GOP briefed on impeachment trial
The swift-moving impeachment probe pushed onwards yesterday as a former top State Department aide testified that the Trump Administration’s politicisation of foreign policy contributed to his resignation.
Meanwhile, the Senate GOP leader briefed colleagues on a possible Christmas impeachment trial.
The day’s events churned as longtime State Department officials spoke out under subpoena — some revealing striking new details — about the actions Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani took towards Ukraine that have sparked the House impeachment inquiry.
Michael McKinley, a career foreign service officer and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s de facto chief of staff, told investigators behind closed doors that he could no longer look the other way amid the Trump Administration’s dealings with Ukraine, which were among the reasons he ended his 37-year career last week, according to multiple people familiar with the testimony.
“I was disturbed by the implication that foreign governments were being approached to procure negative information on political opponents,” McKinley testified, according to a former colleague.
The impeachment inquiry revolves around a whistleblower’s complaint that Trump was pushing Ukraine’s leader into opening an investigation of a company connected to the son of Trump’s potential 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden. It is illegal to solicit or receive foreign help in a US election.
Among McKinley’s concerns was the Administration’s failure to support Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who was ousted in March on orders from Trump.
Republicans are crying foul over the process of the impeachment inquiry, but as House Democrats press on with the investigation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell briefed Republicans about the possible trial ahead.
McConnell warned of a possible House impeachment vote by the end of next month that would force a trial in the Senate, likely by Christmas. He used slides and history lessons during a private Senate GOP lunch.