administration, called Congress her “last hope” to stop practices she says put nation at risk.
2+ years of heartbreaking news & 4 failed IVF transfers later, a strong little one took a firm hold – and stayed.
I’m now expecting a baby girl in late June after nearly four years praying for a kid. (3)
In Sept 2019, the weekend after Pelosi announced impeachment proceedings (bad timing on my part for a then-House reporter), I had my 1st of what now seems like a gazillion-bajillion IVF procedures. (2)
🚨 SIREN:
@RepCummings
says if Michael Cohen mentioned their names in the hearing yesterday, chances are they will be called in to testify, too. Heads up
@DonaldJTrumpJr
, Allen Weisselberg, maybe Ivanka & Jared
NEW: Sources ID Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner as the senior White House official -- "Official 1" -- whose security clearance was denied by career officials.
WH logs, viewed by the Post, verify whistleblower's account
w/
@thamburger
&
@ashleyrparker
:
WOW. Yovanovitch got the call to come home while she was GIVING AN AWARD to the father of a deceased anti-corruption crusader who was killed by acid due to her work.
She was told to "get on the next plane" that night.
The fact that Dems are having Mueller testify IN PUBLIC is a big deal bc
1- He didn't want 2 though everyone else on the planet said he had to
&2- This could create that made for TV moment Dems have been seeking 4 MONTHS. It could move public sentiment on impeachment...
UPDATED: Pelosi is privately talking to members abt impeaching Trump, a swath of moderate House Dems are coming out in favor of his ouster, & leadership folks think we've hit the tipping point.
The watershed moment. w/
@mikedebonis
Wow Pelosi, leaving her presser, pauses and scolds a reporter for asking if she "hates" Trump.
She says "we don't hate anyone! .... As a Catholic i resent you using the word 'hate' ... don't mess with me when it comes to words like that."
i have never seen Pelosi so upset.
SCOOP: Longtime impeachment skeptic
@SpeakerPelosi
is sounding out members on impeachment, asking if the time has come bc of the Ukraine news/controversy
BIG development.
w/
@mikedebonis
SCOOP: Volker WARNED Giuliani that the Ukrainians' dirt on the Bidens was NOT credible & his sources were unreliable, he told lawmakers 2day, per 2 sources in the room.
me
@John_Hudson
&
@karoun
Senior Democrats are also talking about a SELECT COMMITTEE to handle any impeachment proceedings, multiple sources tell us.
Nothing is final. Talks fluid. Ideas abundant. But the shift in the caucus on impeachment -- including w/the speaker -- is real.
SCOOP: Longtime impeachment skeptic
@SpeakerPelosi
is sounding out members on impeachment, asking if the time has come bc of the Ukraine news/controversy
BIG development.
w/
@mikedebonis
YOVANOVITCH says "what continues to amaze me is [corrupt Ukrainians] found Americans
willing to partner with them and, working together, they
apparently succeeded in orchestrating the removal of a U.S.
Ambassador."
"How could our system fail like this?"
BREAKING:
@Judiciary
Chair
@RepJerryNadler
tells me the House will bring a resolution of disapproval up to try to terminate Trump's national emergency to build the wall. If that fails in the Senate or is vetoed by Trump, House Dems will sue, he says. Story coming...
IMPORTANT note: Conservatives chose NOT to file this as a privileged resolution. That means that they don't get to force a vote on it on the House floor. This avoids the GOP civil war that would take place if they DID try to force a vote on this. Rs VERY divided on the matter
NEW: Sources ID Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner as the senior White House official -- "Official 1" -- whose security clearance was denied by career officials.
WH logs, viewed by the Post, verify whistleblower's account
w/
@thamburger
&
@ashleyrparker
:
SCOOP: A group of Senate Rs are ready to acknowledge that a quid pro quo happened on Ukraine -- even as Trump continues to deny it.
It was topic du jour in Wed lunch, where some senators argued it prob happened but wasn't illegal
w/
@seungminkim
NEW:
@TomRooney
becomes the latest GOPer to question Trump’s “Spygate.” Says: “What is the point of saying that there was a spy in the campaign when there was none?... It's like, 'Lets create this thing to tweet about knowing that it's not true.'“
Big personal news: I’m joining
@washingtonpost
to cover House Dem leadership, the historic freshman class & their oversight of
@realDonaldTrump
. Super excited to join the team — but also super grateful to
@politico
for an amazing past six yes.
BIG PICTURE:
@realDonaldTrump
has sent 40% of House Rs packing since his inauguration day, whether thru the suburban bloodbath OR members retiring in frustration.
My analysis on the GOP exodus of Washington:
THIS is why Democrats did NOT want Michael Avenatti to get involved in this fight. Collins is specifically citing Swetnick's "gang rape" accusation as something that made her think she needed to give Kavanaugh the benefit of the doubt.
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
SCOOP in Playbook this a.m.:
@Jim_Jordan
spoke w/Trump at least 2X on Jan. 6, including during the hours-long holdover in the safe space, when he &
@mattgaetz
asked Trump to call off his people
@Olivia_Beavers
writes in:
BREAKING-SEVEN freshman House Ds w/military backgrounds from SERIOUSLY competitive districts back possible impeachment
"If these allegations are true, we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense. We do not arrive at this conclusion lightly"
BREAKING: House investigative chairs say "the State Department, at the direction of the White House, directed Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch not to appear for her voluntary interview today."
They subpoenaed her to get her to talk & give her cover to cooperate
Just ran into Sen-Elect
@CaptMarkKelly
(D-Ariz) in the Senate, seeming to get a tour from an aide & a welcome from Cap Police. He says he’s excited to be here & tells me he loves the WaPo news ap. (Thanks?)
Meanwhile
@SenMcSallyAZ
has yet to concede she lost SIX DAYs later...
McCarthy has a problem: KEN BUCK just told us that he told McCarthy he needs to cut a deal or step aside & let people like STEVE SCALISE try
And he thinks this needs to happen TODAY
If he doesn’t, Buck indicated he may no longer support for McCarthy, another possible vote lost
NEW: Trump’s vow to block “all the subpoenas” has triggered a new push to beginning impeachment in House
A new crop of more mainstream-type Dems is joining the liberals to say maybe it’s time to start proceedings
W/
@mikedebonis
1)
@seungminkim
& i stand by our story
2) I thought WH was boycotting WaPo?
3) & MOST important: Trump is opening the door to a change from “no quid pro quo” to “it doesn’t matter, there is nothing wrong with that.” —>
False stories are being reported that a few Republican Senators are saying that President Trump may have done a quid pro quo, but it doesn’t matter, there is nothing wrong with that, it is not an impeachable event. Perhaps so, but read the transcript, there is no quid pro quo!
BREAKING/SCOOP: Meet the only sitting member of Congress who reached a sexual harassment settlement on the taxpayer dime using OOC-Treasury fund: Rep. Blake
@Farenthold
House Rs not happy w/this new WH immigration plan -> "This is the beginning of the end of the GOP majority in the House. In a year when the Democrats impeach Trump, we can point to this moment," one R on the call tells me.
DEMS just announced THREE more impeachment hearings for next week:
Tuesday: Jennifer Williams, Alexander Vindman, Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison
Wednesday: Gordon Sondland, Laura Cooper and David Hale
Thursday: Fiona Hill
.
@SpeakerPelosi
when asked abt GOP attacks on her, "I'm effective." And that's what happens when you're at the top, she says: "Once you’re in that arena you’ve gotta be prepared to take a punch; gotta be prepared to throw a punch too."
NUGGET: The Dem decision 2 retire “quid pro quo” & embrace “bribery” followed a DCCC study showing the word resonates more in battlegrounds
It’s also clearly stated in the Constitution as grounds 4 removing POTUS. Could we see it in impeachment articles?
SCOOP: WH officials tried to pressure ICE to release migrants into “sanctuary cities” to retaliate against President Trump’s political adversaries – including
@SpeakerPelosi
– during shutdown talks earlier this year.
A crazy read from me &
@NickMiroff
BREAKING:
@SpeakerPelosi
just asked to postpone the SOTU until after the shutdown. Dems don’t want to give Trump a platform to blame them for a crisis they believe he caused.
.
@SpeakerPelosi
is calling Trump's & the GOP's bluff.
This move to have the House vote officially on impeachment inquiry & make public their intention to open up the process is gonna cripple the GOP process arguments/complaints
ICE, to be clear, rejected this plan and even thought it was a joke when they first heard it, we’re told.
But Stephen Miller pushed the idea, sources tell me and
@NickMiroff
. ICE eventually had to ask their lawyers to make a legal justification for why this was not okay.
The idea was to punish Dems who stood in the way of immigrant appreciation in cities like San Fran but ALSO wreak havoc on Dems who wouldn’t relent on Trump detention bed demands, officials told us.
Two DHS folks took their concerns to Congress, blowing the whistle on the idea.
Pelosi, comparing Republicans now to the 1990s, says the GOP moved to impeaching Clinton "for being stupid" but now doesn't see what Trump did w/Ukraine as rising to the level of impeachment
Former
@SpeakerRyan
— who spent much of his speakership dodging Qs abt Trump scandals — is letting it rip on Trump in an interview with
@jonkarl
this morning on
@ThisWeekABC
: “With Trump, we lose.”
“I am a Never-Again-Trumper.”
JUST NOW: (wow) "I think it is time to send the impeachment to the Senate and let Mitch McConnell be responsible for the fairness of the trial. "
That is Dem Armed Services chair
@repadamsmith
on
@NewDay
. First chair to move to that position?
Gaetz was going nuts on Hunter's substance abuse issue ...
UNTIL, Hank Johnson hits back at Gaetz for DUI arrests. Wow. This was a moment...
"Pot calling the kettle black"
If this thing passes at noon, WOW. Democrats got nothing in this. Can someone please remind me why this happened to begin with? Wasn't it abt a DACA deal? There is no DACA deal
Man,
@Liz_Cheney
is
@GOPLeader
Kevin McCarthy's worst nightmare
He wanted to move on from 1/6.
She is gonna make sure EVERY stone is unturned.
And she has a TON of influence on where this panel goes now that he has kicked her off his team & raised her profile more
The
@WSJ
reminds us of our ignored fiscal responsibilities this a.m.: Interest payments alone on the $20t+ national debt --that NEITHER party seems to care abt anymore -- will eclipse annual Medicaid costs by 2020 & surpass military spending by 2023
Pelosi's advice to House Dems in caucus this morning, post-Mueller: "Be calm. Take a deep breath. Don’t become like them. (The Republicans.) We have to handle this handle this professionally, officially, patriotically, strategically.
Let’s just get the goods."
SUNDAY A1:
@SpeakerPelosi
often says “no one is above the law”
But House Dems worry their oversight is revealing that, in fact, someone is: Trump
Ukraine call shows a POTUS convinced he’s invincible. W/
@PhilipRucker
@costareports
INTRIGUING: Pelosi has kicked out staff and is making members check cell phones going into caucus today so she can have a candid convo with her members on impeachment.
At the door, a massive sign reads “NO ENTRANCE” and aides are making sure no one but lawmakers get through.
We can confirm this. FIONA HILL testified that JOHN BOLTON had a big problem with Giuliani's Ukraine campaign and told her to raise it with White House lawyers.
Lawmakers already talking abt Bolton needing to come testify.
More w/
@karoun
@shaneharris
Breaking: Bolton instructed aide to report Giuliani pressure campaign to White House lawyer. “I am not part of whatever drug deal Rudy and Mulvaney are cooking up,” Bolton said, according to testimony to House investigators.
@npfandos
NEW: Some Senate Dems privately mull Biden-for-Bolton trade in impeachment trial, w/ interest in calling the GOP's bluff on "witness reciprocity" percolating behind closed doors.
Me &
@costareports
@seungminkim
House Republicans cant trust a thing this guy says! Goodlatte told conference YESTERDAY that Trump told him to tell them to pass the compromise bill. What a total disaster.
BREAKING: Rep Tom Garrett announces his retirement after Politico exposes him & his wife’s alleged mistreatment of staff. He cites alcoholism, but that was just one of MANY problems in that office. Here is our original story. Latest coming soon ->
I’m deleting a tweeting tonight that is being misinterpreted by some as an endorsement of some kind. To be absolutely clear, we at the Post are merely glad we are getting a break for the holidays after a long 3 months. I will retweet the group photo w/ a better caption !
NEW: Ex-Pompeo adviser told lawmakers today he quit last week bc “I was disturbed by the implication that foreign governments were being approached to procure negative information on political opponents”
@John_Hudson
@CMorelloWP
So at this point, House Republicans are literally ungovernable.
Enough of them continue to prioritize revenge against their political enemies & enhancing their own power over the good of their own party.
Really something.
SCOOP:
@GovRonDeSantis
is setting himself up to be Trump's successor.
But he has a bit of problem: a bunch of ex-staffers who say he's a bad boss & consultants who say they won't work w/him again.
w/
@tarapalmeri
in
@playbookdc
GET IN THE ROOM:
@SpeakerPelosi
's own leadership team tonight rebelled against her on impeachment.
During a closed door meeting, at least five members of her leadership team pushed her to bless an impeachment inquiry against Trump.
w/
@mikedebonis
.
@LindseyGrahamSC
suggests he wants the WH to give the Senate the BOLTON manuscript so he can decide if Bolton needs to testify: “I want to see the manuscript... or have somebody tell us what’s in the manuscript... apparently the White House has it. You can ask for it.”
@DanaBashCNN
on TV just now says it's the REPUBLICAN WOMEN who have shown real backbone to stand up in all of this.
1:
@Liz_Cheney
votes to impeach
2: Now
@HerreraBeutler
tells her McCarthy story & changes the entire game
BIG NEWS:
@NancyPelosi
is on the verge of a deal w/the rebel group that once vowed to oust her. The deal will deliver her at least FIVE new votes & will likely give her the final
#s
she needs to win the gavel.
@heatherscope
&
@BresPolitico
& me
ANOTHER
@NancyPelosi
critic CAVES: Rep. Brian Higgins, who was one of the 16 who signed that letter vowing to vote against Pelosi on the House floor. Wow. It's only been two weeks of Pelosi's whipping campaign!
Yikes — A Hill reporter witnessed
@RepTedYoho
make an aggressive verbal attack on
@AOC
on the Capitol Steps calling her an “effing b—-“ (only not censored) for her position on policing in NY
->
Quite amazing. A seismic shift in leverage. Before just two hours ago, most Rs and even Ds privately thought Schumer & Pelosi would send the articles w/ no witness agreement since McConnell had the upper-hand. BOlton just changed all that.
The President & Sen. McConnell have run out of excuses. They must allow key witnesses to testify, and produce the documents Trump has blocked, so Americans can see the facts for themselves.
The Senate cannot be complicit in the President's cover-up.
#DefendOurDemocracy
SCOOP w/ the great
@nakashimae
@gregpmiller
@karoun
Dems eager 2 protect whistleblower considering OFF-HILL interview in secret location, obscuring person's appearance & voice — all bc they say they can't trust Trump allies not to leak his identity
NEW: House GOP are looking to isolate Trump from the Ukraine controversy, in part by raising doubts abt the motives of his deputies.
Expect them to suggest Sondland, Giuliani, maybe even their old colleague Mulvaney, were freelancing
W/
@karoun