Impeachment inquiry week in review: Sept. 29 thru Oct. 6
The Democratically-controlled House of Representatives continued the impeachment inquiry this week into a whistleblower’s allegation that President Donald Trump asked the President of Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened.
SUNDAY, Sept. 29 — Trump tweeted that he wanted to meet the whistleblower.
MONDAY, Sept. 30 — Trump called out House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for paraphrasing him at a House Intelligence Committee hearing, saying Schiff “made up” his words; Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a staunch ally of the president, said he would have no choice under Senate rules but to take up Articles of Impeachment if they pass in the House; Trump tweeted remarks from a Texas Baptist minister who warned of “a Civil War-like fracture in America,” if Trump is impeached which lead to criticism from Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger calling the comments “beyond repugnant”; White House officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on the phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy; Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who was also named in the whistleblower complaint, was subpoenaed along with three of his associates by three different House committees.
TUESDAY, Oct. 1 — The Justice Department said it sought help from Australia to investigate the origins of the Russia probe; in a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Pompeo wrote that Democrats are trying to “intimidate and bully” State Department employees; Zelenskiy said he never met Giuliani and no one ever explained to him why millions of dollars in U.S. military aid were delayed.
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 2 — Trump tweeted that he is the subject of a coup attempt; Pompeo confirmed that he was on the call between Trump and Zelenskiy and said that it was fully consistent with U.S. policy; Joe Biden directly addresses Trump’s accusations against him at a gun safety forum in Nevada, saying, “I’m not going anywhere.”
THURSDAY, Oct. 3 — Trump told reporters that Beijing should look at investments made by Joe Biden’s son Hunter; three House committees released text messages between former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Kurt Volker and other diplomats discussing setting up a meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy and investigating the Biden family on behalf of the president
FRIDAY, Oct. 4 — Democrats subpoenaed White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, for documents related to the president’s contact with Ukraine; the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Michael Atkinson spoke in closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence Committee; Trump reportedly told House Republicans that Energy Secretary Rick Perry set up the July phone call with Zelenskiy.
SATURDAY, Oct. Oct. 5 — Utah Republican Mitt Romney called Trump’s appeal to China and Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden “wrong and appalling”; Trump called Romney a “pompous ‘ass’” and tweeted the hashtag “#ImpeachMittRomney.”
SUNDAY, Oct. 6 — A second whistleblower with “first-hand knowledge of key events” came forward and said they could corroborate details of the first whistleblower complaint, according to the attorney who represents both whistleblowers.
THE WEEK AHEAD — Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union and Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to the Ukraine, are expected to testify before House lawmakers. Sondland was among the diplomats whose text messages were released Thursday.