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| The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates | The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates |
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| Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, refused to comply with a congressional subpoena for documents that could illuminate his efforts to get Ukraine’s president to search for dirt on the son of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a person familiar with the events. | Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, refused to comply with a congressional subpoena for documents that could illuminate his efforts to get Ukraine’s president to search for dirt on the son of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a person familiar with the events. |
| Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer in the matter, Jon Sale, sent a letter to House officials saying that Mr. Giuliani would not give them the documents they requested, according to the person. Mr. Sale’s only role was to guide Mr. Giuliani in this specific matter. | Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer in the matter, Jon Sale, sent a letter to House officials saying that Mr. Giuliani would not give them the documents they requested, according to the person. Mr. Sale’s only role was to guide Mr. Giuliani in this specific matter. |
| Mr. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, is likely to hire new lawyers as he faces an investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Prosecutors are looking at his involvement with two associates who were arrested last week on charges that included an alleged scheme to force out the United States ambassador to Ukraine. | |
| House Democratic leaders are gauging support in their caucus for a formal vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry, a striking reversal for Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would eliminate a key Republican talking point — that the inquiry is illegitimate because it was not authorized by the full House. | House Democratic leaders are gauging support in their caucus for a formal vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry, a striking reversal for Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would eliminate a key Republican talking point — that the inquiry is illegitimate because it was not authorized by the full House. |
| Ms. Pelosi would almost certainly have the votes to approve the inquiry, with 228 lawmakers — more than a majority of the House — now on the record supporting it. But the political risks could be substantial for some Democrats and Republicans whose constituents might interpret such a vote as a partisan attempt to undo the 2016 election. | Ms. Pelosi would almost certainly have the votes to approve the inquiry, with 228 lawmakers — more than a majority of the House — now on the record supporting it. But the political risks could be substantial for some Democrats and Republicans whose constituents might interpret such a vote as a partisan attempt to undo the 2016 election. |
| Representative Jim Clyburn, the Democratic whip, began reaching out to Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday, as they returned to Washington after a two-week recess, to explore the possibility. Mr. Clyburn is focusing on vulnerable members in politically competitive districts, some of whom do not relish the spectacle of casting a vote to go forward with the inquiry, and would much rather keep the focus on a domestic policy agenda including lowering prescription drug costs. | Representative Jim Clyburn, the Democratic whip, began reaching out to Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday, as they returned to Washington after a two-week recess, to explore the possibility. Mr. Clyburn is focusing on vulnerable members in politically competitive districts, some of whom do not relish the spectacle of casting a vote to go forward with the inquiry, and would much rather keep the focus on a domestic policy agenda including lowering prescription drug costs. |
| Ms. Pelosi, who announced the beginning of the inquiry three weeks ago, has resisted holding a formal vote, noting that neither the Constitution nor House rules require it. Republicans, however, say that precedent dictates such a vote, citing the formal House votes to open impeachment inquiries into Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton. | Ms. Pelosi, who announced the beginning of the inquiry three weeks ago, has resisted holding a formal vote, noting that neither the Constitution nor House rules require it. Republicans, however, say that precedent dictates such a vote, citing the formal House votes to open impeachment inquiries into Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton. |
| The White House has denounced the inquiry as illegitimate and unconstitutional, and Republican lawmakers have assailed it as “a kangaroo court.” Republican strategists say their aim is to keep the focus away from the substantive findings of the inquiry, while assailing the way Democrats are conducting it. | |
| The parade of administration witnesses heading to Capitol Hill to be deposed by House impeachment investigators continued on Tuesday, as George P. Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, was questioned behind closed doors. | |
| Mr. Kent, wearing a three-piece suit and bow tie, entered the obscured chambers of the House Intelligence Committee to kick off another jam-packed day for investigators. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to the Capitol from a two-week recess later Tuesday, and Democrats will huddle to compare notes on the direction of the inquiry. Separately, the committees leading the investigation had set a series of crucial deadlines on Tuesday for key witnesses and executive branch agencies, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to hand over relevant documents. | Mr. Kent, wearing a three-piece suit and bow tie, entered the obscured chambers of the House Intelligence Committee to kick off another jam-packed day for investigators. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to the Capitol from a two-week recess later Tuesday, and Democrats will huddle to compare notes on the direction of the inquiry. Separately, the committees leading the investigation had set a series of crucial deadlines on Tuesday for key witnesses and executive branch agencies, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to hand over relevant documents. |
| Mr. Kent, who appeared despite the White House’s declaration it would halt witnesses from cooperating with investigators, raised concerns with colleagues early this year about the pressure being directed at Ukraine by Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani to pursue investigations into Mr. Trump’s political rivals, according to people familiar with Mr. Kent’s warnings. | |
| As far back as March, they said, Mr. Kent was pointing to Mr. Giuliani’s role in what he called a “disinformation” campaign intended to use a Ukrainian prosecutor to smear targets of the president. Those included former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Marie L. Yovanovitch, then the United States ambassador to Ukraine, and Ukrainians who disseminated damaging information during the 2016 campaign about Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. | As far back as March, they said, Mr. Kent was pointing to Mr. Giuliani’s role in what he called a “disinformation” campaign intended to use a Ukrainian prosecutor to smear targets of the president. Those included former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Marie L. Yovanovitch, then the United States ambassador to Ukraine, and Ukrainians who disseminated damaging information during the 2016 campaign about Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. |
| Mr. Kent is one of a number of officials at the State Department and elsewhere in the administration who have been tapped by impeachment investigators to help corroborate the allegations in an intelligence whistle-blower’s complaint that said the president abused his power to enlist a foreign power to interfere on his behalf in the 2020 elections. | Mr. Kent is one of a number of officials at the State Department and elsewhere in the administration who have been tapped by impeachment investigators to help corroborate the allegations in an intelligence whistle-blower’s complaint that said the president abused his power to enlist a foreign power to interfere on his behalf in the 2020 elections. |
| The effort to pressure Ukraine for political help provoked a heated confrontation inside the White House last summer that so alarmed John R. Bolton, then the national security adviser, that he told an aide to alert White House lawyers, House investigators were told on Monday. | The effort to pressure Ukraine for political help provoked a heated confrontation inside the White House last summer that so alarmed John R. Bolton, then the national security adviser, that he told an aide to alert White House lawyers, House investigators were told on Monday. |
| Mr. Bolton got into a tense exchange on July 10 with Gordon D. Sondland, the Trump donor turned ambassador to the European Union, who was working with Mr. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, to press Ukraine to investigate Democrats, according to three people who heard the testimony. | |
| The aide, Fiona Hill, testified that Mr. Bolton told her to notify the chief lawyer for the National Security Council about a rogue effort by Mr. Sondland, Mr. Giuliani and Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, according to the people familiar with the testimony. | The aide, Fiona Hill, testified that Mr. Bolton told her to notify the chief lawyer for the National Security Council about a rogue effort by Mr. Sondland, Mr. Giuliani and Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, according to the people familiar with the testimony. |
| “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up,” Mr. Bolton, a Yale-trained lawyer, told Ms. Hill to tell White House lawyers, according to two people at the deposition. (Another person in the room initially said Mr. Bolton referred to Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Mulvaney, but two others said he cited Mr. Sondland.) | “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up,” Mr. Bolton, a Yale-trained lawyer, told Ms. Hill to tell White House lawyers, according to two people at the deposition. (Another person in the room initially said Mr. Bolton referred to Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Mulvaney, but two others said he cited Mr. Sondland.) |
| — Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos | — Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos |
| Read more: Bolton Objected to Ukraine Pressure Campaign, Calling Giuliani ‘a Hand Grenade’ | Read more: Bolton Objected to Ukraine Pressure Campaign, Calling Giuliani ‘a Hand Grenade’ |
| Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son, said in an interview released on Tuesday that he probably would not have been named to the board of a foreign company if his last name weren’t Biden and acknowledged “poor judgment,” but he rejected suggestions by President Trump that he and his father had engaged in wrongdoing. | Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son, said in an interview released on Tuesday that he probably would not have been named to the board of a foreign company if his last name weren’t Biden and acknowledged “poor judgment,” but he rejected suggestions by President Trump that he and his father had engaged in wrongdoing. |
| “Did I make a mistake? Well maybe in the grand scheme of things, yeah,” Mr. Biden said in an interview with ABC News. “But did I make a mistake based upon some ethical lapse? Absolutely not.” | “Did I make a mistake? Well maybe in the grand scheme of things, yeah,” Mr. Biden said in an interview with ABC News. “But did I make a mistake based upon some ethical lapse? Absolutely not.” |
| “I don’t think that there’s a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn’t Biden,” he said. | “I don’t think that there’s a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn’t Biden,” he said. |
| Mr. Trump has seized on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China to initiate a series of unfounded attacks against the former vice president, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, over the past month. | Mr. Trump has seized on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China to initiate a series of unfounded attacks against the former vice president, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, over the past month. |
| The interview comes two days after the younger Mr. Biden pledged that he would not work for foreign-owned companies if his father became president, and just hours before the CNN/New York Times Democratic debate that will be held in central Ohio, an appearance that is critical to his father’s presidential hopes. | The interview comes two days after the younger Mr. Biden pledged that he would not work for foreign-owned companies if his father became president, and just hours before the CNN/New York Times Democratic debate that will be held in central Ohio, an appearance that is critical to his father’s presidential hopes. |
| — Katie Glueck and Stephanie Saul | — Katie Glueck and Stephanie Saul |
| Read on: Hunter Biden Admits to ‘Poor Judgment’ but Denies ‘Ethical Lapse’ in Work Overseas | Read on: Hunter Biden Admits to ‘Poor Judgment’ but Denies ‘Ethical Lapse’ in Work Overseas |
| President Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Here’s a timeline of events since January. | President Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Here’s a timeline of events since January. |
| A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint. | A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint. |
| Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment proceeding in response to the whistle-blower’s complaint. Here’s how the impeachment process works. | Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment proceeding in response to the whistle-blower’s complaint. Here’s how the impeachment process works. |
| House committees have issued subpoenas to the White House, the Defense Department, the budget office and other agencies for documents related to the impeachment investigation. Here’s the evidence that has been collected so far. | House committees have issued subpoenas to the White House, the Defense Department, the budget office and other agencies for documents related to the impeachment investigation. Here’s the evidence that has been collected so far. |