memeorandum: Nikki Haley Used System for Unclassified Material to Send ‘Confidential’ Information (Christopher Dickey/The Daily Beast)

11:30 AM ET, November 20, 2019

Top Items:

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Sondland Kept Pompeo Informed on Ukraine Pressure Campaign — The diplomat at the center of the impeachment inquiry looped in the secretary of state at key moments as American officials pushed for investigations sought by President Trump. — WASHINGTON — Gordon D. Sondland …

Discussion: Vox, CNN, Talking Points Memo, The American Independent, Common Dreams, Hullabaloo, The Week, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Mediaite, Roll Call, Raw Story, Just Security and Washington Post

Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:

Sondland Will Trash Rudy in Impeachment Hearing — “We weren't happy with the President's directive to talk with Rudy,” he said. “We did not want to involve Mr. Giuliani.” — U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is set to throw Rudy Giuliani under the bus when he testifies to Congress this morning.

Discussion: Townhall, The Hill, Raw Story, Contemptor, POLITICUSUSA and Axios

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

'It doesn't matter': House Republicans embrace ‘quid pro quo’ — After saying they could not accept a quid pro quo, House Republicans say it no longer matters if President Trump tied $400 million in military aid earmarked for Ukraine to Kyiv agreeing to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Discussion: The American Independent and Raw Story

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

The Spectacular Failure of the Trump Wranglers — Kurt Volker and many others tried to manage the President. Impeachment is the result. — On Tuesday, nearly seven hours into the marathon third day of public impeachment hearings, Kurt Volker tried to explain to the House Intelligence Committee …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and Mother Jones

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

Sondland acknowledges there was a ‘quid pro quo’ involving Ukraine — Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified Wednesday more bluntly than he had before that President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, sought to condition a White House invite for Ukraine's new president to demands …

Discussion: Breitbart, Metro.co.uk, Mediaite and Law & Crime

Ari Feldman / The Forward:

Alexander Vindman's Family Under 24-Hour Security Monitoring After Twitter Targeting By Trump — The Army has placed Alexander Vindman, an expert on Ukraine and a central figure in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, and his family under 24-hour security monitoring …

Discussion: Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, PEN, Raw Story, Redstate, The Week, The Atlantic, Joe.My.God., The Daily Beast and Mediaite

Josh Lederman / NBC News:

Sondland testimony targets Trump, Pompeo and confirms deal with Ukraine — The ambassador is testifying before the House Intelligence Committee and will be revealing emails and texts to back up his claims. — WASHINGTON — Gordon Sondland, the American ambassador to the E.U. …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Joe.My.God. and MSNBC

Peter Baker / New York Times:

A White House Now ‘Cannibalizing Itself’ — “On July 25th, along with several of my colleagues, I listened to a call between President Trump and President Zelensky, the content of which has since been publicly reported. I found the July 25th phone call unusual because in contrast …

Discussion: Press Watch, CNN and KBJR 6

The Daily Beast:

Trump White House Blasts Out Anti-Vindman Talking Points to Surrogates — It is the latest attack from the president's team on one of his employees. — The Trump White House has taken the extraordinary step of distributing talking points to allies of the president trashing one of its employees.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, PEN, Joe.My.God., Deseret News, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story and Bloomberg

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

‘The answer is yes’: Sondland affirms ‘quid pro quo’ in Ukraine dealings — President Donald Trump's handpicked Ukraine adviser Gordon Sondland said Trump conditioned a valuable White House meeting for Ukraine's new president on his willingness to launch investigations into Trump's Democratic adversaries …

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press, New Republic, Politico, The Dispatch, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and New York Times

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

How Republicans' star impeachment witness turned on them — (CNN)Former US Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker was widely seen as Republicans' impeachment ace in the hole. On Tuesday on Capitol Hill, it didn't work out that way. — Volker's opening statement repeatedly acknowledged …

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Impeachment hearings live updates: Trump lashes out as Sondland acknowledges there was a ‘quid pro quo’ — President Trump lashed out anew at the Democrat-lead impeachment inquiry Wednesday as Gordon Sondland, the most significant witnesses to date, acknowledged there was a “quid pro quo” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Impeachment's trench warfare

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Mediaite and The Daily Beast

The Daily Beast: Sondland Was Talking to Zelensky Allies About Biden Investigations in Mid-May

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
A very bad impeachment hearings day for Donald Trump

Discussion: The Atlantic and Breitbart

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Ken Starr: GOP Senators Might Consider Having to ‘Make a Trip’ to the White House After Sondland's Testimony

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

Josh Hammer / New York Post:
Alexander Vindman condemned himself in his impeachment testimony

Discussion: Fox News

CBS News:
Sondland says Pompeo knew of “quid pro quo” scheme for Ukraine investigations

Discussion: Political Wire, ABC News and Breitbart

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Lou Dobbs Guest Mocks Vindman: He's a ‘Deep State Crybaby’

Discussion: Washington Post and Contemptor

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Republicans should have thought twice before calling Volker and Morrison

Discussion: Vox, Taylor Marsh and CNN

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
Who is Gordon Sondland? How is he involved in the impeachment inquiry?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Fox News

Adam Edelman / NBC News: 10 things we learned from a marathon day of impeachment testimony

Washington Post:
Even Republicans' preferred witnesses are implicating Trump

Discussion: New York Times

Washington Post:
‘Comes down to one guy’: In impeachment probe, all eyes turn to Gordon Sondland

Discussion: Politico and The Week

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Sondland testimony could be pivotal point of impeachment showdown

Discussion: Vox, FOX31 Denver and FOX2now.com

Associated Press:
Ukrainian gas executive cooperating in US probe of Giuliani

Discussion: Axios, CNN, The Hill, Washington Post, Raw Story, Politico, POLITICUSUSA and The American Independent

Los Angeles Times:
$35 million in Pentagon aid hasn't reached Ukraine, despite White House assurances

Discussion: IJR, The Week, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Axios

Andrew Clevenger / Roll Call:
What to wear? Republicans flag Vindman's sartorial choice

Discussion: Althouse

Yahoo News:

FBI seeks interview with CIA whistleblower — WASHINGTON — The FBI recently sought to question the CIA whistleblower who filed a complaint over President Trump's July 25 Ukraine call — a move that came after a vigorous internal debate within the bureau over how to respond to some of the issues raised …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Christopher Dickey / The Daily Beast:

Nikki Haley Used System for Unclassified Material to Send ‘Confidential’ Information — Newly released emails suggest that in 2017 the then-ambassador lost her password for classified communication and so used a different system. — North Korea had just tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable …

Discussion: One America News Network and Raw Story

Kerry Picket / Washington Examiner:

‘Bro-like’: Schiff aide was White House friend of alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella — Alleged Ukraine whistleblower Eric Ciaramella was close friends at the White House with an official who is now a key aide to Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman leading the Democratic push to impeach President Trump.

Discussion: Redstate

Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:
Schiff's claim that the whistleblower has a ‘statutory right’ to anonymity

Discussion: Just Security, The Hill and Redstate

Ady Barkan / The Nation:

Why I'm Endorsing Elizabeth Warren — Elizabeth or Bernie? It's a difficult and wonderful choice to have. — I have spent my entire career at the messy and vital intersection of movement-building, electoral politics, and governance. And for the past three years, I've done that work under …

Discussion: CNN

Akela Lacy / The Intercept:

As President, Pete Buttigieg Wants to Give 25 Percent of Federal Contracts to Minorities. As Mayor, He Gave 3 Percent. — One of the main tenets of Pete Buttigieg's plan to address racial inequality if he becomes president is a proposal to increase the number of federal contracting dollars …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Week and The Daily Beast

Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
There Are Two Rhodes Scholars Running For President. Only One Gets Mentioned.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Slate

Heather Schwedel / Slate:

An Interview With the Woman Who Strongly Needed Her Coffee During a Live Impeachment Hearing — Tuesday's award for the most amusing diversion from the minutia of the impeachment hearings goes to McClatchy congressional reporter Emma Dumain, who went minorly viral for chugging coffee …

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Post and CNN

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

ANALYSIS: What if Trump was right about Ukraine? — One of the most important issues in President Trump's impeachment defense is also one of the least explored: To what degree were Trump's concerns about Ukraine valid? It's well documented that the president fixated on Ukrainian activity …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Sergii Leshchenko / KyivPost:
Republicans keep lying about me at impeachment hearings

Discussion: The Intercept, more at Mediagazer »

Dave Philipps / New York Times:

Navy Wants to Eject From SEALs a Sailor Cleared by Trump, Officials Say — Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher is expected to be formally notified of the action on Wednesday. — The Navy SEAL at the center of a high-profile war crimes case has been ordered to appear before Navy leaders Wednesday morning …