The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry: Live updates – CNN International, CNN

A grand jury has subpoenaed former Republican Rep. Pete Sessionson matters connected to President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, two Giuliani associates’ dealings with Ukraine and efforts to remove the US ambassador to Ukraine, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Sessions’ subpoena suggests that investigators are looking to gather information on his interactions with Giuliani, as well as with associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — who were indicted for allegedly funneling foreign money into US elections — as the investigation into their Ukraine dealings charges forward.

What else you need to know:CNN has reported that prosecutors allege Parnas and Fruman asked Sessions to help get the US ambassador to Ukraine fired at the same time that they were committing to raise tens of thousands of dollars for Sessions’ reelection campaign. Parnas made their request to the congressman in part at the behest of one or more Ukraine government officials, the indictment states.

The subpoena to Sessions came in the last few days after the indictment against Parnas and Fruman was made public, according to the source and another source familiar with the matter.

) The second source refused to rule out that Sessions himself is not a target of the grand jury investigation, saying instead that the investigation has “not reached definitive conclusions.”

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Sessions had been subpoenaed.

The former senior adviser to Mike Pompeo has arrived on Capitol Hill for his behind closed-doors testimony in the impeachment inquiry.

McKinley is testifying less than a week after resigning from the State Department.

What we expect he’ll talk about:Michael McKinley will give an opening statement that will focus on the reasons for his resignation, which was primarily his concern that the Department’s leadership was not supporting the career foreign service, according to a source familiar.

As of now, McKinley does not plan to release his opening statement.

CNN has previously reported that McKinley was deeply concerned with the silence in the top ranks at State in not defending former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and it was one reason he resigned.

Former US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker just arrived at the Capitol this morning.

Volker is here this morning to review his testimony with his attorney, according to GOP sources.

Volker testified in front of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees on Oct. 3 in the impeachment inquiry.

More context:Volker told House investigatorsthat he urged Ukraine’s leadership not to interfere in US politics in a conversation thatfollowed the phone callbetween President Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, according to two sources familiar with the testimony.

Volker’stestimony behind closed doors seems to confirmthe whistleblower description in the complaintthat Volker and another US diplomat “provided advice to the Ukrainian leadership about how to ‘navigate’ the demands that the President made.”

Secre tary of Energy Rick Perry said he would “follow the lead” of his counsel on whether he will cooperate with the House subpoena for documents relating to Ukraine.

Appearing on Fox Business today, Perry said, “the House has sent a subpoena over for the records we have. Our general counsel and the White House counsel are going through the process right now. And I am going to follow the lead of my counsel on that. ”

Context:House Democratsissued a subpoenato Perry last Thursday for documents related to the Trump administration’s contacts with Ukraine as part of the ongoing House impeachment inquiry. The deadline for Perry to comply is Oct. 18.

The White House islaunching a new effort to slowthe speeding Democratic impeachment push, but its noncooperation strategy is being constantly thwarted by a daily stream of explosive secrets being spilled behind closed doors on Capitol Hill.

Current and former officials are painting an ever more damning picture of a wider than originally perceived scheme by President Trump and his crew to pressure Ukraine that they warned could amount to a trampling of US law.

Vice President Mike Pence launched a new effort Tuesday to bolster White House hopes of stalling the House inquiry long enough for Trump to turn public opinion against it. He refused to turn over documents related to Trump’s now notorious call with the President of Ukraine on July 25.

More context:White House officials are becoming increasingly frustrated at revelations from the closed-door hearings. Given that there is no presidential counsel in the room, they struggle to frame a defense, learning about almost daily bombshells only from news reports, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Fresh testimony in recent days has elevated the crisis for Trump. It has appeared to expose an off-the-books effort to perform an end run around US foreign policy officials with political appointees that predated his notorious phone call with the President of Ukraine in which he sought dirt on his possible 2020 foe Joe Biden.

On Monday, former senior White House Russia aide Fiona Hill testified that she had tried to raise the alarm about possibly illegal activity, and had been encouraged to do so by Bolton.

A senior State Department official, George Kent, testified Tuesday that he’d been told by a supervisor to lie low after complaining about Rudy Giuliani’s meddling in Ukraine, according to Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, who sits on the House Oversight Committee.

Michael McKinleyis set to testify as part of theHouse Democrats’ impeachment probe — less than a week after resigning as a senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

McKinley, a former US ambassador, will appear before the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees on today, two congressional sources told CNN Monday. The former State Department adviser is appearing for a transcribed interview, according to one of the sources, which indicates he is not coming under subpoena.

McKinley declined to comment ahead of his testimony.

CNN reported on Oct. 11 that the longtime diplomat was leaving his post as a top adviser to the secretary of state, a role he had held since May 2018. His resignation and congressional testimony come as the State Department faces increased pressure from House investigators and as numerous current and former State Department officials have expressed fear and outrage over the department’s handling of the Ukraine scandal.

McKinley was deeply concerned with the silence in the top ranks at State in not defending former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie ” Masha “Yovanovitch, and it was one reason he resigned, one source told CNN. The source said that McKinley had been mulling over the decision for a few weeks.

A former senior State Department official told CNN that McKinley was “known to be a man of integrity, a man of principle.”

Missed subpoena deadlines and a new testimony were among the key storylines from the impeachment inquiry yesterday.

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