It was a quiet week for impeachment news this week. But the Washington Post did publish the illustrated Mueller Report, which is pretty impressive. I guess they figured we couldn’t follow the storyline unless they published it as part storybook, part graphic novel. Take a look at it here.
Here’s what happened on the impeachment front for the week ending January 5…
General Happenings:
- Newly unredacted emails from a FOIA request show that Office of Management and Budget officials told the Pentagon that the order to keep military aid to Ukraine frozen came directly from Trump. One of those officials, Mike Duffy, even said that the Pentagon would be to blame if the money was not spent (the Pentagon was trying really hard to spend that money).
- A judge dismisses a lawsuit brought by a former national security aide over whether he should ignore Trump’s orders not to testify before Congress. The judge says the case is moot since the House withdrew their subpoena.
- Despite a judge’s approval of a FOIA request requiring the White House to release documents related to Ukraine’s military aid, the Office of Management and Budget says they won’t turn over 40 emails between high-level officials. Not even with redactions.
More Trouble for Parnas, Fruman, and Giuliani:
- Lev Parnas turns over his iPhone data and documentary evidence to the House Intelligence Committee after a court ruling allows it.
- It turns out that Ukraine wasn’t Giuliani’s first back-channel rodeo. In September 2018, he called the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. He also worked with then-Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to give their Maduro an exit from power (and open Venezuela to U.S. business interests).