Trump news – live: Key impeachment witness gives 'extremely disturbing' testimony about Ukraine call

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Donald Trump mimics police killing Dayton mass shooter during speech

Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the US National Security Council, is testifying to the House impeachment inquiry over concerns he raised about Donald Trump’s 25 July phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky and the administration’s bid to pressure the country into investigating the son of domestic political rival Joe Biden.

The president has meanwhile taken to Twitter to join right-wing media pundits in questioning the patriotism and political loyalties of the decorated Iraq War veteran, branding Lieutenant Colonel Vindman a “Never Trumper”.

House Democrats announced on Monday they will hold a vote on taking the impeachment hearings public on Thursday in response to Republican criticism as Charles Kupperman, a former deputy to John Bolton, failed to appear on Capitol Hill to give a deposition of his own.

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Key Points

• Ukraine expert telling inquiry he sounded alarm over Zelensky call
• President attacks decorated war veteran as 'Never Trumper witness'
• Democrats to conduct formal vote on public leg of impeachment hearings
• Ex-John Bolton deputy Charles Kupperman fails to appear before inquiry
• White House denies World Series booing: 'There was some cheering as well'

[29 October 2019 12:25 · Joe Sommerlad]

After returning from Chicago, Trump and the first lady hosted Halloween early at the White House yesterday, which saw them handing out sweets to giddy trick-or-treaters in costumes while the Air Force Strolling Strings band played the theme from The Addams Family, a tune that felt strangely approprate for the hosts.

The event yielded some superbly surreal pictures.

(Michael Reynolds/EPA)

(Michael Reynolds/EPA)

(Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty)

(Michael Reynolds/EPA)

(Alex Brandon/AP)

(Alex Wong/Getty)

(Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty)

[29 October 2019 12:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

Thin gruel from Trump on Twitter so far today, pure anti-impeachment messaging that sees him appearing to suggest "Shifty Schiff" is in league with disloyal Republicans.

[29 October 2019 13:05 · Joe Sommerlad]

Two Republican senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine have refused to co-sponsor Senate Judicary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham's resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry.

"As awful as their process is, the formal impeachment inquiry lies in the House, and it’s not the Senate’s role to dictate to the House how to determine their own rules,” Murkowski said in a statement.

Collins meanwhile told Politico:

Just as I don’t like it when House members try to tell us to abolish the filibuster, I’m not sure it’s productive for the Senate to try to dictate to the House how to conduct the inquiry.

Utah senator Mitt Romney has also so far refused to sign on as a co-sponsor but hasn't ruled out doing so. 

Graham's resolution has been sent on to Roy Blount, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, who says he is waiting for the exact language of Pelosi's newly announced House vote to emerge before he acts, according to The Hill:

Let's see what she actually proposes. I read her letter and it could mean not very much, or maybe it will mean more than we're just going to formalise the unfair way we've been doing things.

[29 October 2019 13:25 · Joe Sommerlad]

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly appeared at the Sea Island Summit political conference in Georgia over the weeked, hosted by The Washington Examiner, and revealed that he had warned the president not to hire a "yes man" as his replacement when he left office on 2 January, predicting that, if he did so, he would be impeached:

I said, whatever you do - and we were still in the process of trying to find someone to take my place - I said whatever you do, don't hire a 'yes man', someone who won't tell you the truth. Don't do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached.

After his successor Mick Mulvaney's devastating quid pro quo gaffe, Kelly looks like a prophet.

The White House has been keen to shut this line down, however, with Trump issuing a statement to CNN denying it was ever said: 

John Kelly never said that, he never said anything like that. If he would have said that I would have thrown him out of the office. He just wants to come back into the action like everybody else does.

Press secretary Stephanie Grisham went ever further - and deeper into self-parody than ever before:

I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great president.

[29 October 2019 13:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

A controversial migrant detention centre in Homestead, Florida, that had been accused of holding children in "prison like conditions" has finally been shut down by the Trump administration.   

Clark Mindock has the full story.

[29 October 2019 14:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Rudy Giuliani is still refusing to lie low and is currently being ridiculed for talking about [Osama] "Ben Laden" in a tweet, not nailing the spelling despite having been mayor of New York City during 9/11.

[29 October 2019 14:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

In the last hour, Trump has attempted to discredit Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, inflated his own popularity among the GOP, claimed the death of al-Baghdadi's would-be successor Abu Hassan al-Muhajir and misspelled the name of California congressman and dairy farmer Devin Nunes while shilling a new conspiracy theory booklet ahead of the Christmas rush.

Here's more on the death of al-Muhajir, who was killed late on Sunday near Jarablus, a town about 140km northeast of Barisha in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

[29 October 2019 14:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump's visit to Chicago on Monday did not go down at all well with the city's Democratic mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has denounced his "insulting, ignorant buffoonery".

"President Trump knows as much about policing as he does running a fair and transparent government," she says (ooof!) and backs up her embattled police superintendent Eddie Johnson.

He really has a nack for infuriating mayors doesn't he? From Nan Whaley in Dayton to Jacob Frey in Minneapolis and our own dear Sadiq Khan in London, he's annoyed them all.

[29 October 2019 14:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

The House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry are seeking the testimony of Robert Blair, senior adviser to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, according to CNN.

It is not clear at present with Blair will appear voluntarily or whether a subpoena will have to be issued but he is a person of interest to Schiff's team as he was on the Zelensky call.

Blair previously served as associate director for national security programs in the Office of Management and Budget, and followed Mulvaney to the West Wing in January this year as his national security adviser when the latter became acting chief of staff.

[29 October 2019 15:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump likes to bash The Washington Post as "the Amazon Washington Post" because the newspaper is owned by that Croesus of online retail, Jeff Bezos.

Now the almost-Richest Man in the World is coming for the US government, threatening to sue the Pentagon over the loss of a $10bn (£7.8bn) cloud computing contract to Microsoft.