Ahead of second day of the president's impeachment defense presentation, Republican and Democratic senators offered very different reactions to a bombshell New York Times report that ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton has written in a manuscript that President Donald Trump told him that he froze aid to Ukraine over demands for investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President and 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden.
At separate press conferences on Monday, Republicans said nothing has changed, but Democrats called the new information "stunning."
Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana said the weekend reporting, "really doesn't change anything." Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming said, "the facts of the case remain the same."
Before the GOP members spoke, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York alleged that if the Senate Republicans are "not going to vote to call Mr. Bolton and Mr. [Mick] Mulvaney, they would be part of a coverup."
"We're all staring a White House coverup in the face," Schumer said, flanked by Democratic SenatorsTammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Ben Cardin of Maryland. "This is stunning."
Schumer said Bolton's allegation "essentially confirms" the first impeachment article of abuse of power against the president.
Asked if he would support a subpoena to get John Bolton's manuscript, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham reportedly told reporters Monday, "I want to know what's in the manuscript, yeah, I think that's important." Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) also indicated they would consider voting to hear from witnesses.
The stunning removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker has left the House adrift as Republicans struggle to bring order to their fractured majority and begin the difficult and potentially prolonged process of uniting around a new leader.
New York City is challenging a unique legal agreement that requires it to provide emergency housing to anyone who asks for it, as the city's shelter system strains under a large influx of international migrants who have arrived since last year.
Warned to mind his out-of-court comments, former President Donald Trump returned to his New York civil fraud trial Wednesday as lawyers on both sides closely questioned an accountant who prepared financial statements at the heart of the case.
The third day of former president Donald Trump's civil fraud trial kicked off earlier Wednesday in New York, a day after a judge imposed a limited gag order on Trump.
The National Zoo's three giant pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji — are set to return to China in early December with no public signs that the 50-year-old exchange agreement struck by President Richard Nixon will continue.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to force a vote Tuesday on the far-right effort to oust him from his leadership position and insists he will not cut a deal with Democrats to remain in power, setting the stage for an extraordinary and unpredictable showdown on the House floor.
