| | | | It's halftime of the biggest news day of the year |  | | If you've found yourself spending hours glued to the news today, you're not alone.
Between the latest installment of public impeachment hearings all day Wednesday and the Democratic presidential debate tonight, this double-header news day has already been one for the books -- and it's barely halfway done!
Either event, alone, would be hugely consequential.
US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified Wednesday that a quid pro quo for Ukrainian aid came at the "express direction of the President." Which is, ahem, a big deal. And, not to mention, he implicated Trump's inner circle in the pressure campaign.
"Everyone was in the loop," Sondland testified. "It was no secret."
Meanwhile, 10 Democratic presidential candidates descended on Atlanta for the latest presidential primary debate -- the first debate to happen since televised impeachment hearings began.
It's also the first since Pete Buttigieg surged into the top tier of 2020 candidates, pulling into the lead in new polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
On past debate stages, we've seen newly crowned front-runners field attacks from lower-polling opponents, with varying degrees of success (see Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren's previous debate performances). This polling success paints a massive target on the young South Bend mayor's back.
Warren will have the chance to defend her own health care plan on stage for the first time (after facing harsh criticism at the October debate for not having her own "Medicare for All" plan). And others like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker desperately need to breathe life into flagging campaigns.
The Point: Either one of these major events on their own would be a giant deal. But today ... we get both.
-- Lauren | | "What triggered my memory was someone's reference to A$AP Rocky."
-- US Ambassador Gordon Sondland, explaining the discrepancy between his initial testimony and what he said Wednesday about his July 26 phone call with President Donald Trump.
Lauren has more in today's audio briefing on the rapper's surprise hearing cameo. | | | Time for a Point-exclusive fact check of a big impeachment talking point from CNN's Holmes Lybrand. Take it away, Holmes:
One Republican response to the impeachment inquiry's open hearings is that "nothing new" has come out of them, a line used by White House counselor Kellyanne Conway during last week's hearings and echoed by White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Tuesday. "We have learned nothing new in today's illegitimate 'impeachment' proceedings," Grisham said.
Q: Is that true?
A: Not by a long shot. Here's some new information we've learned just in the last week from these public testimonies. - Last week, US diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor told Congress of a conversation (overheard by one of his staffers) between US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and President Trump, in which they discussed "the investigation." According to Taylor, when the staffer asked Sondland what Trump thought of Ukraine, Sondland said "that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden." Since that hearing, the House Intelligence Committee has heard directly from the staffer, David Holmes, and Holmes will appear in a public hearing Thursday.
- On Tuesday Kurt Volker, former US special envoy to Ukraine, testified that Burisma was clearly about investigating the Bidens, though he didn't realize it at the time. "I now understand that others saw the idea of investigating possible corruption involving the Ukrainian company Burisma as equivalent to investigating former Vice President Biden," Volker said.
- Volker also amended his closed-door testimony in which he claimed that US representatives "never communicated to Ukrainians" that military aid was being withheld until Ukraine announced it would look into the 2016 elections and the Bidens after other testimonies outlining this very thing came forward.
- And the latest: On Wednesday, we learned a whole lot more from Sondland, including more evidence of a "quid pro quo."
| | | Love the band name, love the sound. Enjoy the latest Tiny Desk from Snarky Puppy. | |
LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL LATEST | | Elizabeth Warren: Is planning a major post-debate rally in Atlanta on Thursday featuring recent endorser Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
Pete Buttigieg: Released two years' worth of tax returns from his time at elite consulting firm in 2007 and 2008.
Wayne Messam: Has suspended his presidential campaign, but he plans to mobilize his home state of Florida for the party's nominee. | | | President Trump, speaking to reporters midday Wednesday before leaving for Texas, read off a statement that appeared to be written in black Sharpie. | | | | | | |
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