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The drama all stems from a whistleblower complaint filed in August. The intelligence community inspector general, a Trump appointee named Michael Atkinson, notified House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of an “urgent concern” that the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire had overruled. Three House committees launched an investigation of efforts by Trump, Giuliani and others to pressure the Ukrainian government to assist the President’s reelection efforts by investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened an impeachment inquiry on September 24. “The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” she said, adding “no one is above the law.” The White House released the transcript of the call, which Trump continues to call “perfect,” in an effort to squelch the ballooning controversy.
September 26: The whistleblower complaint is declassified and released. It repeatedly mentions Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr. The acting DNI briefs the House Intelligence Committee, defends his decision not to give Congress the whistleblower complaint earlier and also defends the whistleblower. Vermont’s moderate governor, Phil Scott, becomes the first high-profile elected Republican to back an impeachment inquiry.
September 27: By CNN’s tally, more than 218 House members — all but one are Democrats — support an impeachment inquiry. It’s an important milestone since a simple majority is needed to impeach Trump and force a trial in the Senate. Just 12 Democrats have not signed onto the effort. More than 300 former national security officials publicly join support for an impeachment inquiry. Pompeo is subpoenaed by House committees. CNN reports that Trump aides took remarkable steps to keep Trump’s communications with Russia and Saudi Arabia shielded from public view. Kurt Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine, steps down.
September 28: The Washington Post reports an intensifying probe of Hillary Clinton’s emails is underway at the State Department. Trump lashes out at Democrats leading impeachment effort, calling them “savages.” Among those encouraging Trump to release the transcript of the phone call was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
September 29: Appearing on talk shows, Republican supporters of Trump argue there is nothing wrong with Trump asking foreign leaders for help investigate Biden. White House adviser Stephen Miller alleges on Fox News Sunday the whistleblower is a “deep state operative,” signaling more direct attacks by the White House against the whistleblower.
September 30: The New York Times reports that in addition to pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden, Trump had asked Australia and other countries to help Barr with his probe of US intelligence agencies. McConnell says if the House impeaches Trump, the Senate would in fact take the matter up.
October 1: Trump says the whistleblower is part of a “COUP” effort and directly targets the whistleblower, saying he wants to “interview” him or her. The State Department inspector general tells senior congressional aides he has information to give them and calls an urgent briefing. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the longest-serving sitting Republican senator and a champion of government oversight and whistleblower protections, sticks up for whistleblowers in a subtle rebuke of the White House.
October 2: Pompeo acknowledges during a press conference in Italy that he was on the July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky and defends it as representative of US policy to Ukraine. CNN reports Trump initially put a freeze on foreign and military aid to Ukraine in June, earlier than previously reported, and that the move surprised US officials. Pelosi tells George Stephanopoulos she thinks Trump is “scared” of impeachment. Trump intensifies his attacks on the whistleblower and Democrats, saying they are “wasting everyone’s time and energy on BULLSHIT.” At a press conference he says the transcript of the call is accurate and, he argues, shows he did nothing wrong.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
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