Welcome to Wednesday, November 20th, clubs and aces...

During his testimony yesterday, Former National Security Council aide Tim Morrison said one of his colleagues coined the term "the Gordon problem" - a reference to today's star testifier, Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland.

Sondland had testified that congressionally-approved military aid to Ukraine was not contingent on Kiev publicly announcing they were investigating Joe and Hunter Biden and the 2016 election. However, Sondland later revised his testimony, saying:

"I now recall speaking individually with [Ukrainian President Zelensky’s personal aide], where I said resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks."
The hotelier spoke with Trump a day after his July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, telling the president that Zelenskiy had agreed to carry out investigations desired by Trump and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

The question for today's hearing: Will Sondland prove a boon or bust for Trump?

Earlier this year, Trump called Sondland - a Republican mega-donor - a "great American." After he revised his testimony, however, Trump told reporters, "I hardly know the gentleman."

How do you feel about Sondland's hearing?

On the Radar

November Democratic Debate

Tonight, 10 contenders for the 2020 Democratic nomination take the stage in Atlanta.

How do you feel about the lineup?

 Sponsored Content

Democracy and Human Rights in China

The Senate on Tuesday passed the Hong Kong Human Rights & Democracy Act by unanimous consent, setting up a potential House vote this week amid increasing violence targeting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

The bill’s passage comes after its lead sponsors, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), worked with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to put it on the “hotline” for review by fellow senators to ensure there would be no objections to its passage by unanimous consent. 

Rubio said the bill’s passage will help in “holding accountable those Chinese and Hong Kong government officials responsible for Hong Kong’s eroding autonomy and human rights violations.” Cardin added that as the situation deteriorates, “China must understand that the United States of America is committed to the promised freedom and autonomy for Hong Kong.”

Do you support this bill to protect democracy & human rights in Hong Kong?

Under the Radar

Deadly Mass Protests in Iran

A sudden hike in gasoline prices has led to mass anti-government protests in Iran, resulting in multiple deaths, hundreds injured, and over 1,000 arrests. In response, Tehran has imposed an almost complete nationwide internet blackout.

Activists on social media are calling on the U.S. to provide Iran with internet access.

 “This is the most wide-scale internet shutdown that we’ve seen in Iran," said Adrian Shahbaz of Freedom House, a group tracking internet censorship. "It’s surprising to see the Iranian authorities block all internet connections rather than only international internet connections, because the latter is a tactic that they’ve used in the past."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted out a message of support to the Iranian citizens: "As I said to the people of Iran almost a year and a half ago: The United States is with you."

Should the U.S. aid anti-government protests in Iran?

House Passes Short-Term Funding Bill 

The House voted 231-192 on Tuesday to pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through December 20th and avoid a partial government shutdown.

In addition to averting a shutdown & extending expiring programs before lawmakers’ Thanksgiving recess amid the Capitol’s focus on the impeachment inquiry; the bill would reauthorize surveillance provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) from December 15, 2019, to March 15, 2020, to prevent them from lapsing.

Do you support the short-term funding & surveillance extension bill?

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Does the U.S. Need to Stop the Domestic Shark Fin Trade?