Live updates: Trump says he will ‘strongly consider’ testifying in writing in impeachment probe

In the first week of open impeachment hearings, three career diplomats gave dramatic testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. Democrats started building a case for removing President Trump from office, while Republicans questioned every aspect of the proceedings. Come inside the impeachment inquiry with The Washington Post.

President Trump said Monday that he will “strongly consider” testifying in writing as part of the impeachment inquiry at the outset of a week in which eight current and former officials are scheduled to publicly testify about his controversial actions regarding Ukraine.

In morning tweets, Trump said he might take up House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on a suggestion she made over the weekend. Trump also claimed that the rules of the inquiry had been “rigged” by Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.).

Democrats are seeking to prove that Trump leveraged military assistance and an Oval Office meeting in exchange for investigations of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden and a debunked theory concerning purported Ukrainian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Meanwhile, another line of inquiry surfaced in a court proceding Monday: whether Trump lied to former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III during his intestigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

●Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) says whistleblower’s sources “exposed things that didn’t need to be exposed.”

●House is investigating whether Trump lied to Mueller, its general counsel told a federal appeals court.

●How a CIA analyst, alarmed by Trump’s shadow foreign policy, triggered an impeachment inquiry.

Who’s involved in the impeachment inquiry | Key documents related to the inquiry | What’s next in the inquiry

12:45 PM: House is investigating whether Trump lied to Mueller, its general counsel says

The House is investigating whether Trump lied to former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, the House general counsel told a federal appeals court Monday in Washington.

The statement came during arguments over Congress’s request to have secret grand jury evidence from the Mueller report released urgently for its impeachment inquiry.

The request followed closely on the heels of Friday’s conviction of longtime Trump friend Roger Stone. Testimony and evidence at his trial appeared to cast doubt on written replies from Trump to Mueller about the president’s knowledge about attempts by his 2016 campaign to learn more about the release of hacked Democratic emails by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

“Did the president lie? Was the president not truthful in his responses to the Mueller investigation?” General Counsel Douglas N. Letter said. “The House is trying to determine whether the current president should remain in office. This is unbelievably serious and it’s happening right now, very fast.”

Read more here.

By: Ann E. Marimow and Spencer S. Hsu

12:30 PM: Republicans press for release of deposition transcripts

Republicans on Monday reiterated their complaint that public hearings are being held before all deposition transcripts have been released, claiming that Democrats are withholding information from the public.

“At the start of last week’s public impeachment hearings, Adam Schiff had not released 4 of the transcripts from his Soviet-style hearings,” tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). “There are again 4 unreleased transcripts as we prepare for week #2. What is Mr. Schiff hiding? Why does he want to control the narrative?”

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) also suggested Democrats don’t want Americans to view all of the information.

“Not being discussed enough: House Democrats are holding public impeachment hearings when critical depositions haven’t been released — some that include key exculpatory information for the President,” he wrote. “Perhaps it’s because they’re not interested in you seeing the full set of facts.”

Democrats are giving witnesses a chance to review transcripts of their closed-door testimony before releasing them publicly.

By: Brittany Shammas

12:10 PM: White House officials urge GOP aides to argue on substance

Two top officials recently enlisted by the White House to help on impeachment strategy urged Senate Republican aides on Monday to argue on the substance of the case against Trump, even as congressional allies continue to largely focus on perceived process fouls against Democrats.

The appearance of Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh at a Monday meeting of Senate Republican press and communications aides shows how the White House has stepped up its coordination with the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue after a period during which congressional GOP officials say they had heard little from the Trump administration.

Bondi and Sayegh’s visit was confirmed by three officials in attendance. Their messaging guidance to Republican aides largely echoed what Trump and his allies have insisted publicly.

That includes: urging the public to read the rough transcript of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is at the heart of the Democrats’ impeachment investigation; that the president committed no impeachable crime; and that the $400 million in military aid to Ukraine was eventually released without Ukraine launching any investigation of Joe Biden or the 2016 election.

The White House officials also highlighted the testimony of Tim Morrison, a former top official at the National Security Council who had listened in on the July 25 conversation but testified to House investigators that “I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed.”

Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, and Sayegh, a former top aide at the Treasury Department under Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have been hired at the White House on a temporary basis to aid in impeachment strategy and messaging.

By: Seung Min Kim

11:15 AM: Trump highlights views of Rep. Van Drew

Trump returned to Twitter on Monday morning to highlight the views of Rep. Van Drew (N.J.), one of only two Democrats to vote last month against the rules governing the public phase of the impeachment inquiry.

In his tweet, Trump alluded to an appearance by Drew on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo.”

“Congressman Van Drew (D-NJ) SLAMS Democrats for ‘fracturing the Nation’ with Impeachment probe,” Trump tweeted.

“We’ve spent millions of dollars, in my opinion, tons of money, tons of time, tons of hurt, fracturing the nation apart, and I haven’t seen this to be a good thing,” Drew said of the impeachment inquiry on the program.

Drew represents a district that Trump carried in 2016.

By: John Wagner

10:50 AM: Zeldin counsels Trump against providing testimony

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), a staunch Trump ally, said Monday that it would be beneath the president to provide testimony in the impeachment inquiry.

“It would be a ‘Heck no’ from me as far as whether or not he should testify,” Zeldin said during an interview on Fox News, adding that the president “would just be lowering himself to Adam Schiff’s level — he would be lowering himself below Adam Schiff’s level.”

Zeldin said the president should “focus on the issues of the country” rather than participating in a hearing while “these people just scream at the sky.” He said Trump has shown he “has nothing to hide” and shouldn’t involve himself in “this game Pelosi and Schiff are daring him to.”

“Maybe he should send an autographed copy of his son’s new book ‘Triggered,’ ” Zeldin added, referencing a book by Donald Trump Jr. “I think the title of the book sums up why we’re having this process.”

By: Brittany Shammas

10:35 AM: Trump thinks Nixon should have fought impeachment, Nixon’s son-in-law says

Former president Richard Nixon’s son-in-law said Monday that Trump told him Nixon should have fought impeachment instead of resigning from office.

Ed Cox, who serves as national coordinator of the Trump Victory Fund, made the comment during an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.”

Asked by host Steve Doocy whether Trump should fight the impeachment inquiry, he said Trump was “going to fight all the way through it.”

“He’s a fighter,” Cox continued. “He told me that. He said President Nixon should have fought all the way through it. But it was a different time back then. Both — President Nixon had both houses against him.”

He pushed back against Doocy’s characterization of the Nixon impeachment proceeding as bipartisan, claiming it was partisan and driven by Democrats.

“They drove it because they wanted to depose a very powerful president who had just a great reelection in ’72,” Cox said. “The first Republican landslide since the 1920s. And they wanted to get back power, and that’s what they did.”

By: Brittany Shammas

10:30 AM: Schumer seeks formal notification from Pentagon on rights to make disclosures to Congress

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday asked Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper to “formally notify all civilian and military personnel of their legal rights to make protected disclosures to Congress free from retaliation.”

Schumer’s request, relayed in a letter, comes ahead of planned open testimony in the impeachment inquiry by Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who is detailed to the National Security Council, and Laura Cooper, the Pentagon official who oversees Ukraine policy, among others.

“Since their identities were revealed, LTC Vindman and Ms. Cooper have been vilified and attacked by individuals in the media and elsewhere,” Schumer wrote. “Some have even gone so far as to call LTC Vindman, a recipient of the Purple Heart after being wounded while serving in Iraq, a spy and question his loyalty to the United States.”

“Bravely, in the face of these shameful attacks, these individuals have still chosen to come forward and tell the truth despite the risk of professional reprisals and threats to their personal safety,” Schumer continued. “I fear, however, these attacks will only increase after their participation in these public hearings.”

By: John Wagner

10:15 AM: Democrats express skepticism about Trump testimony

Congressional Democrats reacted to Trump’s statement that he will consider testifying in the impeachment inquiry with skepticism and calls for more cooperation from the White House.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said in a tweet that the president should testify and allow the testimony of other officials, claiming Trump was engaged in an “illegal coverup.”

“He should allow Rick Perry and John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani to testify,” Beyer tweeted, referring to the energy secretary, former national security adviser and the president’s personal lawyer. “He should turn over the documents Congress subpoenaed. He should end his illegal coverup. I’m not holding my breath.”

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) also expressed doubt that Trump would come through with testimony.

“I’m sure we can expect this testimony along with your plan to provide coverage for preexisting conditions, your gun violence legislation, and your tax returns, all of which you promised would be coming ‘soon,’” she wrote on Twitter.

By: Brittany Shammas

9:45 AM: Seventy percent of Americans think Trump did something wrong

Seventy percent of Americans think Trump did something wrong regarding Ukraine, according to a new ABC-Ipsos poll.

In the poll, 51 percent agreed that Trump had done something wrong and said he should be impeached by the House and removed from office by the Senate. Another 6 percent agreed that Trump had done something wrong and said he should be impeached but not removed from office. Another 13 percent agreed that he had done something wrong but said he should not be impeached or removed.

Meanwhile, 25 percent said Trump had done nothing wrong.

By: John Wagner

9:00 AM: Trump says he will ‘strongly consider’ testifying in writing

Trump said Monday that he will “strongly consider” taking up an offer by Pelosi to testify in writing as part of the impeachment inquiry.

“Even though I did nothing wrong, and don’t like giving credibility to this No Due Process Hoax, I like the idea & will, in order to get Congress focused again, strongly consider it!” Trump said in tweets in which he also disparaged Pelosi as “Nervous Nancy” and “crazy.”

Pelosi made the suggestion during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” arguing that if Trump is innocent he should come forward.

“The president could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants if he wants,” she said.

Trump testified in writing during the investigation into Russian election interference by former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III after declining to be interviewed in person. He previously had said he was eager to testify.

By: John Wagner

8:45 AM: Mueller grand-jury material urgently needed for impeachment inquiry, Congress tells court

A federal appeals court in Washington on Monday is set to consider whether the Justice Department must immediately release to Congress secret grand-jury materials from former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is due to review a lower-court ruling that requires disclosure of evidence the House Judiciary Committee says it needs in its “urgent efforts” to determine whether Trump committed impeachable offenses.

Last month, Judge Beryl A. Howell, chief of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, found that the House was legally engaged in a judicial process that exempts Congress from grand-jury secrecy rules.

The case is one of several separation-of-powers battles teed up for the Supreme Court. Trump’s private lawyers last week asked the high court to block a subpoena for his tax records from New York prosecutors and to stop a separate House subpoena for his personal and business records.

Read more here.

By: Ann E. Marimow

8:30 AM: The quid pro quo evidence so far

Quid pro quo — Latin for “something for something” — is a common concept in foreign relations. U.S. assistance for other countries is typically contingent on an agreement to help achieve an American objective.

The current impeachment inquiry is focused on whether Trump abused his office by seeking a quid pro quo from Ukraine that would benefit him personally rather than promote the country’s interests: namely, investigations of his political opponents.

There have been six episodes in which top Trump administration and Ukrainian officials discussed such a potential quid pro quo, according to congressional testimony, public statements and documents.

Read more here.

By: Washington Post Staff

7:45 AM: McDaniel seizes on profane description of Trump

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel seized Monday on a Nevada congresswoman’s profane description of Trump to argue that Democrats have long sought Trump’s impeachment regardless of the facts.

During remarks at a fundraising dinner for the Nevada Democratic Party on Sunday night that drew presidential contenders, Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) spoke about the prospects for Trump’s impeachment.

“I think the House is going to do it,” she said. “Frankly, I’d like to impeach the bastard right now.”

In a morning tweet, McDaniel shared the quote.

“More House Democrats showing their true colors,” she wrote. “Impeachment is all they’ve ever wanted!”

By: John Wagner

7:30 AM: Trump dismisses impeachment inquiry

Trump returned to Twitter Monday morning to attack the impeachment inquiry as a “great fraud” and take aim at Pelosi and Schiff.

In one tweet, Trump claimed unprecedented unity among Republicans.

“This is a great fraud being played out against the American people by the Fake News Media & their partner, the Do Nothing Democrats,” he tweeted. “The rules are rigged by Pelosi & Schiff, but we are winning, and we will win!”

Earlier, Trump shared a tweet by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) that also took issue with how Schiff is running the process.

“Schiff controls who testifies,” Scalise wrote. “Schiff controls how Republicans use our question time. Schiff controls what gets released from his secret depositions. Schiff shuts out witnesses who would contradict his one-sided narrative. This is what Pelosi is calling fair? It’s a sham.”

By: John Wagner

7:00 AM: Eight witnesses scheduled to testify publicly this week

Eight witnesses are scheduled to testify publicly this week in the impeachment inquiry, including four on Tuesday alone.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, European affairs director at the National Security Council, and Jennifer Williams, Vice President Pence’s special adviser on Europe and Russia, are scheduled to appear on Tuesday morning.

Vindman testified in a closed-door deposition last month that he “did not think it was proper” for Trump to seek a Ukrainian investigation of a U.S. citizen. He was among those who listened in on the July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky. Vindman later reported his concerns to the lead counsel of NSC.

The closed-door testimony of Williams, which was released Saturday, suggests that the Office of Management and Budget had clamped down on Ukraine military aid more than two weeks earlier than has been previously reported.

Trump attacked Williams in a tweet on Sunday.

“Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read BOTH transcripts of the presidential calls, & see the just released statement from Ukraine,” Trump said. “Then she should meet with the other Never Trumpers, who I don’t know & mostly never even heard of, & work out a better presidential attack!”

Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on the National Security Council, and Kurt Volker, a former Trump administration envoy to Ukraine, are scheduled to testify Tuesday afternoon.

Morrison told House investigators last month that Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, was acting at Trump’s behest and spoke to a top Ukrainian official about exchanging military aid for political investigations.

Trump has said he does not know Sondland well and has tried to distance himself from the E.U. ambassador, whom Trump put in charge of Ukraine policy along with two others, even though Ukraine is not part of the European Union.

Volker told impeachment investigators he worked with Trump personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, the White House and Ukrainian officials to arrange the July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky, as well as a potential White House visit, while pushing for investigations into Trump’s political enemies.

Sondland is scheduled to testify on Wednesday morning. Laura Cooper, the Pentagon official who oversees Ukraine policy, and David Hale, undersecretary of state for political affairs, are scheduled in the afternoon.

On Thursday, Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council Russia adviser, is scheduled to appear.

By: John Wagner

6:45 AM: Democrats targeted in $7 million advertising campaign

The American Action Network, a group that promotes “center-right policies,” has launched a $7 million television and digital advertising campaign in 37 House districts calling the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry a “politically motivated charade.”

The ads target Democrats in 30 districts, urging their constituents to call their representatives and tell them to “let voters decide elections” and “get to work” on other issues. The ads also feature a clip of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) saying in a television interview that the impeachment process is “preventing a potentially disastrous outcome from occurring next year.”

Ads in another seven districts thank Republicans for standing against impeachment.

Zach Hunter, the group’s vice president, said it plans to spend $5 million on television ads and $2 million on digital ads.

By: John Wagner

6:30 AM: Majority of young voters favor impeachment and removal

A new poll finds that 58 percent of likely general election voters under age 30 think that Trump should be impeached and removed from office.

The question was included in a survey of 18- to 29-year-olds conducted for the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School on a wide range of issues. Among the other findings released Monday: 48 percent of likely general election voters under 30 support dismantling the electoral college and electing the president by the national popular vote. Twenty-eight percent opposed the idea, with the remainder unsure.

By: John Wagner

6:00 AM: In late-night tweets, Trump shares a Fox Host mocking Democrats for describing Trump’s actions as ‘bribery’

Trump continued his efforts to undermine the credibility of the impeachment inquiry through late-night tweets on Sunday, including one that shared a clip of a Fox News host mocking leading Democrats for characterizing Trump’s actions of “bribery.”

Steve Hilton, host of “The Next Revolution,” said use of the term by Pelosi and others showed “the laughable hypocrisy of the Democrats latest desperate impeachment gambit.”

Hilton contended fundraising conducted by Pelosi and other leading Democrats “in the swamp” amounts to bribery and called the House speaker “the queen of bribery.”

“Raising money is the way she clings to power,” he said in the clip shared by Trump with his nearly 67 million Twitter followers.

In another tweet, Trump claimed that “nothing matters” beside the rough transcripts of his two calls with Zelensky and public statements by Ukrainian officials that they did not feel pressured.

By: John Wagner