The 12 Democratic presidential candidates in Tuesday's debate unanimously backed the House impeachment inquiry against President Trump, but clashed on other issues. Several candidates criticized Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who led longtime frontrunner former Vice President Joe Biden in recent polls. Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) accused Warren of dodging questions on how she would pay for "Medicare-for-all." Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) acknowledged such a health plan would require higher taxes, but said health-care savings would offset that. Warren said other Democrats were too timid. Former Housing Secretary Julian Castro got in one of the strongest jabs at Trump, condemning the president for "caging kids on the border and letting ISIS prisoners run free" in Syria. [The New York Times]
Vice President Mike Pence and Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, said Tuesday that they would not comply with the Democrat-led House's impeachment inquiry of Trump. Pence's lawyer said Pence would cooperate if the House voted to open the inquiry formally, but that until then it was illegitimate. Giuliani lawyer Jon Sale said in a letter to Congress that Giuliani would not hand over subpoenaed documents "because this appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate 'impeachment inquiry.'" The Office of Management and Budget also said it would not comply with a subpoena for documents. Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, warned that refusing to cooperate could be an impeachable offense. "The case for obstruction of Congress continues to build," he said. [The Washington Post, USA Today]
George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state whose portfolio includes Ukraine, complied with a request to give a deposition for the three House committees leading an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Kent, who expressed concern early this year about Trump's pressure on Ukraine to investigate political rivals, was the fourth administration official to testify despite the White House's decision not to cooperate with the House Democrats leading the inquiry, which Trump and his allies have called illegitimate. The House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees subpoenaed Kent, a witness regarding the firing of former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, in case the State Department directed him to stay away, as it did last week to prevent Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, from testifying. Sondland is expected to testify under subpoena on Thursday. [The New York Times, ABC News]
Hunter Biden said in an interview aired Tuesday by ABC News that he exercised "poor judgment" by serving on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, was spearheading the Obama administration's Ukraine policy. Biden has faced criticism for taking a job with Burisma Holdings while his father was pushing Ukraine to crack down on corruption by firing a prosecutor widely viewed as corrupt. "In retrospect," Biden told ABC News Tuesday, he used "poor judgment" in getting "in the middle of something that is a swamp in many ways." He also said he "probably" wouldn't have gotten the position if his last name wasn't Biden, although he argued that, contrary to allegations by President Trump, he ultimately did "nothing wrong" or unethical. [ABC News]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that Democrats will not, for now, hold a formal vote to authorize the impeachment inquiry of President Trump, which the White House has said would be necessary to make the investigation legitimate. Pelosi brushed off Republican criticism suggesting the process is not transparent enough, calling the demand for a vote a "Republican talking point." "We're not here to call bluffs," Pelosi said at a Tuesday news conference with House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). "This is not a game to us." Schiff said the Constitution spells out clearly that the House has the power of impeachment, and sets its own rules. "Republicans know it," he said, "but they don't want to discuss the president's conduct. They'd rather discuss the process." [CNBC]
China harshly criticized the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a bill seeking to allow sanctions against anyone who harms Hong Kong's autonomy. China's state news agency Xinhua called the House vote "arrogant and dangerous." Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China would respond with strong measures, accusing the U.S. lawmakers of "sinister intentions to undermine Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and contain China's development." The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which the House approved unanimously on Tuesday, requires the U.S. to review annually Hong Kong's special trade status, which treats the semi-autonomous Chinese territory as a separate entity from mainland China. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had to deliver a key policy speech to lawmakers via video after protesters interrupted her. [The Washington Post, The Guardian]
The United Nations wrapped up its peacekeeping mission in Haiti on Tuesday after spending 15 years trying to stabilize the Caribbean nation. The end of the mission came as the country is being shaken by a five-week series of sometimes violent protests demanding the resignation of the president, Jovenel Moise. Moise and other government officials face allegations of corruption. The U.N. mission started in 2004 after then-President Jean Bertrand Aristide was overthrown, just as he had been in his first presidency more than a decade earlier. The U.N. withdrew its peacekeepers two years ago and shifted its focus to the justice system and training Haitian police. The mission has faced criticism, partly for its dealings with an unpopular government and partly for controversies, including the introduction of cholera by peacekeepers and sexual abuse allegations. [Reuters]
Grieving relatives of 13 Mexican police officers killed in a drug-cartel ambush vented anger at the government on Tuesday, accusing authorities of sending the agents on a suicide mission to serve a warrant. Thirty armed men ambushed five police vehicles in the Mexican state of Michoacan, killing 13 officers, on Monday. Nine other officers were wounded. The attackers were in five vehicles that were "presumably armored," and opened fire with high-caliber weapons, said Adrian Lopez Solis, the prosecutor in the violent western Mexico state. When security forces arrived, dead and wounded officers were lying on the ground next to their bullet-riddled vehicles. Two of the cars were on fire. Mexico is struggling to respond to rising violence blamed on powerful drug trafficking cartels that have been fighting each other for territory. [The Associated Press, CNN]
Actress Felicity Huffman reported to a California federal prison Tuesday to begin serving a 14-day sentence for her role in the nationwide college admissions scandal. Huffman, 56, admitted that she paid a proctor to correct her daughter's SAT test, resulting in a 400-point improvement over her corresponding performance on the PSAT. Huffman, who is married to actor William H. Macy, is among the most well-known parents caught up in the scandal. She starred in Desperate Housewives and was once nominated for an Oscar. In addition to her prison term, Huffman will pay a $30,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service. [NBC News]
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced the nominees for its 2020 ceremony, with the list of 16 including Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Whitney Houston, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., The Doobie Brothers, Depeche Mode, and Soundgarden. Fans can vote on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees online, and the "top five vote-getters in the public poll form one ballot, which is weighted the same as the rest of the submitted ballots" from industry professionals and historians, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says. [CNN]
