OnPolitics: China, are you listening?
It's the 10th day of the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. There's a lot that's happened. Here's what you need to know.
Late Thursday night, a batch of text messages was released that showed U.S. diplomats engaging in a "months-long effort to push Ukraine's newly elected president to publicly promise he would order an investigation into Joe Biden's son and also probe a conspiracy theory about Ukraine's alleged role in the 2016 U.S. election." (As you likely remember, a whistleblower complaint related to Trump asking the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden and his son is how this whole impeachment inquiry got off the ground.)
In exchange, the diplomats believed Trump would reward Ukraine's president with a meeting and the $400 million in U.S. military aid that Trump had put on hold.
The text messages were released after hours-long testimony by former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker. Volker's text messages were included in the release, and he resigned his envoy position last week after being subpoenaed. His testimony is the first related to the impeachment inquiry.
Earlier Thursday, Trump stood on the South Lawn at the White House and reiterated that Ukraine should investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, but added that China should, too. And then Vice President Mike Pence backed him up on a visit to Arizona.
Elsewhere, House Democrats and Trump administration officials have been in a tug-of-war all week. After previously side-stepping questions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted Wednesday that he was listening in on the president's July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy. That's the phone call that prompted the whistleblower complaint.
House Democrats want to depose five State Department employees and are seeking documents and interviews with officials who might be able to detail the department's role in connecting the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, with Ukrainian officials. Pompeo has pushed back against those requests, calling them an "attempt to intimidate, bully and treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State."
One looming question: As the impeachment inquiry moves forward, does any of this really matter to the American people? A USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll released this week shows that a plurality of Americans (45%) support a vote by the House of Representatives to impeach Trump. On the flip side, 38% percent do not support it.
Got all that? Good job, you.
This week in 2020
Yes, there is still a Democratic primary happening.
In a scary moment on the trail, Sen. Bernie Sanders was having chest pain, and had surgery to put two stents in his heart. The good news: He's on the mend, and planning to be at the debate later this month.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has been pushing back against Trump, saying he's not going anywhere, and, yes, his son Hunter will be a part of his campaign.
On the polling front, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in the lead in the latest Monmouth Poll, but support for Trump remains unchanged since the impeachment inquiry.
As always, thanks for reading. Maybe put your phone down for a few hours this weekend. — Annah Aschbrenner
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: OnPolitics: China, are you listening?
