Trump impeachment news: President considers testifying over Ukraine scandal, as Supreme Court puts hold on release of his tax returns
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has said he is “strongly considering” taking up House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation for him to testify to the impeachment inquiry and “speak all the truth he wants”, a welcome also extended by Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, who said the president should give his side of the story on Ukraine rather than grumble about the proceedings on Twitter.
The White House has meanwhile scrambled to deny speculation the Mr Trump’s sudden visit to a Maryland hospital on Saturday for a medical check-up was initiated in response to a more serious health complaint.
The president otherwise spent his weekend hitting out at Fox News host Chris Wallace over his treatment of GOP representative Steve Scalise, as his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney in turn comes under fire from House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff for snubbing a subpoena and obstructing the investigation.
Meanwhile, secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US was changing decades-old policy identifying Israeli settlements as illegal under international law, drawing criticism from human rights activists.
Mr Pompeo also refused to defend former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, after she was attacked by Mr Trump during her testimony last week.
We are expecting a packed week of impeachment hearings this week, with testimony Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Democrats will meanwhile hold their next debate on Wednesday in Georgia.
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Trump slams 'great fraud being played out against the American people'
The president's first tweets of the day are a retweet of Steve Scalise, whose defence he came to yesterday, and an insistence that the Republican Party has never been "so united as it is now".
He again characterises the impeachment inquiry as "a great fraud being played out against the American people by the Fake News Media & their partner, the Do Nothing Democrats" and libels Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff with a vague corruption allegation.
Fox Business host calls Trump 'big dumb baby'
As we saw, Trump was angered by Chris Wallace's performance yesterday.
We can only assume he missed this clip of Fox Business host Lisa Kennedy denouncing his Twitter attack on Marie Yovanovitch on Friday, saying his tweets make him sound like "a big dumb baby".
President 'backs Stephen Miller' amid accusations of racist ideology
Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, the man behind many of the administration's most despicable "zero tolerance" anti-immigration measures, reportedly continues to enjoy the backing of the president after the South Poverty Law Center reported the content of some 900 leaked emails he sent to Breitbart News between 2015 and 2016, in which Miller encourages the right-wing site to push stories pressing a white nationalist agenda.
Here's more from Chris Riotta.
President accused of setting 'harmful' precedent by pardoning military service personnel accused of war crimes
The president pardoned three US servicemen accused of war crimes on Friday, a popular gesture that many in military legal circles privately fear could be "institutionally harmful".
Trump backs away from flavoured e-cigarette ban over 2020 fears
Trump has rolled back a proposed ban on flavoured e-cigarettes over fears of damaging his re-election chances.
Under pressure from advisors and lobbyists, the president was persuaded against moving forward with plans to tackle America’s youth vaping crisis on the grounds there could be a backlash from voters in crucial battleground states, The Washington Post reports.
A loss of jobs tied to the ban could affect his popularity, as well as America’s economic growth, The Post adds, two factors of which Trump is keenly aware.
Sam Lovett reports.
Conservative talk radio host sacked for criticising Trump
Colorado talk radio host Craig Silverman lost his job mid-way through a segment of his own show on Saturday criticising the president. "You're done," his boss at KNUS told him.
A Trump supporter in 2016, Silverman “stepped back off the Trump train” and rebranded his show as the “Island of Independence” after becoming dismayed by the reality TV star and real estate mogul's performance in the Oval Office.
Trump will 'strongly consider' testifying to impeachment inquiry
Well this is unexpected. Trump is now saying he will "strongly consider" taking up Speaker Pelosi's offer to testify before the impeachment inquiry.
Whether he means it or is just attempting to lead the conversation away from his health is another matter.
Here's Phil Thomas's report.
Minimal public appearances scheduled for Trump after sudden medical exam
Definite Death of Stalin vibes about the president's currently rather barren schedule, although it should be hastily reiterated that the White House insists he remains in rude health.
Our man in DC, Andrew Feinberg, has this observation:
"A good way to gauge how well (or poorly) folks in the Trump White House think things are going is to check the driveway for cameras in the morning.
"The lack thereof [pictured below] is a sign that no one is willing to go on TV from the North Lawn to speak for the president (and speak to reporters afterwards) on a day when he has zero public events scheduled and questions about his heath are swirling after that unscheduled visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center."
(Andrew Feinberg)
Pardoned soldier offers warning to Trump
Lieutenant Clint Lorance, pardoned by Trump on Friday and released from military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after serving six years following his conviction for committing a war crime, has been on Fox and Friends this morning.
He gave a heartfelt thanks to the president but said he needs more people "watching his back".
Impeachment inquiry public hearings: Week Two
Struggling to keep track of the impeachment inquiry? This is who's on the menu:
- Tuesday morning (9am EST/2pm GMT): Lt Col Alexander Vindman, Ukraine expert on National Security Council (NSC), and Jennifer Williams, aide to vice president Mike Pence
- Tuesday afternoon (2.30pm EST/7.30pm GMT): Kurt Volker, ex-Ukraine special envoy, and Tim Morrison, ex-NSC aide
- Wednesday morning (9am EST/2pm GMT): Gordon Sondland, US ambassador to EU
- Wednesday afternoon (2.30pm EST/7.30pm GMT): Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary to the Defence Department, and David Hale, under secretary of state for political affairs at the State Department
- Thursday morning (9am EST/2pm GMT): Fiona Hill, ex-Russia expert at NSC
Gordon Sondland (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty)
Currently, assuming Trump isn't serious, that is all the testimony the House investigators plan to hear, which would mean the House Intelligence Committee moving on to draw up its report, before passing it on to the Judiciary Committee to assess the conclusions and recommendations of Adam Schiff's team.
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