On Politics A.M.: Former White House Adviser: G.O.P.’s Ukraine Theory Is a ‘Fiction’

2019年11月22日星期五

November 22, 2019

Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

A former top White House adviser, Fiona Hill, denounced a theory embraced by President Trump and Republican allies that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections, testifying that the claim at the center of the impeachment inquiry was a fabrication by Moscow that had harmed the United States. She called it a “fiction.”

With its public hearings over, the House Intelligence Committee plans to move forward on the impeachment inquiry without testimony by some of the key players in the Ukraine drama.
The White House and the president’s allies on Capitol Hill are divided on whether to embrace a lengthy Senate trial if the Democratic House votes to impeach Mr. Trump. Some think this could have a political advantage if it forces Democratic senators who are running for president to chose between campaigning and impeachment.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg is doing great in Iowa, but he’s in bad shape with black Democrats, and no Democrat in modern times has won the party’s nomination without the support of black voters. Here’s a look at how bad he’s doing.

One day after a televised debate featuring significant exchanges about race, Democratic presidential candidates fanned out across Atlanta to pitch their message to black voters and send a clear signal: Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. should not take support from African-Americans for granted.

Speaking to a group of party donors, President Barack Obama urged Democrats on Thursday to “chill out” about the 2020 Democratic field and focus on building support for a candidate to take on Mr. Trump.
Mr. Biden and an immigrants’ rights activist on Thursday engaged in an unusually extended clash over Obama-era deportation policies in an exchange that turned sharply confrontational.

On Wednesday, Congress put Mr. Trump on the spot, sending him tough legislation that would impose sanctions on Chinese officials for cracking down on the protesters and could end Hong Kong’s favored economic relationship with the United States.

In a pair of filings on Thursday, a House committee and Manhattan prosecutors urged the Supreme Court to clear the way for disclosure of Mr. Trump’s financial records.
Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a stopgap spending bill that would punt the threat of a government shutdown to just before Christmas, but that sets up a potential clash over federal spending just as the House could be weighing whether to impeach Mr. Trump.

Today’s On Politics briefing was compiled by Isabella Grullón Paz in New York.

Is there anything you think we’re missing? Anything you want to see more of? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.