Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday a "steady drip-drop of information" and "the truth" are "leaking out" in media reports, bolstering Democratic calls for more witnesses and documents in the trial for the U.S. president.
He said the president and Bolton said "diametrically opposed things," but only one "is willing to testify under oath. Who do you believe?"
Speaking before President Donald Trump's attorneys begin their third and final day of defense arguments in the impeachment trial Schumer maintained Democrats would not bargain on witnesses and said he believes the chamber's minority is in "better shape today" than it was a month ago.
Borrowing a term from the president's defense lawyer Jane Raskin, who yesterday warned Senators that Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is a "shiny object designed to distract," Schumer said Republicans are always "looking for a shiny object to divert attention from the facts and the president."
Schumer also repudiated a new idea from prominent Trump supporters who are trying to figure out how to handle a New York Times report that claims former National Security Advisor John Bolton has written a manuscript in which he says the president said he was holding back Ukraine aid in exchange for an investigation into political adversaries. Senators Lindsey Graham and Senator James Lankford have suggested Senators be allowed to read the manuscript in a classified setting.
"What an absurd proposal," Schumer said. "It's a book. There's no need to be read in the SCIF [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility]."
Schumer cited news reports that alleged the president ordered former national security advisor John Bolton not to testify, and that Bolton was concerned Trump was granting favors to autocratic leaders.
"Did the president have financial interests at stake?" Schumer asked. "Maybe his kids had some economic interest at stake."
Though Schumer noted those questions are not at the center of today's trial, he asked if they had impacted the nation's foreign policy.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
President Donald Trump is hitting foreign steel and aluminum with a 25% tax. If that sounds familiar, it’s because he did pretty much the same thing during
President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. to stop minting pennies. His surprise announcement comes after decades of unsuccessful efforts to phase out the 1-cent coin. Advocates for ditching the penny cite its high production cost and limited utility. Fans of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and relative bargain in production costs compared with the nickel. Here's a look at some question surrounding Trump's order.
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down the agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought is the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama created it following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Brian Bennett, Senior White House correspondent at TIME, discusses Musk's relationship to Donald Trump and how he has such access in the federal government.
MarketWatch's Rob Schroeder helps us break down what is happening with tariffs implemented by the Trump admin., plus what Canada and Mexico have promised.
