Late-day bombshells erupt as Trump impeachment inquiry gets underway | 2019-10-02 09:03:04 (Visits: 729 Times) |  | | Rudy Giuliani, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. (Photos: Hoo-Me.com/MediaPunch/AP, Jason DeCrow/AP, Frank Franklin II/AP)
David KnowlesEditor,Yahoo News•September 30, 2019
The first full week of the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump got underway with a rapid-fire succession of bombshell events that are likely to affect the course of the investigation.
At 3:53 p.m. in Washington, the Democratic chairmen of three House committees subpoenaed Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani for documents related to the president’s request for an investigation by Ukrainian officials into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Reps. Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler and Elijah Cummings cited Giuliani’s cable news appearances, saying the former New York City mayor “admitted on national television that, while serving as the president’s personal attorney, he asked the government of Ukraine to target” Biden.
“In addition to this stark admission, you stated more recently that you are in possession of evidence — in the form of text messages, phone records, and other communications — indicating that you were not acting alone and that other Trump Administration officials may have been involved in this scheme,” the chairmen wrote.
Minutes later, at 4:04 p.m., the Wall Street Journal reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was among those who listened in on Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that is the basis of the House investigation.
Last week, when Pompeo was interviewed by ABC News, he denied firsthand knowledge about what Trump and Zelensky discussed.
Weirdly, he pretended not to know what Trump said on the Ukraine call when he was asked about it directly on TV a week ago, basically lying to @MarthaRaddatz.pic.twitter.com/j0Zqb6cBDo
Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) September 30, 2019
The State Department had not disclosed that Pompeo had been on the call with Zelensky. Democrats are also seeking to learn if State Department Counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl was listening in as well. On Friday, Democrats subpoenaed Pompeo for documents related to the administration’s dealings with Ukraine.
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