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Matt Gaetz Says Storming Impeachment Hearings was Like ‘300’ — Congressman Matt Gaetz sure is feeling himself after leading the blitz of House Republicans into private impeachment hearings — delaying them for hours — and he's glowing about scoring brownie points with POTUS.
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UPI
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Here's why the Matt Gaetz sit-in stunt was particularly weird — Allies of President Trump are still trying to get their sea legs in response to the still-expanding scandal involving Trump's efforts to compel Ukraine to launch investigations helpful to him.
Discussion:
Congressman Matt Gaetz, The Hill, The Mahablog and emptywheel


Republicans Try To Storm Impeachment Room, Break Rules In Process — Lawmakers bumrushed a secure room while improperly carrying their cell phones. — WASHINGTON ― In the latest attempts to make a circus out of the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into President Donald Trump's dealings …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and The Moderate Voice


Republicans Stormed Into The Impeachment Investigation's Secure Room, And It Was Absolute Madness
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Washington Post, Law & Crime, Bloomberg, Vox, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, Slate, The Atlantic, The Hill, Deadline and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »


House Republicans Literally Storm the Impeachment Hearings
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The Independent, Balloon Juice, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Washington Examiner, Politico, Vox, Contemptor, Political Wire and Washington Press


Rudy Giuliani is looking for a defense attorney, sources say — (CNN)Rudy Giuliani has been approaching defense attorneys for possible representation, according to three sources familiar with the matter. — The move by Giuliani, who is President Donald Trump's personal attorney …
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How two businessmen hustled to profit from access to Rudy Giuliani and the Trump administration — Washington (CNN)Long before they burst onto the national scene with their high-profile arrests at Dulles International Airport earlier this month, Soviet-born businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman …


Indicted Giuliani Associate Ties Case to Trump — The connection was made as two associates of Rudolph W. Giuliani pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan. — One of the two indicted associates of President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, on Wednesday tied the case …
Discussion:
Law & Crime, The Week, Axios, VICE, Mother Jones, BuzzFeed News, Hullabaloo, The Daily Beast, News & Guts Media and CNN


U.S. ambassador to E.U. ‘does not recall’ threatening Ukraine over funding, attorney says — House Democrats say testimony provided Tuesday by William B. Taylor Jr., the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, could prove devastating to President Trump, showing he had his E.U. ambassador attempt to extort Ukraine using taxpayer money.
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Trump Pressed Ukraine's President to Act Out a Fake News Script, Live on CNN
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Washington Post, FactCheck.org and USA Today

House Democrats look to take impeachment probe public as soon as mid-November
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The Hill, The Root and Balloon Juice

Pompeo Gets Drawn Deeper—Way Deeper—Into the Ukraine Scandal
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Associated Press and Axios

Judge orders State Department to produce Ukraine documents
Discussion:
Occupy Democrats, ABC News and UPI

Sondland seeks to align himself with Taylor after bombshell testimony
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New York Times, Washington Press, Raw Story, The Guardian and Just Security

State Dept. ordered to turn over Ukraine documents
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RedState


Trump's War on the ‘Deep State’ Turns Against Him — The impeachment inquiry is in some ways the culmination of a battle between the president and the government institutions he distrusted and disparaged. — WASHINGTON — Nameless, faceless and voiceless, the C.I.A. officer who first triggered …
Discussion:
The Atlantic
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White House Aides Feared That Trump Had Another Ukraine Back Channel — Senior national security officials grew concerned about Kash Patel, a colleague who had previously been involved in Republicans' efforts to undermine the Russia investigation. — WASHINGTON — Senior White House officials suspected …
Discussion:
Washington Press, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Nunes protégé fed Ukraine info to Trump
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The Hill, Associated Press, CANNONFIRE, Washington Times and Fortune


Cornyn: Not a bad idea to get U.S. troops out of the way if Turkey planned to ‘ethnically cleanse the Kurds’ — The Texas Republican isn't happy about the abrupt U.S. withdrawal but lauded Trump's move, even if it left Kurdish allies unprotected. — WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. John Cornyn lauded …
Discussion:
spiked


Rep. Katie Hill says she had ‘inappropriate’ relationship with campaign staffer and is under House investigation — Rep. Katie Hill (D-Santa Clarita) is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee after allegations that she engaged in an affair with a congressional aide were made public last week.
Discussion:
House Committee on Ethics and Axios
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Rep Katie Hill Flees Reporters' Questions, Calls Police On Reporter
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HuffPost, Breitbart and New York Post

House Ethics Committee launches inquiry into Rep. Katie Hill after report of affair with staffer
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Breitbart, The Hill, The Lid, The Daily Caller and NBC News


No. 2 GOP senator: ‘Picture coming out of’ diplomat's testimony ‘not a good one’ — Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said on Wednesday that it was difficult to draw “hard, fast conclusions” from a top U.S. diplomat's closed-door testimony but that the “picture” from initial reports was “not a good one.”
Discussion:
Politico, Daily Kos and The Daily Beast
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UPDATED: Lindsey Graham clarifies describing GOP storming of closed-door deposition as ‘nuts’
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CNN, The Hill, Associated Press and twitchy.com

Republicans Grind Impeachment Inquiry to Halt as Picture Darkens for Trump
Discussion:
HuffPost, Axios and Law & Crime


MLB looking into longtime umpire Rob Drake's tweet — Longtime major league umpire Rob Drake tweeted that he planned to buy an assault rifle “because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL WAR!!! #MAGA2020”, according to a copy of the tweet obtained by ESPN.
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated, Law & Crime, New York Post and Mediaite


Italy Did Not Fuel U.S. Suspicion of Russian Meddling, Prime Minister Says — Casting holes in a Trump conspiracy theory, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte revealed details of two visits to Rome by Attorney General William P. Barr. — ROME — Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


If Republicans don't stand by Trump, they risk losing their base forever — The Republican Party risks exile for longer than it has endured in the modern era if, in the absence of incontrovertible evidence of actual “high crimes and misdemeanors,” it deserts President Trump during the campaign to remove him from office.


UN expert: Iran continues to execute children, has 90 on death row — Javaid Rehman says 7 minors were put to death last year and 2 so far this year; killings come despite human rights law prohibiting death penalty for anyone under age 18 — UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran executed seven child offenders …


Watch AOC ask Mark Zuckerberg if she can run fake Facebook ads, too — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) came prepared with questions for Mark Zuckerberg when he appeared on Capitol Hill on October 23, 2019. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images — Zuckerberg's answer on whether Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez …
Discussion:
C-SPAN.org, Axios, Washington Times and Breitbart


MSNBC announces four all-star female moderators for November debate — The two-hour Democratic face off will take place on Nov. 20 in Georgia. — The fifth Democratic presidential primary debate in Georgia will have four moderators, MSNBC announced on Wednesday — and all of them are women.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, HuffPost and Mediaite


Exclusive: Trump Wants To Pick Cuccinelli For DHS, But Worries Senate Would Balk — President Trump has told Republican allies in the Senate that he would like to nominate immigration hard-liner Ken Cuccinelli as his next Homeland Security secretary, but has said he does not believe Republican Senate leaders …


Dropshipping journalism — No one working at Newsweek can tell me why it still exists — On March 20, Nancy Cooper, the editor in chief of Newsweek, sent an email to her editorial staff. The subject was “What is a Newsweek story?”—an odd question at an eighty-six-year-old newsmagazine once considered …


Scoop: Cyber memo warns of new risks to White House network — An internal memo on cybersecurity, obtained by Axios, warns that “the White House is posturing itself to be electronically compromised once again.” — The state of play: That's after at least a dozen top- or high-level officials …
Discussion:
emptywheel and The Hill, more at Techmeme »


Who is William Taylor? Impeachment Star Witness Has Long Relationship with Burisma-Backed Think Tank — U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor, who provided key testimony to the Democrats' controversial impeachment inquiry yesterday, has evidenced a close relationship with the Atlantic Council think tank …
Discussion:
Liberty Unyielding, The American Spectator, Fox News, CBS News and CNN