HERE'S THE DEAL
IMPEACHMENT EDITION

Note: We are resending today’s Brief due to a glitch which mistakenly resent the opening lines from Wednesday’s edition. 

Happy Friday everyone.  

Impeachment has entered a new phase. The House of Representatives now has a framework for its process, if not a clear schedule for when each step will happen. And judges in federal court are hearing cases related directly to the probe.

Two days with three witnesses: Tim Morrison, Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson

• Testimony supporting the president. Tim Morrison, a Russia specialist at the National Security Council, testified yesterday that he did not see anything illegal in the president’s July call with Ukraine President Zelensky.  And he stated that he did not believe the transcript of the call left out any critical information.

• Potentially damaging to the president. At the same time, Morrison corroborated earlier testimony that Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the E.U., tied aid money for Ukraine to a demand that the country investigate a company associated with Hunter Biden. Morrison said he was worried about the political and diplomatic repercussions if that plan became public.

• Connection to a former congressman. Wednesday, former National Security Council staffer Catherine Croft testified that lobbyist and former Republican Congressman Bob Livingston called her multiple times to push for the removal of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. (Yovanovitch was later removed.)

• A picture of conflicting policies.  Also Wednesday, Christopher Anderson, who held Ms. Croft’s position before her, testified that while career officials wanted to increase support of Ukraine, the president’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, pushed for  less engagement with the country. 

Trump nominee confirms Guiliani role, seems to counter White House narratives

• John Sullivan, who has been nominated to be U.S. ambassador to Russia, testified at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. He is currently the deputy secretary of state.

• He told senators that Giuliani campaigned to oust then-ambassador Yovanovich, confirming her testimony earlier this month. Sullivan described Yovanovich as serving “admirably and capably.”

• Sullivan seemed to criticize the president’s request for a Ukrainian investigation into the Biden family, saying, “soliciting investigations into a domestic political opponent—I don't think that would be in accord with our values.”

Report: Key pieces were left out of Ukraine transcript

• The New York Times and others reported that Alexander Vindman, currently the top Ukraine staffer on the National Security Council, noticed that the White House omitted some notable words in its transcript of the call between Presidents Trump and Zelensky in July  -- including mention of Joe Biden and the energy company paying his son.

House approves impeachment rules

• The House of Representatives passed a resolution yesterday establishing a framework for an impeachment process. The measure passed largely along partisan lines 232-196, with two Democrats joining Republicans.

Action in court between the White House and Congress

• A federal judge seemed skeptical yesterday of the Department of Justice’s argument that the president and his White House staff have total immunity from House subpoenas.  Judge Kentaji Jackson is determining whether former White House counsel Don McGahn must testify and said she plans to rule in the coming weeks. McGahn is a key witness regarding allegations in the Mueller Report.

• In a separate case, another federal judge set a December date to hear arguments over whether Charles Kupperman, a potential witness in the whistleblower case, should comply with a House subpoena to testify or follow a White House order that they refuse.

President Trump on offense

• The Trump campaign released a new ad attacking Democrats for launching impeachment and what it called “phony investigations.” The 30-second spot ran during the World Series, a move one Democratic strategist called “unprecedented” in the year ahead of an election.

• At the same time, the president pushed Republicans to address the substance of impeachment instead of just criticizing the process.