Week in Review:
Friday afternoon the three House committees leading Democrats’ impeachment inquiry requested documents from Vice President Mike Pence regarding his role in President Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.
“Your failure or refusal to comply with the request, including at the direction of or behest of the president or the White House, shall constitute evidence of obstruction of justice of the House’s impeachment inquiry and may be used as an adverse inference against you and the president,” wrote House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York and Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings of Maryland.
This is the latest in a series of requests to administration officials who may have been involved in reaching out to the Ukrainian government, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is set to miss an October 4 subpoena deadline by the committees after he refused to voluntarily turn over the information to Democrats.
“Secretary Pompeo was reportedly on the call when the president pressed Ukraine to smear his political opponent. If true, Secretary Pompeo is now a fact witness in the House impeachment inquiry. He should immediately cease intimidating department witnesses in order to protect himself and the president,” the three chairmen wrote.
State official speaks
The State Department’s former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, who abruptly stepped down last week, spent more than nine hours testifying Thursday on Capitol Hill. In the closed-door meeting, lawmakers discovered that diplomats managing the U.S. relationship with Ukraine spent weeks trying to persuade the Ukranian government to announce it would open investigations into Burisma, an energy company that hired Joe Biden’s son Hunter in 2014.
Volker also revealed in his testimony that with the guidance of President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, he and the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, worked on a statement for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to commit Ukraine to pursue the investigations.
“I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” wrote William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, to Sonland in a text exchange revealed Thursday night.
Earlier in the day, President Trump openly admitted that he wanted Zelensky to investigate Biden and his son Hunter when pressed by a reporter about what he hoped would happen after a July 25 call with the Ukrainian president.
“I would think if they were honest about it they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said.
“Face the Nation” Guest Lineup:
- Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel, D-New York, (@RepEliotEngel) will join us
- We’ll talk to Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, (@jahimes)
- We’ll hear from Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri (@RoyBlunt)
- Bob Woodward (@realBobWoodward) and Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) will join us for analysis on the impeachment inquiry
And as always, we’ll turn to our panel for some perspective on the week that was:
- Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru), of the National Review
- Susan Page (@SusanPage) of USA Today
- Julie Hirschfeld Davis (@juliehdavis) of The New York Times
- CBS News Political Analyst Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) of The New York Times
How to watch “Face the Nation”
- Date: Sunday, October 6, 2019
- TV: “Face the Nation” airs Sunday mornings on CBS. Click here for your local listings
- Radio: Subscribe to “Face the Nation” from CBS Radio News to listen on-the-go
- Free online stream: Watch a rebroadcast of the show on CBS’ streaming neCBSN at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET.
With the latest news and analysis from Washington, don’t miss Margaret Brennan (@margbrennan) this Sunday on “Face the Nation” (@FaceTheNation).
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