The Quinnipiac poll on impeachment showsRepublicansare clearly opposed to the impeachment inquiry againstTrump, contradicting the results of the Washington Post-Schar School poll released earlier today.
According toQuinnipiac, 88 percent of Republicans consider HouseDemocrats‘inquiry to be a “witch hunt,” compared to just 8 percent who view it as a legitimate investigation.
In comparison, thePost pollfound that almost 3 in 10 Republicans supported the impeachment inquiry, with almost a fifth of Republicans saying they would back removing Trump from office.
White House official who heard Ukraine call described it as ‘crazy,’ according to whistleblower
The whistleblower who raised concerns aboutTrump‘s call with the Ukrainian president wrote in a memo that a White House official described the conversation as “crazy” and “frightening.”
ABC Newsreports:
ABC News has learned that the two-page memo, written by the whistleblower a day after Trump’s call, suggests that at least one close aide to the president feared that Trump’s own words in the call were damning. …
The notes were based on a brief conversation between the whistleblower and the White House official and described ‘highlights’ from the president’s call. The document was later provided to the intelligence community’s inspector general, who reviewed the whistleblower’s complaint.
Yang qualifies for November debate
Tech entrepreneurAndrew Yanghas now qualified for the November debate thanks to a national Quinnipiac poll showing him attracting the support of 3 percent of Democratic voters.
New Quinnipiac NATIONAL poll (counts for the November debate)
Warren 29%
Biden 26%
Sanders 16%
Buttigieg 4%
Harris 3%
(Yang 3%) Everyone else at or below 2 percenthttps://t.co/2skJmUGBSD
Yang is the eighth Democratic candidate to qualify for the November debate – joiningJoe Biden,Elizabeth Warren,Bernie Sanders,Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Cory BookerandTom Steyer.
But what’s perhaps even more notable about the poll is that it shows Yang either tied with or pulling ahead of more establishment candidates like Harris, Booker andBeto O’Rourke.
Hillary Clintonresponded toTrump ‘s attempt to resurrect the issue of her private email server by joking that he should not “tempt” her to run for president again.
Hillary Clinton(@ HillaryClinton)
Don’t tempt me. Do your job.
(October 8, 2019
The former secretary of state and presidential candidate has already voiced support for House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry and has previously mocked Trump as a “corrupt human tornado.”
The White House is reaching out to external lawyers to discuss helping with the impeachment response, CNNreports.
According to CNN, one of the lawyers the White House has contacted isTrey Gowdy, the former Republican congressman who gained nationwide attention for his investigation into the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya.
It was that investigation that first uncovered evidence ofHillary Clinton‘s private email server, whichTrumpused to repeatedly attack the former secretary of state during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Supreme Court hears LGBT rights case
The Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case meant to determine whether the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBT people from discrimination in employment based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The APreports:
With the court’s four liberal justices likely to side with workers who were fired because of their sexual orientation or transgender status, the question in twohighly anticipated casesthat filled the courtroom was whether one of the court’s conservatives might join them.
JusticeNeil Gorsuch, PresidentDonald Trump‘s first Supreme Court appointee, said there are strong arguments favoring the LGBT workers. But he wondered whether the justices should take into account ‘the massive social upheaval’ that might follow a ruling in their favor.
Two other conservatives, Chief JusticeJohn Robertsand JusticeBrett Kavanaughdid not squarely indicate their views, although Roberts also questioned how employers with religious objections to hiring LGBT people might be affected by the outcome.
Bernie Sandersaddressed his recent heart attack , telling reporters in Vermont that he was “dumb” to ignore symptoms over the past two months as he campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Cara Korte(@ CaraKorte)
“I must confess that I was dumb,”@ BernieSanderstells reporters outside his home.
The senator says that while maintaining a rigorous camping scheduled, he bagan to feel particularly fatigued the past two months.
“I should have listened to those symptoms.”
(October 8, 2019
The heart attack, which Sanders did not disclose for almost three days, has raised questions about whether the Vermont senator will continue with his presidential bid.
But so far, Sanders has shown no sign of calling it quits,telling staffersin a phone call he would use the experience to emphasize the principles of his candidacy .
Almost immediately afterTrumpconcluded his call with the Ukrainian president, White House aides rushed to contain the potential damage of his comments, according to CNN.
CNNreports:
The scramble and fallout from the call, described by six people familiar with it, parallels and expands upon details described in the whistleblower complaint.
The anxiety and internal concern reflect a phone conversation that deeply troubled national security professionals, even as Trump now insists there was nothing wrong with how he conducted himself. And it shows an ultimately unsuccessful effort to contain the tumult by the administration’s lawyers.
At least one National Security Council official alerted the White House’s national security lawyers about the concerns, three sources familiar with the matter said, a detail that had not been previously disclosed. Those same lawyers would later order the transcript of the call moved to a highly classified server typically reserved for code-word classified material.
Giuliani says he won’t testify before House investigators
Rudy Giulianisaid that he would not comply with a subpoena from the House intelligence committee. The president’s personal lawyer added that he “can’t imagine” otherTrump administrationofficials would do so either.
“The position I’m stating is now the position of the administration,” Giulianitoldthe Washington Post, claiming that the White House has written a letter asserting the congressional committee is illegitimate.
Giuliani said: “I wouldn’t testify in front of that committee until there is a vote of Congress and [chairmanAdam Schiff] is removed. …
“Let them hold me in contempt. We’ll go to court. We’ll challenge the contempt. ”
Giuliani was initially given until Oct. 15 to hand over materials relevant to the impeachment inquiry. If he does not comply,Democratswill likely argue that it is further evidence of obstruction by the Trump White House.
RepresentativeMark Pocan, a Democrat of Wisconsin and a co-chair of the progressive caucus, is now suggesting that whoever decided to block the testimony ofGordon Sondlandshould have their salary suspended.
Kyle Cheney(@ kyledcheney)
Rep. POCAN, a member of the Appropriations Committee, suggests that Pompeo – or whoever directed Sondland not to testify – should have their salary suspended until he does.pic.twitter.com/3E6YVCwNz8
Sondland said that the State Department had “directed” him not to appear before Congress, butTrumpappeared to take responsibility for the decision in a morning tweet.
Donald J. Trump(@ realDonaldTrump)
I would love to send Ambassador Sondland , a really good man and great American, to testify, but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court, where Republican’s rights have been taken away, and true facts are not allowed out for the public ….
Of course, Trump has donated his government salary every quarter since taking office, so Pocan’s suggestion may not carry the same weight with him.
The Senate intelligence committee also interestingly concluded that African Americans were targeted by Russian trolls more than any other demographic in the 2016 election.
The panel’sbipartisan reportreads: “The Committee found that no single group of Americans was targeted by IRA information operatives more than African-Americans. By far, race and related issues were the preferred target of the information warfare campaign designed to divide the country in 2016. ”
And the committee noted that the Kremlin actually escalated its disinformation campaign after the 2016 election concluded.
The report says: “The data reveal increases in IRA activity across multiple social media platforms, post-Election Day 2016: Instagram activity increased 238 percent, Facebook increased 59 percent, Twitter increased 52 percent, and YouTube citations went up by 84 percent. ”
Senate committee releases report affirming Russia sought to help Trump
The Senate intelligence committee has released its bipartisan report onRussia‘s use of social media to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, which concludes that the Kremlin sought to helpTrump‘s campaign by spreading disinformation.
The reportreads: “The Committee found, that the IRA sought to influence the 2016 US presidential election by harmingHillary Clinton‘s chances of success and supporting Donald Trump at the direction of the Kremlin. ”
The committee also concluded that Russian operatives similarly targeted Republican presidential candidates, includingMarco RubioandJeb Bush.
The lawmakers recommended that “social media companies work to facilitate greater information sharing between the public and private sector” and specifically called on the Executive Branch to “reinforce with the public the danger of attempted foreign interference in the 2020 election. ”
That last point implicitly criticizes the president, who has repeatedly cast doubt on the intelligence community’s finding that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to Trump’s benefit.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The White House has blockedGordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU , from testifying before three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry.
- House Democratic leaders have now said they will subpoena Sondland for his testimony and documents that are relevant to the Ukraine controversy.
- The Senate judiciary committee has invitedRudy Giulianito appear before the panel, but it’s unclear whether the president’s personal lawyer will accept the offer.
- A new poll found that nearly 6 in 10 Americans now support House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, and almost half of the country backs removingTrumpfrom office.
The blog will have more of the latest impeachment news, so stay tuned .
Zach Montellaro(@ ZachMontellaro)
New November debate qualifying poll coming out in a couple hours or so. Yang is the only candidates who is within one poll of qualifyinghttps: // t .co / hDziajUSgu
Seven Democratic presidential candidates have qualified for the debate so far:Joe Biden,Elizabeth Warren,Bernie Sanders,Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Cory BookerandTom Steyer.
No other candidate is close to qualifying, withBeto O’RourkeandAmy Klobucharboth still needing three more polls to make the cut.
It’s quite possible the November event will feature a significantly smaller field of candidates than the October debate, which is taking place in Ohio next week. Twelve candidates have qualified for that face-off.
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