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thisdaynews · 5 years

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Pecans, Jay Leno and the Oxford comma: Hidden gems of the impeachment transcripts

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Pecans, Jay Leno and the Oxford comma: Hidden gems of the impeachment transcripts

Nickname-checked

When Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, sat for a deposition on Oct. 11, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) had some questions for the ex-envoy about her nickname.

MEADOWS:“And since we’re out of time, I just want to know one thing. Ambassador Volker said awful nice things about you, and he said that you’re called Masha.” YOVANOVITCH:“Yes.” MEADOWS:“Where did you get that name from?” YOVANOVITCH:“Well, despite my posting to Ukraine, I’m actually half Russian, and it’s a Russian nickname.” MEADOWS:“I yield back.”

Asked and answered

Yovanovitch had little patience for a meandering line of inquiry by another GOP lawmaker, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who wanted to know more about her professional relationship with a staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

ZELDIN:“Did you know this person?” YOVANOVITCH:“Yes.” ZELDIN:“And how did — where did you know that person from?” YOVANOVITCH:“She had previously worked at the State Department.” ZELDIN:“And how do you know that person at the State Department?” YOVANOVITCH:“Because she worked at the State Department.”

‘Locker room’ talk

About two-thirds of the way through Yovanovitch’s deposition, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) prepared to hand over questioning to Republicans in the room, but not without first making a brief housekeeping announcement that — if his staffers are to be believed — was likely much welcomed.

SCHIFF:“And just to let members know, we are going to turn the air back on. It’s feast or famine here, and we’re — my staff tells me it started to smell like a locker room in here. So we’ll turn it over to the minority and we’ll turn the air back on.”

‘Follow me on Twitter’

As lawmakers prepared to wrap up their marathon questioning of Yovanovitch, she revealed that Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, implied to her at one point that to save her job, it would be helpful for her to publicly express support for Trump on social media.

But Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) injected some levity into the deposition, plugging his Twitter account and prompting some light (if puzzling) ribbing from his colleagues.

MALINOWSKI:Okay. Finally, I would say to aIl of my colleagues on both sides that I would be honored if you followed me on Twitter, and I will not accuse you of monitoring me. My handle is @malinowski. MEADOWS:How do you spell that one? MALINOWSKI:It’s hard. Almost as hard as Yovanovitch. YOVANOVITCH:Exactly. Thank you. SCHIFF:Mr. Goldman. GOLDMAN:Thank you. Just a few last things. You ultimately — SCHIFF:I thought your handle was @pecan.

More pecans

During an exchange between Yovanovitch, Meadows and Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) about so-called “unmasking,” Perry apparently stood to abruptly leave the room. Yovanovitch then asked whether someone could repeat the question posed to her.

YOVANOVITCH:“Okay. So —” MEADOWS:“You can answer. He’s got to run.” PERRY:“I’ll be back.” YOVANOVITCH:“Okay.” PERRY:“Sorry. Thank you.” MEADOWS:“It’s nothing you said.” STEVE CASTOR (Republican staff of the House Oversight Committee):“Welcome to Congress.” YOVANOVITCH:“So I got lost a little bit in the conversation. Are we talking about –“ DANIEL GOLDMAN (the House Intelligence Committee’s senior adviser and director of investigations):“Let’s ask him to repeat it. Oh.” MEADOWS:“You can ask the pecans.”

‘I watch HBO’

During his appearance before House impeachment investigators on Oct. 17, Sondland sought to head off questions regarding his knowledge of Rudy Giuliani’s interest in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm on whose board Hunter Biden served.

Sondland suggested he was more likely catching up on “Game of Thrones” than tuning into the former New York mayor’s frequent cable news appearances.

CASTOR:“Before I get into this letter, there was some frustration about whether you had seen that New York Times article. I mean, there’s a lot of media nowadays. You know, have you seen every article, every story that references Rudy Giuliani since you began your post?” SONDLAND:“No. I mean, I have so many cables and other things to read, I just don’t have time.” CASTOR:“And you’re not watching TV, U.S. TV at night when you’re i n Brussels?” SONDLAND:“Sometimes.” CASTOR:“Okay. So have you seen Rudy Giuliani on — you know, discuss these issues on TV?” SONDLAND:“I watch HBO.”

‘The three amigos’ ride again

Sondland was also forced to answer for a nickname bestowed upon him and two other administration officials — Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Kurt Volker, the former special envoy for Ukraine negotiations — during a trip to the Eastern European nation’s capital.

Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence chairman who Trump has memorably mocked as a “pencil neck” and “little Adam Schitt,” weighed in with some perspective.

GOLDMAN:“Did you and Ambassador Volker and Secretary Perry ever develop a nickname for the three of you?” SONDLAND:“I think you’re referring to the three amigos.” GOLDMAN:“Yeah, who coined that?” SONDLAND:“I think we were all in Kyiv together, and someone walked up to US, and said, you look like the three amigos, we were all standing together, and I think that’s where it came from.” GOLDMAN:“You kind of liked that nickname, right?” SONDLAND:“I don’t —” MR. LUSKIN:“We’ve all heard worse.” THE CHAIRMAN:“I can attest to that.”

Zelensky’s late-night ‘hero’

Almost halfway through House investigators’ deposition with Sondland, the ambassador described a dinner party in Brussels celebrating U.S. Independence Day attended by Zelensky, State Department officials and other world leaders.

Sondland said U.S. officials saw the dinner, which followed a much larger event, “as an opportunity to present President Zelensky to various EU and U.S. officials and to build upon the enhanced government ties.” He sought to correct the record on a few points, telling investigators that “contrary to some reporting, [U2 lead singer] Bono did not attend or perform.” He also disclosed an entertaining revelation into Zelensky’s comedic role models.

SONDLAND: “The subject of the dinner was not Ukraine and was not President Zelensky. The Prime Minister of Romania was there. The President of Poland was there. Jay Leno was there. Mr. Kushner was there. There were a lot of celebrities, guests, and it was a very sort of light-hearted evening. It was not a business dinner.” GOLDMAN:“Did President Zelensky, as a comedian, get along well with Jay Leno?” SONDLAND:“He was honored to meet him. Apparently, Jay Leno was his hero.”

‘The Greenland question’

William Taylor’s testimony before lawmakers on Oct. 22 regarding his knowledge of the Ukraine scandal included a reference to an odd diplomatic dust-up that originated in the White House — Trump’s short-lived bid to purchase Greenland.

Taylor, the top American envoy to Ukraine, said the president’s fascination over the summer with the U.S. government potentially buying the semi-autonomous Arctic territory made it difficult to schedule a meeting between Trump and senior administration officials regarding the resumption of military aid to Ukraine.

SCHIFF:“What do you deduce from that, that our alIy is fighting with the Russians, but all of these agencies that support this can’t get a meeting with the President to discuss it?” TAYLOR:“It turns out, Mr. Chairman, that those principals, as we call them, were on different trips at different times. I think this was also about the time of the Greenland question, about purchasing Greenland, which took up a lot of energy in the NSC.” SCHIFF:“Okay. That’s disturbing for a whole different reason.”

Fishing for an explanation

Taylor’s testimony before impeachment investigators made waves when his lengthy opening statement became the first evidence tying Trump directly to a quid pro quo.

It was also notable for the extent of personal recordkeeping that Taylor described to lawmakers, prompting Rep. Ted Lieu to take an odd approach to attempt to explain the contrast between Taylor’s deep recollection of crucial events with Sondland’s, who later substantially revised his testimony.

LIEU:“The public reporting on Ambassador Sondland’s testimony is that he didn’t remember a lot of stuff. You have a number of conversations here with Ambassador Sondland. I just want to make sure, in those conversations, there was no indication he was under the influence of alcohol, correct?” TAYLOR:“Correct.” LIEU:“He didn’t slur his words, correct?” TAYLOR:“Correct.” LIEU:“There was no indication that he was under any medications that caused him short-term memory loss, correct?” TAYLOR:“Not that I know of.” LIEU:“Okay.”

Under the sea

Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official, may have been hunkered down in a basement-level SCIF when she was deposed on Oct. 14, but on a few occasions during her testimony, she was able to reminisce about some underwater activities she enjoyed while on her summer vacation.

CASTOR:“Did you speak with anyone? You had left on the 19th, but had you spoken to anybody about the call?” HILL:“I did not. I was on vacation [redacted]. And at the time the phone call took place, I think, based on my date-stamp on my phones, I was snorkeling.” VOICE:“You were under water.” HILL:“I was under water, yeah. It was a pretty good alibi. I didn’t take underwater pictures, but, you know, I can basically —”

Politics and punctuation

In addition to being quizzed on matters related to the potential impeachment of a president, Hill was asked to weigh in on another particularly divisive issue.

DANIEL NOBLE (Democratic counsel):“Are you a fan of the Oxford comma?” HILL:“I’m confused, is kind of basically where I am. Because when I was growing up, they changed the comma formatting, and then when I came here, I found there was all kinds of different comma formatting. So I tend to put commas everywhere.”

Looking for leakers

In the middle of Hill’s testimony, word began to get out about some of the substance of her deposition. When a GOP staffer began to ask her about Manu Raju, a CNN reporter omnipresent on Capitol Hill, Hill noted she’d had a pretty ironclad alibi. Raju, for his part, backed up her story.

DAVID BREWER (Republican staffer for Oversight Committee):“Ma’am, today at 1:16, Manu Raju, who I understand is a reporter for CNN —” HILL:“Who?” BREWER:“Manu Raju.” HILL:“I don’ t know who that is. Manu Raju?” BREWER:“He’s a reporter, I understand, from CNN. He tweeted some substance of your testimony here today.” HILL:“I don’t know how that was possible because I’ve been in here with you the whole time.” BREWER:“That’s what I was going to ask you. Have you spoken —” HILL:“There’s been lots of people in and out, so I suppose you should ask your colleagues if somebody’s been talking to CNN.” BREWER:“So, just for the record, you have not spoken to Manu Raju since you’ve been here today?” HILL:“I have not had my telephone. I have been in your full and I have not met with Manu Raju in the bathroom here. And I think you can attest you saw me in the bathroom. And they have had full custody of me at all times.” BREWER:“And just one last question, ma’am: Have you directed anyone on your behalf to speak with Mr. Raju about your testimony?” HILL:“No. I don’ t know who Manu Raju is.”

Call me, beep me

At one point in her testimony, Hill described how broad Sondland’s jurisdiction appeared to be, complaining that the EU ambassador frequently bypassed her White House-issued phone, giving officials her personal phone number instead, and sending these people to the White House where they believed they had a meeting with NSC officials. She called the issue “comical” but also “deeply concerning.”

HILL:“And so I was spending an inordinate amount of time trying to coordinate in some fashion with Ambassador Sondland on a whole range of issues related to visits by heads of states, meetings. And Ambassador Sondland would frequently give people my personal cell phone to call up and demand meetings with Ambassador BoIton or with me.

“We had all kinds of officials from Europe, particularly when [redacted] was the the president in the office of the European Union, literally appearing at the gates of the White House, calling on our personal phones, which are actually in lock boxes, so it was kind of difficult to get hold of them. I’d find endless messages from irate [redacted] officials who’d been told that they were supposed to meet with me by Ambassador Sondland.”

Sibling rivalry

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an Army officer and Ukraine specialist on the National Security Council, was a unique witness in that he’s got an identical twin brother who just so happens to also serve in the White House, as the top ethics lawyer on the National Security Council. Vindman, whose testimony was among the most damaging collected by impeachment investigators, couldn’t let his deposition go by without taking a dig at his womb-mate.

CASTOR:Okay. After you spoke with Eisenbeng, who else did you communicate to about this meeting? VINDMAN:So my kid brother, my twin brother is on the White House National Security Council legal team. CASTOR:And is Is he your kid brother or your twin brother? VINDMAN:He’s 9 minutes younger. He’s my kid brother, whether he Iikes it on not. I told him I was going to get that in there

‘I don’t know her’

Before Vindman could get underway with questions from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), one of his attorneys need to get something taken care of. Namely, just who they were being quizzed by.

MICHAEL VOLKOV (Vindman’s attorney):First off, I don’t know who you are, if you could identify yourself for the record. But second off, could you be specific as to two calls? We’re talking about one call here. CASTOR:“This is Representative Stefanik.” REP. ELISESTEFANIK:“I’m on the House Intelligence Committee.” VOLKOV:“Okay. I don’t know who you were. I apologize —” STEFANIK:“Yeah. I’m from New York. I’m a third term member.” CASTOR:“There’s no staffers talking except for me and the Members.” VOLKOV:“I understand that and I appreciate that, I just didn’t —” STEFANIK:“I get asked this a lot.” VOLKOV:“Oh, that’s good.” STEFANIK:“No, it’s not good. But I will continue my line of questioning, which is, the witness testified—”

#Foreign #impeachment #Politics #transcripts

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biofunmy · 5 years

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US envoy says Trump used military aid to push Ukraine to investigate Biden | US news

The acting US ambassador to Kyiv has provided congressional committees conducting impeachment hearings a detailed account of how Donald Trump repeatedly sought to make a summit meeting and military aid to Ukraine conditional on its government launching investigations into the president’s political opponents.

Bill Taylor’s testimony was the latest in a series of depositions by serving and former administration officials, as part of the impeachment inquiry, about Trump’s use of the presidency to put pressure on the Ukrainian government to procure compromising information on his political rivals. And it was the most detailed and damning to date.

Taylor, who took over as acting ambassador in June, presented his testimony behind closed doors on Capitol Hill but copies of his opening statement soon leaked.

The veteran diplomat said that soon after arriving in Kyiv, he became concerned “our relationship with Ukraine was being fundamentally undermined by an irregular informal channel of US policymaking, and by the withholding of vital security assistance for domestic political reasons”.

Taylor said this irregular channel was run by Trump through several emissaries: the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, the departing energy secretary, Rick Perry, the ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, and the special Ukraine envoy, Kurt Volker.

They became focused solely on persuading the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to announce investigations that would damage Democrats and especially Joe Biden, the former vice-president and leading contender to the be the 2020 Democratic nominee.

Democrats declared it to be the clearest account to date of Trump’s abuse of office in the Ukraine scandal.

According to Taylor’s statement, published by the Lawfare website, Sondland, made clear in a phone call that both military aid and a White House meeting with Trump were dependent on the launch of two investigations.

One was into a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, which had employed Hunter Biden, the son of former vice-president and 2020 Democratic contender Joe Biden. The second was into Ukraine’s role in the 2016 presidential election, a reference to a conspiracy theory that – counter to the consensus view of US intelligence agencies – held that it was Ukraine that had interfered in the vote in the Democrats’ favour, rather than Russia in favour of Trump.

“During that phone call, Ambassador Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election,” Taylor said in his statement.

He added: “Sondland said ‘everything’ was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance…President Trump wanted president Zielinski in a “public box” by making a public statement about ordering such investigations.”

Although the first incentive for Zelenskiy was a White House meeting if he complied, Taylor discovered on 18 July that military aid to Ukraine had been suspended, but it was initially unclear why. Taylor discovered that the hold had been ordered by the White House acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, on the instructions of the president who, Taylor was told, “doesn’t want to provide any assistance at all”.

Taylor said that Sondland had told him the conditions had been laid down to him by Trump personally. Taylor also learned from a senior White House official about a 7 September phone conversation between Trump and Sondland in which the president insisted there was no quid pro quo for Ukraine, but in the same call Trump “did insist that President Zelenskiy go to a microphone and say he’s opening investigations of Biden, and the 2016 election interference”.

Sondland later told Zelenskiy that until he did that, “we will be at a stalemate”.

“I understood ‘stalemate’ to mean that Ukraine would not receive the much-needed military assistance,” Taylor said.

Sondland explained to Taylor “that President Trump is a businessman”.

“When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check,” Taylor said.

Taylor also noted that US officials who would normally listen in to phone calls with foreign leaders, were excluded from a call between US diplomats and Zelenskiy in late June, while Sondland ensured that the conversation would not be monitored or transcribed.

Could Donald Trump actually be impeached? – video

Democratic representative Stephen Lynch, a senior member of the House oversight and reform committee, was quoted in Politico as saying the testimony was a “sea change” that “could accelerate” the impeachment inquiry.

New Jersey representative Tom Malinowski, a Democrat, said it was “the most thorough accounting we’ve had of the timeline”.

Taylor had flown to Washington in response to a congressional subpoena and in defiance of an administration gag order.

The Politico website quoted a source in the private briefing as saying Taylor’s opening statement was 15 pages long and prompted “a lot of sighs and gasps”.

Taylor was brought out of retirement in June after the former ambassador to Kyiv, Marie Yovanovitch, was abruptly removed from her post.

In diplomatic texts released by Congress, it is Taylor who most clearly expresses the quid pro quo being presented to the Ukrainian government by Trump’s emissaries, and his deep concern about it.

“I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor wrote on 9 September to Sondland.

Trump suspended $400m in military aid to Ukraine a few days before a 25 July phone call to Zelenskiy. In the released version of the call, when the Ukrainian president raised the matter of US military support Trump responded: “I would like you to do us a favour though… …”

Trump then asked for the investigations.

Before taking up his post, Taylor requested a meeting with secretary of state Mike Pompeo to seek reassurance about administration support for Ukraine.

“I made clear to [Pompeo] and the others president, that if US policy towards Ukraine changed, he would not want me posted there and I could not stay,” Taylor’s opening statement on Tuesday said. “He assured me that the policy of strong support for Ukraine would continue.”

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final-destination-headcanons · 5 months

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Here are some headcanons I have of TV shows the fd3 characters would like (all matching canon timeline)

- the Ashes: One Tree Hill & Beverly Hills 90210

- Lewis: is often too busy with the gym and practice to watch TV, but will always watch Fresh Prince reruns

- Erin: Buffy, Charmed, Daria

-Ian: prefers watching movies to TV, but will watch those fucked up cartoons that were around in that era

-Perry: Dawsons Creek

- Julie: One Tree Hill is her life. She wants to be Brooke so bad

-Kevin: never grew out of watching cartoons. Watches stuff like The Simpsons, Futurama and Beavis and Butthead

Wendy: doesn't watch much TV because Julie is always watching it, but she does enjoy Gilmore Girls

I haven’t watched a single show mentioned (except Daria) but canon, canon, canon!

If I may add FD 1:

Billy: Jackass

Carter: Also Jackass

Terry: Charmed

Alex: The X-Files

Clear: The Joy of Painting

Ms Lewton: Law and Order

#final destination 3 #wendy christensen #ian mckinley #erin ulmer #lewis romero #kevin fischer #ashley freund #ashlyn halperin #julie christensen #perry malinowski #one of the last headcanons of the year!#also sorry for not responding to asks as quickly #please reblog or comment

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seikointelli · 24 days

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To fd3 cast

Who won the fight that night of the devils flight incident?

Ashley: I don't think any of them won. They were just totally immature and embarrassing!

Ashlyn: Me and Ash, like, walked out during the fight but I've always just assumed that Lewis won since he was totally the strongest.

Frankie: I genuinely have no clue. I was trying to catch up the pretty ladies.

Lewis: Obviously I fucking won.

Erin: Ian. And I promise i'm not just saying this because i'm his girlfriend. If he got his ass beat I would tell you.

Perry: Kevin won.

Ian: Lewis beat us both up pretty good but I think I got the last laugh.

Julie: Lewis 100%. And Ian did in fact get his ass kicked.

Kevin: I feel like we all lost a little that night.

Wendy: Honestly i'm not sure. They all looked the same after the fight was broken up so nobody seemed any worse off. But i'll say Kevin.

#final destination #final destination 3 #ashley freund #ashlyn halperin #frankie cheeks #lewis romero #erin ulmer #perry malinowski #ian mckinley #julie christensen #kevin fischer #wendy christensen

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datsavageavenger · 4 years

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✓ Billy Hitchcock-beta ✓ “Racist" Carter Daniels-alpha-mated to Jonathan Groves (omega) Nadia Monroy (alpha) Andy Kewzer (alpha) ✓ Perry Malinowski-beta ✓ Thomas Burke-beta ✓ Eugene Dix-beta ✓ Kat Jennings-alpha ✓ Amber Regan-beta ✓ Andy Kewzer-alpha- mated to Jonathan Groves (omega) Nadia Monroy (alpha) Carter Daniels (Alpha) ✓ Frankie Whitman-beta ✓ Jonathon Groves-omega- mated to Nadia Monroy (alpha) Carter Daniels (Alpha) Andy Kewzer (alpha) ✓ Dano Estevez-beta ✓ Tim Carpenter-Beta ✓ Nora Carpenter-omega ✓ Rory Peters-alpha ✓ Evan Lewis-Omega ✓ Jason Wise-beta ✓ Nathan Seers-omega-mated to Roy Carson (alpha) ✓ Roy Carson-omega-mated to Nathan Seers (omega) ✓ Frankie Cheeks-Beta ✓ Cynthia Daniels-beta ✓ Agent Jim Block-beta ✓ Isabella Hudson-omega ✓ Ms. Valerie Lewton-beta ✓ George Lanter-Beta ✓ Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin- alpha and omega-mated to each other ✓ Erin Ulmer-alpha-mated to Wendy Christensen (omega) ✓ Dennis Lapman-Beta ✓ Molly Harper-omega-Mated to Olivia Castle (alpha) ✓ Peter Friedkin-alpha-mated to Sam Lawton (omega) ✓ William Bludworth-beta ✓ Nadia Monroy-alpha-mated to Carter Daniels (Alpha) Andy Kewzer (alpha) Jonathan Groves (omega) ✓ Samantha Lane-beta ✓ Nick O'Bannon-omega-mated to Hunt Wynorski (alpha) ✓ Lori Milligan-omega-mated to Janet Cunningham (alpha) ✓ Clear Rivers-alpha-mated to Terry Chaney (omega) ✓ Alex Browning-omega-mated to Carter Horton (alpha) ✓ Hunt Wynorski-alpha-mated to Nick O’Bannon (omega) ✓ Sam Lawton-omega-mated to Peter Friedkin (alpha) ✓ Agent Weine-beta ✓ Tod Waggner-beta ✓ Kimberly Corman-beta ✓ Shania McKlank-beta ✓ Lewis Romero-alpha ✓ Julie Christensen-beta ✓ Kevin Fischer-omega- mated to Ian McKinley (Alpha) ✓ Ian McKinley-alpha-mated to Kevin Fischer (Omega) ✓ Carrie Dreyer-alpha ✓ Janet Cunningham-alpha-mated to Lori Milligan (omega) ✓ Olivia Castle-alpha-mated to Molly Harper (Omega) ✓ Candice Hooper-beta ✓ Isaac Palmer-beta ✓ Agent Schreck-beta ✓ Wendy Christensen-omega-mated to Erin Ulmer (alpha) ✓ Terry Chaney-omega- mated to Clear Rivers (Alpha) ✓ Carter Horton-alpha- mated to Alex Browning (omega)

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theclubmap · 6 years

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8.11.2018 Eclectique x Art Bei Ton @ Griessmuehle

Verlosung 1×2 Gästeliste im Newsletter *R_1 (Eclectique#03) Blazej Malinowski (The Gods Planet / Semantica Records) Inner8 [LIVE] (Holotone) Mogano [LIVE] (Arboretum) Rell (Holotone / ZwischenWelten) Øblvn (ZwischenWelten) JakoJako [LIVE] (Schneidersladen) N’Ego [LIVE] (Eclectique) *R_Silos (Art Bei Ton) Justine Perry (Art Bei Ton) Space Exile (Art Bei Ton / Casanova Bar) Izzi Bizzi (Bipølar.) c l […]

Der Beitrag 8.11.2018 Eclectique x Art Bei Ton @ Griessmuehle erschien zuerst auf THE CLUBMAP.

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waywardsistersfunding-blog · 6 years

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432 Democratic Candidates for the US House of Representatives.

1 Robert Kennedy Jr (AL-01)

2 Tabitha Isner (AL-02)

3 Mallory Hagan (AL-03)

4 Lee Auman (AL-04)

5 Peter Joffrion (AL-05)

6 Danner Kline (AL-06)

7 Terri Sewell (AL-07) (Incumbent)

8 Alyse Galvin (AK at Large)

9 Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01) (Incumbent)

10 Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02)

11 Raul Grijalva (AZ-03) (Incumbent)

12 David Brill (AZ-04)

13 Joan Greene (AZ-05)

14 Anita Malik (AZ-06)

15 Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) (Incumbent)

16 Hiral Tipirneni (AZ-08)

17 Greg Stanton (AZ-09)

18 Chintan Desai (AR-01)

19 Clarke Tucker (AR-02)

20 Joshua Mahony (AR-3)

21 Hayden Shamel (AR-04)

22 Audrey Denney (CA-01)

23 Jared Huffman (CA-02) (Incumbent)

24 John Garamendi (CA-03) (Incumbent)

25 Jessica Morse (CA-04)

26 Mike Thompson (CA-05) (Incumbent)

27 Doris Matsui (CA-06) (Incumbent)

28 Ami Bera (CA-07) (Incumbent)

29 Jerry McNerney (CA-09) (Incumbent)

30 Josh Harder (CA-10)

31 Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) (Incumbent)

32 Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) (Incumbent)

33 Barbara Lee (CA-13) (Incumbent)

34 Jackie Speier (CA-14) (Incumbent)

35 Eric Swalwell (CA-15) (Incumbent)

36 Jim Costa (CA-16) (Incumbent)

37 Ro Khanna (CA-17) (Incumbent)

38 Anna Eshoo (CA-18) (Incumbent)

39 Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) (Incumbent)

40 Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) (Incumbent)

41 TJ Cox (CA-21)

42 Andrew Janz (CA-22)

43 Tatiana Matta (CA-23)

44 Salud Carbajal (CA-24) (Incumbent)

45 Katie Hill (CA-25)

46 Julia Brownley (CA-26) (Incumbent)

47 Judy Chu (CA-27) (Incumbent)

48 Adam Schiff (CA-28) (Incumbent)

49 Tony Cardenas (CA-29) (Incumbent)

50 Brad Sherman (CA-30) (Incumbent)

51 Pete Aguilar (CA-31) (Incumbent)

52 Grace Napolitano (CA-32) (Incumbent)

53 Ted Lieu (CA-33) (Incumbent)

54 Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) (Incumbent)

55 Norma Torres (CA-35) (Incumbent)

56 Raul Ruiz (CA-36) (Incumbent)

57 Karen Bass (CA-37) (Incumbent)

58 Linda Sanchez (CA-38) (Incumbent)

59 Gil Cisneros (CA-39)

60 Lucille Royal-Allard (CA-40) (Incumbent)

61 Mark Takano (CA-41) (Incumbent)

62 Julia Peacock (CA-42)

63 Maxine Waters (CA-43) (Incumbent)

64 Nanette Barragan (CA-44) (Incumbent)

65 Katie Porter (CA-45) (Incumbent)

66 Lou Correa (CA-46) (Incumbent)

67 Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) (Incumbent)

68 Harley Rouda (CA-48)

69 Mike Levin (CA-49)

70 Ammar Campa-Najjar (CA-50)

71 Juan Vargas (CA-51) (Incumbent)

72 Scott Peters (CA-52) (Incumbent)

73 Susan Davis (CA-53) (Incumbent)

74 Diana DeGette (CO-01) (Incumbent)

75 Joe Neguse (CO-02)

76 Diane Matsch Bush (CO-03)

77 Karen McCormick (CO-04)

78 Stephany Rose Spaulding (CO-05)

79 Jason Crow (CO-06)

80 Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) (Incumbent)

81 John Larson (CT-01) (Incumbent)

82 Joe Courtney (CT-02) (Incumbent)

83 Rose L. DeLauro (CT-03) (Incumbent)

84 Jim Himes (CT-04) (Incumbent)

85 Jahana Hayes (CT-05)

86 Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE At Large)

87 Jennifer Zimmerman (FL-01)

88 Bob Rackleff (FL-02)

89 Yvonne Hayes Hinson (FL-03)

90 Ges Belmont (FL-04)

91 Alfred Lawson (FL-05) (Incumbent)

92 Nancy Soderberg (FL-06)

93 Stephanie Murphy (FL-07) (Incumbent)

94 Sanjay Patel (FL-08)

95 Darren Soto (FL-09) (Incumbent)

96 Val Demings (FL-10) (Incumbent)

97 Dana Cottrell (FL-11)

98 Chris Hunter (FL-12)

99 Charlie Crist (FL-13) (Incumbent)

100 Kathy Castor (FL-14) (Incumbent)

101 Kristen Carlson (FL-15)

102 David Shapiro (FL-16)

103 April Freeman (FL-17)

104 Lauren Baer (FL-18)

105 David Holden (FL-19)

106 Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) (Incumbent)

107 Lois Frankel (FL-21) (Incumbent)

108 Theodore E. Deutch (FL-22) (Incumbent)

109 Debbie Wassermann Schultz (Fl-23) (Incumbent)

110 Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24) (Incumbent)

111 Mary Barzee Flores (Fl-25)

112 Debbie Murcarsel-Powell (FL-26)

113 Donna Shalala (FL-27)

114 Lisa Ring (GA-01)

115 Sanford Bishop Jr (GA-02)

116 Chuck Enderlin (GA-03)

117 Hank Johnson (GA-04) (Incumbent)

118 John Lewis (GA-05) (Incumbent)

119 Lucy McBath (GA-06)

120 Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-07)

121 Josh McCall (GA-09)

122 Tabitha Johnson-Green (GA-10)

123 Flynn Broady Jr (GA-11)

124 Francys Johnson (GA-12)

125 David Scott (GA-13) (Incumbent)

126 Steven Foster (GA-14)

127 Ed Case (HI-01)

128 Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)

129 Cristina McNeil (ID-01)

130 Aaron Swisher (ID-02)

131 Bobby Rush (IL-01) (Incumbent)

132 Robin Kelly (IL-02) (Incumbent)

133 Daniel Lipinski (IL-03) (Incumbent)

134 Jesus Garcia (IL-04)

135 Tom Hanson (IL-05)

136 Sean Casten (IL-06)

137 Danny K. Davis (IL-07) (Incumbent)

138 Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) (Incumbent)

139 Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) (Incumbent)

140 Brad Schneider (IL-10) (Incumbent)

141 Bill Foster (IL-11) (Incumbent)

142 Brendan Kelly (IL-12)

143 Betsy Londrigan (IL-13)

144 Lauren Underwood (IL-14)

145 Kevin Gaither (IL-15)

146 Sara Dady (IL-16)

147 Cheri Bustos (IL-17) (Incumbent)

148 Junius Rodriguez (IL-18)

149 Peter Visclosky (IN-01) (Incumbent)

150 Mel Hall (IN-02)

151 Courtney Tritch (IN-03)

152 Tobi Beck (IN-04)

153 Dee Thornton (IN-05)

154 Jeannine Lee Lake (IN-06)

155 Andre Carlson (IN-07) (Incumbent)

156 William Tanoos (IN-08)

157 Liz Watson (IN-09)

158 Abby Finkenauer (IA-01)

159 Dave Loebsack (IA-02) (Incumbent)

160 Cindy Axne (IA-03)

161 J.D. Scholten (IA-04)

162 Alan LaPolice (KS-01)

163 Paul Davis (KS-02)

164 Sharice Davids (KS-03)

165 James Thompson (KS-04)

166 Paul Walker (KY-01)

167 Hank Linderman (KY-02)

168 John Yarmuth (KY-03) (Incumbent)

169 Seth Hall (KY-04)

170 Kenneth Stepp (KY-05)

171 Amy McGrath (KY-06)

172 Tammy Savoie (LA-01)

173 Cedric Richmond (LA-02) (Incumbent)

174 Mildred “Mimi” Methvin (LA-03)

175 Ryan Trundle (LA-04)

176 Jessee Carlton Fleenor (LA-05)

177 Andie Saizan (LA-06)

178 Chellie Pingree (ME-01) (Incumbent)

179 Jared Golden (ME-02)

180 Jesse Colvin (MD-01)

181 Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02) (Incumbent)

182 John Sarbanes (MD-03) (Incumbent)

183 Anthony Brown (MD-04) (Incumbent)

184 Steny Hoyer (MD-05) (Incumbent)

185 David Trone (MD-06)

186 Elijah Cummings (MD-07) (Incumbent)

187 Jamie Raskin (MD-08) (Incumbent)

188 Richard Neal (MA-01) (Incumbent)

189 Jim McGovern (MA-02) (Incumbent)

190 Lori Trahan (MA-03)

191 Joseph Kennedy III (MA-04) (Incumbent)

192 Katherine Clark (MA-05) (Incumbent)

193 Seth Moulton (MA-06) (Incumbent)

194 Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

195 Stephen Lynch (MA-08) (Incumbent)

196 Bill Keating (MA-09) (Incumbent)

197 Matthew Morgan (MI-01)

198 Rob Davidson (MI-02)

199 Cathy Albro (MI-03)

200 Jerry Hilliard (MI-04)

201 Dan Kildee (MI-05)

202 Matt Longjohn (MI-06)

203 Gretchen Driskell (MI-07)

204 Elissa Slotkin (MI-08)

205 Andy Levin (MI-09)

206 Kimberly Bizon (MI-10)

207 Haley Stevens (MI-11)

208 Debbie Dinkel (MI-12) (Incumbent)

209 Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)

210 Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) (Incumbent)

211 Dan Feehan (MN-01)

212 Angie Craig (MN-02)

213 Dean Phillips (MN-03)

214 Betty McCollum (MN-04) (Incumbent)

215 Ilhan Omar (MN-05)

216 Ian Todd (MN-06)

217 Collin Peterson (MN-07) (Incumbent)

218 Joe Radinovich (MN-08)

219 Randy Wadkins (MS-01)

220 Bernie Thompson (MS-02) (Incumbent)

221 Michael Evans (MS-03)

222 Jeramey Anderson (MS-04)

223 William Lacy Clay (MO-01) (Incumbent)

224 Cort VanOstran (MO-02)

225 Katy Geppert (MO-03)

226 Renee Hoagenson (MO-04)

227 Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05) (Incumbent)

228 Henry Martin (MO-06)

229 Jamie Schoolcraft (MO-07)

230 Kathy Ellis (MO-08)

231 Kathleen Williams (MT At Large)

232 Jessica McClure (NE-01)

233 Kara Eastman (NE-02)

234 Paul Theobald (NE-03)

235 Dina Titus (NV-01) (Incumbent)

236 Clint Koble (NV-02)

237 Susie Lee (NV-03)

238 Steven Horsford (NV-04)

239 Chris Pappas (NH-01)

240 Annie Kuster (NH-02) (Incumbent)

241 Donald Norcross (NJ-01) (Incumbent)

242 Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02)

243 Andrew Kim (NJ-03)

244 Josh Welle (NJ-04)

245 Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) (Incumbent)

246 Frank Pallone (NJ-06) (Incumbent)

247 Tom Malinowski (NJ-07)

248 Albio Sires (NJ-08) (Incumbent)

249 Bill Pascrell (NJ-09) (Incumbent)

250 Donald Payne Jr (NJ-10) (Incumbent)

251 Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)

252 Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) (incumbent)

253 Debra Haland (NM-01)

254 Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02)

255 Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03) (Incumbent)

256 Perry Gershon (NY-01)

257 Liuba Greggen Shirley (NY-02)

258 Tom Suozzi (NY-03) (Incumbent)

259 Kathleen Rice (NY-04) (Incumbent)

260 Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05) (Incumbent)

261 Grace Meng (NY-06) (Incumbent)

262 Nydia Velazquez (NY-07) (Incumbent)

263 Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) (Incumbent)

264 Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) (Incumbent)

265 Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) (Incumbent)

266 Max Rose (NY-11)

267 Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) (Incumbent)

268 Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) (Incumbent)

269 Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)

270 Jose Serrano (NY-15) (Incumbent)

271 Eliot Engel (NY-16) (Incumbent)

272 Nita Lowey (NY-17) (Incumbent)

273 Sean Maloney (NY-18) (Incumbent)

274 Antonio Delgado (NY-19)

275 Paul Tonko (NY-20) (Incumbent)

276 Tedra Cobb (NY-21)

277 Anthony Brindisi (NY-22)

278 Tracy Mitrano (NY-23)

279 Dana Balter (NY-24)

280 Joseph Morelle (NY-25)

281 Brian Higgins (NY-26) (Incumbent)

282 Nate McMurray (NY-27)

283 G.K. Butterfield (NC-01)

284 Linda Coleman (NC-02)

285 David Price (NC-04) (Incumbent)

286 Denise Adams (NC-05)

287 Ryan Watts (NC-06)

288 Kyle Horton (NC-07)

289 Frank McNeill (NC-08)

290 Dan McCready (NC-09)

291 David Wilson Brown (NC-10)

292 Phillip Price (NC-11)

293 Alma Adams (NC-12) (Incumbent)

294 Kathy Manning (NC-13)

295 Mac Schneider (ND At Large)

296 Aftab Pureval (OH-01)

297 Jill Schiller (OH-02)

298 Joyce Beatty (OH-03) (Incumbent)

299 Janet Garrett (OH-04)

300 John Michael Galbraith (OH-05)

301 Shawna Roberts (OH-06)

302 Ken Harbaugh (OH-07)

303 Vanessa Enoch (OH-08)

304 Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) (Incumbent)

305 Theresa Gasper (OH-10)

306 Marcia Fudge (OH-11) (Incumbent)

307 Danny O’Connor (OH-12)

308 Tim Ryan (OH-13) (Incumbent)

309 Betsy Rader (OH-14)

310 Rick Neal (OH-15)

311 Susan Moran Palmer (OH-16)

312 Tim Gilpin (OK-01)

313 Jason Nichols (OK-02)

314 Frankie Robbins (OK-03)

315 Mary Brannon (OK-04)

316 Kendra Horn (OK-05)

317 Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) (Incumbent)

318 Jamie McLeod Skinner (OR-02)

319 Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) (Incumbent)

320 Peter DeFazio (OR-04) (Incumbent)

321 Kurt Schrader (OR-05) (Incumbent)

322 Scott Wallace (PA-01)

323 Brendan Doyle (PA-02) (Incumbent)

324 Dwight Evans (PA-03) (Incumbent)

325 Madeleine Dean (PA-04)

326 Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05)

327 Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06)

328 Susan Wild (PA-07)

329 Matt Cartwright (PA-08) (Incumbent)

330 Denny Wolff (PA-09)

331 George Scott (PA-10)

332 Jessica King (PA-11)

333 Marc Friedenberg (PA-12)

334 Brent Ottaway (PA-13)

335 Bibiana Berio (PA-14)

336 Susan Boser (PA-15)

337 Ronald DiNicola (PA-16)

338 Conor Lamb (PA-17)

339 Michael Doyle (PA-18) (Incumbent)

340 David N. Cicilline (RI-01) (Incumbent)

341 Jim Langevin (RI-02) (Incumbent)

342 Joe Cunningham (SC-01)

343 Sean Carrigan (SC-02)

344 Mary Geren (SC-03)

345 Brandon Brown (SC-04)

346 Archie Parnell (SC-05)

347 James Clyburn (SC-06) (Incumbent)

348 Robert Williams (SC-07)

349 Timothy Bjorkman (SD At Large)

350 Marty Olsen (TN-01)

351 Renee Hoyos (TN-02)

352 Danielle Mitchell (TN-03)

353 Mariah Phillips (TN-04)

354 Jim Cooper (TN-05) (Incumbent)

355 Dawn Barlow (TN-06)

356 Justin Kanew (TN-07)

357 Erika Stotts Pearson (TN-08)

358 Steve Cohen (TN-09) (Incumbent)

359 Shirley McKellar (TX-01)

360 Todd Litton (TX-02)

361 Lorie Burch (TX-03)

362 Catherine Krantz (TX-04)

363 Dan Wood (TX-05)

364 Jana Lynne Sanchez (TX-06)

365 Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (TX-07)

366 Steven David (TX-08)

367 Al Green (TX-09) (Incumbent)

368 Mike Siegel (TX-10)

369 Jennie Lou Leeder (TX-11)

370 Vanessa Adia (TX-12)

371 Greg Sagan (TX-13)

372 Adrienne Bell (TX-14)

373 Vincente Gonzalez (TX-15)

374 Veronica Escobar (TX-16)

375 Rick Kennedy (TX-17)

376 Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

377 Miguel Levario (TX-19)

378 Joaquin Castro (TX-20) (Incumbent)

379 Joseph Kopser (TX-21)

380 Sri Preston Kulkarni (TX-22)

381 Gina Ortiz Jones (TX-23)

382 Jan McDowell (TX-24)

383 Julie Oliver (TX-25)

384 Linsey Fagan (TX-26)

385 Eric Holguin (TX-27)

386 Henry Cuellar (TX-28) (Incumbent)

387 Sylvia Garcia (TX-29)

388 Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30) (Incumbent)

389 Mary Jennings “MJ” Hegar (TX-31)

390 Colin Allred (TX-32)

391 Marc Veasey (TX-33) (Incumbent)

392 Filemon Vela (TX-34) (Incumbent)

393 Lloyd Doggett (TX-35) (Incumbent)

394 Dayna Steele (TX-36)

395 Lee Castillo (UT-01)

396 Shireen Ghorbani (UT-02)

397 James Singer (UT-03)

398 Ben McAdams (UT-04)

399 Peter Welch (VT At Large) (Incumbent)

400 Vangie Williams (VA-01)

401 Elaine Luria (VA-02)

402 Bobby Scott (VA-03) (Incumbent)

403 Aston Donald McEachin (VA-04)

404 Leslie Cockburn (VA-05)

405 Jennifer Lewis (VA-06)

406 Abigail Spanberger (VA-07)

407 Don Beyer (VA-08) (Incumbent)

408 Anthony Flaccavento (VA-09)

409 Jennifer Wexton (VA-10)

410 Gerald Connolly (VA-11) (Incumbent))

411 Suzan DelBene (WA-01) (Incumbent)

412 Rick Larsen (WA-02) (Incumbent)

413 Carolyn Long (WA-03)

414 Christine Brown (WA-04)

415 Lisa Brown (WA-05)

416 Derek Kilmer (WA-06) (Incumbent)

417 Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) (Incumbent)

418 Kim Schrier (WA-08)

419 Sarah Smith (WA-09)

420 Denny Heck (WA-10) (Incumbent)

421 Kendra Fershee (WV-01)

422 Talley Sergent (WV-02)

423 Richard Ojeda (WV-03)

424 Randy Bryce (WI-01)

425 Mark Pocan (WI-02) (Incumbent)

426 Ronald ”Ron” Kind (WI-03) (Incumbent)

427 Gwen Moore (WI-04) (Incumbent)

428 Tom Palzewicz (WI-05)

429 Dan Kohl (WI-06)

430 Margaret Engebretson (WI-07)

431 Beau Liegeois (WI-08)

432 Greg Hunter (WY At Large)

(There are 435 seats in the US House of Representatives. Three seats this cycle (CA-08, GA-08 and NC-03) do not have a Democratic candidate on the ballot.)

vote.gov

#voting #us politics #midterms #democrats #democracy #USA #Nov6th2018 #US House of Representatives #US Congress #WhenWeAllVote #2018 Midterm Elections #Democratic Party #VOTE

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thisdaynews · 5 years

Text

‘This is going to do lasting damage’: Impeachment leaves Ukraine policy in chaos

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/this-is-going-to-do-lasting-damage-impeachment-leaves-ukraine-policy-in-chaos/

‘This is going to do lasting damage’: Impeachment leaves Ukraine policy in chaos

U.S. policy toward Ukraine is in shambles, lawmakers and foreign policy experts say, as House Democrats barrel along with an impeachment probe that began with an anonymous whistleblower’s complaint and has ballooned into the most serious threat so far to Donald Trump’s presidency.

“This is going to do lasting damage,” said Andrew Weiss, who headed up Ukraine policy on the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. “For the last five years it was a given that the U.S. had Ukraine’s back,” he said. “Now that’s going to be far more complicated, with a lot more distrust and a lot more scrutiny.”

The impeachment inquiry, now entering its second month, began after Democrats secured the release of an anonymous whistleblower’s complaint alleging that President Donald Trump had pressed Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky to investigate his chief campaign rival on a July 25 phone call.

Officials in Kyiv are now wondering who they can trust in Washington — especially given the recent departures of several of their American interlocutors, including former special envoy Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Masha Yovanovitch, and former senior director for European and Russian Affairs Fiona Hill.

Volker, along with ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, was one of the self-dubbed “three amigos” who worked with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to run what State Department officials have described as a shadow foreign policy that crossed ethical and possibly legal boundaries.

And the acting ambassador who replaced Yovanovitch, Bill Taylor, has just landed back in Kyiv after delivering explosive testimony that accused President Trump of leaning on Zelensky to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden and “get to the bottom” of Ukraine’s supposed interference in the 2016 election.

On Friday, President Trump attacked his own top diplomat in Kyiv — Taylor, a Vietnam veteran who was first appointed ambassador by George W. Bush — as a “Never Trumper.” Reminded that Pompeo had brought Taylor out of retirement after Yovanovitch was recalled from Ukraine, Trump said, “Everybody makes mistakes.”

Ukrainian officials have said publicly that nothing is amiss, but private accounts — including Taylor’s testimony, which detailed his interactions with his disturbed counterparts in Kyiv — have indicated otherwise.

One continuing source of anxiety in Kyiv is the military assistance aid Trump allegedly held up in an effort to pressure Zelenksy — aid that was renewed when Taylor and lawmakers from both parties raised alarms inside the administration.

Some of President Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill have erupted in anger over the withholding of the security funds, even as they’ve complained that Democrats are running an illegitimate and unfair impeachment process.

In a continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21, Congress approved extending for another year $250 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds that were set to expire on Sept. 30. Trump signed the CR late last month, but Ukrainians are still apprehensive about the funds “going through without a hitch,” according to Andrij Dobriansky, a representative for the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

“Kyiv is in wait-and-see mode,” said Michael Carpenter, a former Pentagon official with responsibility for Russia and Ukraine under President Obama.

As Taylor noted in his opening statement, Ukraine remains in active hostilities with Russia. “Ambassador Volker and I could see the armed and hostile Russian-led forces on the other side of the damaged bridge across the line of contact,” Taylor said, recalling a trip to the front line in northern Donbass in July. “Over 13,000 Ukrainians had been killed in the war, one or two a week,” he continued. “More Ukrainians would undoubtedly die without the U.S. assistance.”

Several senior officials with a Ukraine portfolio have either testified in the impeachment probe or plan to do so are still in government, in addition to Taylor: Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent; Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Phil Reeker; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Laura Cooper; and Tim Morrison, Hill’s replacement on the NSC.

Taylor is still carrying out his duties as usual, his lawyers told POLITICO. But Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he worries “there isn’t any energy” behind the default U.S. policy of support for Ukraine right now, “and that the remaining key actors are going to tread very carefully.”

John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, said he believes the basic process of formulating Ukraine policy, starting at the deputy assistant secretary and assistant secretary level at the State Department, DOD and the NSC and moving up the chain to the head of each institution is still in place.

But he singled out Volker’s focus on negotiating a settlement to the war in eastern Ukraine as an area of special concern, given the envoy’s sudden departure.

“One thing that requires constant attention is the Minsk process,” Herbst said. “Volker’s resignation is really unfortunate in that context, but I think steps are being taken now to replace him.”

The Minsk process refers to negotiations that have been underway since 2014 to end the war with Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Zelensky announced on Oct. 1 that he had signed on to the so-called Steinmeier formula, a German-led road map to ceasing hostilities that many in Ukraine reject as a capitulation to Moscow.

The Trump administration would not answer basic questions about where Ukraine policy stands now and who is in charge of it. Officials at the National Security Council and U.S. Embassy to the E.U. referred requests for comment to the State Department, which did not respond to multiple inquiries.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bristled this week at a local reporter’s questions about the impeachment hearings.

Asked what he did with a cable from Taylor expressing his concerns about what he described as the “irregular channel,” Pompeo said he was “not going to talk about [the] inquiry this morning” and reiterated that Democrats were not allowing State Department lawyers to sit in on depositions.

“It’s not fair,” said Pompeo, who is contemplating running for Senate in his home state of Kansas. “I get notes from people in Kansas all the time saying it’s not right, they think it’s unfair too.”

Daniel Fried, a longtime State Department official who travels frequently to Ukraine as a fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the Ukrainians “universally think it’s bad news that Volker left, because they trusted him. And who would take his job now, knowing there might be some backchannel undoing you?” (The Atlantic Council has taken money from Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden once sat.)

Upon stepping down, Volker recommended a career officer with no previous involvement in Ukraine policy to replace him, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions.

That is primarily because Volker didn’t think it would be possible to convince someone outside government with relevant experience in Kyiv to take it on, this person said, and it’s not clear whether they’ve agreed to take the job.

“Nobody wants to touch” Ukraine policy now “given the political environment,” they said. “So it’s kind of a vacuum, which is terrible for Ukraine, and good for Russia.”

The vacuum in U.S. Eurasia policy extends all the way to Moscow, where departing ambassador Jon Huntsman has yet to be replaced by John Sullivan, the president’s proposed nominee. A confirmation hearing for Sullivan, currently the deputy secretary of state, has not yet been scheduled by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a committee spokesperson said.

William Burns, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former deputy secretary of state, said that “a dysfunctional Ukraine” will be looked upon fondly by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We’ve contributed to that as well, and Putin becomes one of the big winners.”

Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.

#Foreign #policy #Politics #Ukraine

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dani-qrt · 6 years

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Democrats beat vote quirk to challenge Republicans in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif./PRINCETON, N.J. (Reuters) – California Democrats overcame quirks in the state’s electoral system and managed to mount challenges to Republicans in most key Congressional races, as voters in eight U.S. states chose candidates for November’s midterm elections.

The state’s unusual system for choosing candidates, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the election regardless of party, had raised the prospect of Democrats being locked out of competitive polls in conservative suburbs south of Los Angeles.

In some areas, the large number of Democratic candidates risked splintering the party’s vote – though the same quirk also threatened to eliminate Republican John Cox from the race for Governor.

In the end, Democratic candidates made it through to the final vote, as did Cox.

“One party rule in Sacramento is bad enough,” said Cox, referring to the Democrats’ dominance of the legislature and all statewide officers. “But one-party elections is just plain un-American.”

Democrats, buoyed by President Donald Trump’s poor approval ratings and a string of victories in special elections, hope to gain a majority in the 435-seat U.S. House of Representatives by flipping 23 seats this fall. The party has targeted more than a dozen Republican-held seats in California and New Jersey alone.

Control of the House would likely stall much of Republican President Donald Trump’s policy agenda, while ushering a new era of committee oversight and investigation into the administration.

A power shift would also lend strength to any potential effort to impeach Trump if Democrats decide grounds exist, either by virtue of the ongoing probe into Russian election interference by special counsel Robert Mueller or other reasons.

California is seen as key to the eventual outcome in November. Democrats have taken aim at 10 of the 14 House seats held by Republicans.

But strong turnouts by Republicans voters in all of the districts underscore the challenges that Democrats will face in trying to win in the conservative areas that they have targeted in suburban areas near Los Angeles and Sacramento, and in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley.

The battle for a place on the final ballot was particularly dramatic in the 48th Congressional District, where voters chose Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump in the 2016 presidential election but re-elected longtime Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher.

FILE PHOTO: California gubernatorial candidate, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a campaign rally in Burbank, California, U.S. May 30, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

So many Democrats were vying to challenge Rohrabacher that they divided their party’s vote. With 414 of 415 precincts reporting early Wednesday, Rohrabacher easily won a spot on the November ballot. Two Democrats, Harley Rouda and Hans Keirstead, were next, separated by fewer than 100 votes, leaving the race too close to call.

About 1,000 votes behind the two Democrats was Republican Scott Baugh. If the final tally puts him ahead of them, it could set up a general election fight between Rohrabacher and his fellow Republican, ending Democrats’ chances to take that seat.

In the race for Governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom’s first-place finish over a field of 27 candidates was expected. But it is Cox’s presence as the second candidate to advance to the November ballot that could color the race. Republicans hope he will spur supporters to come out and vote in greater numbers, possibly improving the party’s chances in Congressional races.

In New Jersey, establishment-backed Democrats muscled past liberal challengers in key New Jersey congressional races on Tuesday, setting up contests in November that will test the question of whether more moderate candidates will fare better against Republicans in swing districts.

In southern New Jersey, where the retirement of a longtime Republican incumbent gave Democrats an opening, state Sen. Jeff Van Drew, a conservative Democrat, appeared set to prevail over left-leaning candidates frustrated by his past votes against same-sex marriage and minimum wage increases.

He will face Republican Seth Grossman, a former city and county official, who emerged from a four-way contest.

In a suburban New Jersey district, former Obama official Tom Malinowski was well ahead of two Democrats backed by independent liberal groups and will take on the moderate Republican Leonard Lance in what is expected to be a competitive race.

Democrats also hope to capture two other Republican-held seats in the state.

Republicans control both chambers of Congress. While Democrats need only a net total of two seats to take command of the Senate, Democratic senators must defend a bevy of seats in rural states such as Indiana, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia that supported Trump two years ago.

Slideshow (11 Images)

Voters on Tuesday also went to the polls to choose candidates in primaries in Iowa, Mississippi, Alabama, Montana, South Dakota and New Mexico.

A number of women won Democratic contests, continuing a trend that began earlier this year. Women will represent the party in key House races in Iowa, New Jersey and New Mexico, based on Tuesday’s results.

Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California, Joseph Ax in Princeton, New Jersey, Yeganeh Torbati in Orange County and Jennifer McEntee in San Diego; Additional reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Osterman, Michael Perry and Andrew Heavens

The post Democrats beat vote quirk to challenge Republicans in California appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2swJvkb via Online News

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