This post was originally published on this site
The Latest on President Donald Trump and the House impeachment inquiry (all times local):
5 p.m. – Trump ad claims Democrats trying to “steal” 2020 election
President Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of trying to “steal” the 2020 election in a new television ad, as he fends off an impeachment probe by House Democrats.
The ad also attacks Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, highlighting his efforts to make U.S. aid to Ukraine contingent on that country firing its chief prosecutor. The ad claims that the fired prosecutor was investigating the former vice president’s son.
In fact, the prosecutor had failed to pursue any major anti-corruption investigations, leaving Ukraine’s international donors deeply frustrated. In pressing for the prosecutor’s ouster, Biden was representing the official position of the U.S. government, which was shared by other Western allies and many in Ukraine.
Trump’s reelection campaign says the new ad is the subject of a $10 million buy, with $2 million coming from the Republican National Committee.
Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, says, “This is a Joe Biden scandal and the Democrats are trying to use it to steal the election.”
4:40 p.m. – Conway dismisses questions of whether Trump would identify whistleblower
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is dismissing questions of whether President Donald Trump would identify a whistleblower at the heart of an impeachment inquiry.
The whistleblower filed a complaint alleging that Trump abused the power of his office to “solicit interference from a foreign country” in next year’s U.S. election.
Conway was asked Friday if the president would release the name. She tells reporters, “nobody is even discussing that.” She also says “what matters is the person has protection under the law.”
Trump has denounced people who might have talked to the whistleblower as “close to a spy.” Then he tweeted that it was sounding more like “the so-called Whistleblower isn’t a Whistleblower at all.”
Conway also dismissed a question of whether the White House was organizing an impeachment war room, saying the president is “the most battle-tested person I’ve ever met.”
4:30 p.m. – Pompeo Gets Subpoenaed
Three House committees have jointly issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents related to the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
The chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees set an Oct. 4 deadline for Pompeo to produce the documents, including many that the lawmakers have been seeking for weeks.
The committees are investigating Trump’s actions repeatedly pressing Ukraine leaders to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Democrats say Trump interfered with the 2020 election and risked national security and are pursuing his impeachment.
The committees also sent a separate letter notifying Pompeo that they have scheduled depositions for five State Department officials over the next two weeks, including former ambassadors Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch and Kurt Volker.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—A running list of questions on the impeachment inquiry, answered
—5 allegations made in the declassified whistleblower complaint
—What is CrowdStrike? Trump mentioned the company in his Ukraine call
—These are the key players in the Trump impeachment inquiry
—How whistleblowers have taken down titans of American business
—The 25 most powerful women in politics
Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis.
