Donald Trump becomes the 4th U.S. President to face impeachment as an explosive whistleblower report is released, the Director of National Intelligence testifies, and Nancy Pelosi launches a formal impeachment inquiry. Housing activist Candice Elder joins Jon, Jon, Tommy, Dan, and Jessica Yellin on stage in San Jose, California.

Show notes

High Crimes: 

• NYT: Trump Attacks Whistle-Blower’s Sources and Alludes to Punishment for Spies
• NYT: White House Knew of Whistle-Blower’s Allegations Soon After Trump’s Call With Ukraine Leader

The Whistleblower: 

• WaPo: Whistleblower claimed that Trump abused his office and that White House officials tried to cover it up
• NYT: Document: Read the Whistle-Blower Complaint
• NYT: White House Tried to ‘Lock Down’ Ukraine Call Records, Whistle-Blower Says 
• NYT: 8 Takeaways From the Whistle-Blower Complaint
• Vox: 6 key takeaways from the Ukraine whistleblower complaint 
• WaPo: 5 key takeaways and allegations from the Trump whistleblower complaint
• Politico: Whistleblower says White House tried to ‘lock down’ Ukraine call
• WaPo: Top Democrats accuse Trump of trying to intimidate whistleblower to obstruct justice
• WaPo: Timeline: The alarming pattern of actions by Trump included in whistleblower allegations
• CNN: Giuliani denies charges in whistleblower complaint, says details are ‘total nonsense’ 
• The Atlantic: The Whistle-Blower’s Explosive Allegations
• Politico: All the president’s loyalists: Impeachment net snares Trump’s top advisers
• New Yorker: A Damning Whistle-Blower Report of a White House Coverup on Ukraine
• Daily Beast: Bombshell Whistleblower Complaint Released: White House Covered Up Trump’s Ukraine Call 

 Maguire’s Testimony: 

• WaPo: Acting intelligence chief Maguire defends his handling of whistleblower complaint in testimony before Congress
• Politico: ‘This is unprecedented’: Intel chief defends withholding whistleblower complaint
• Daily Beast: Trump’s Spy Chief Joseph Maguire: ‘The Whistleblower Did The Right Thing’ 
• NYT: Joseph Maguire, Acting D.N.I., Holds His Ground 
• WaPo: Trump’s other Ukraine problem: New concern about his business 
• WaPo: Former Ukraine prosecutor says Hunter Biden ‘did not violate anything’ 
• The Atlantic : The Risks of Impeachment Are Overblown – By Ron Brownstein 
• The Atlantic: Why Republicans Aren’t Turning on Trump
• Rolling Stone: What You Need to Know About Trump’s Crowdstrike Conspiracy Theory
• CNN: Lewandowski may lead White House impeachment team
• WaPo: Acting director of national intelligence threatened to resign if he couldn’t speak freely before Congress on whistleblower complaint 
• Daily Beast: Will Joseph Maguire Be the First Hero to Emerge from Trumpland? 
• LA Times: Acting spy chief to testify on whistleblower’s complaint 
• CNN: Acting spy chief Joseph Maguire in spotlight ahead of House hearing on Ukraine whistleblower complaint
• WSJ: Impeachment Inquiry Casts Spotlight on Spy Chief Joseph Maguire 
• WaPo: Trump offered Ukrainian president Justice Dept. help in an investigation of Biden, memo shows 
• NYT: Whistle-Blower Is Said to Allege Concerns About White House Handling of Ukraine Call 
• Vox: The White House has shared the whistleblower’s complaint with members of Congress  
• Axios: Rep. Chris Stewart: Whistleblower complaint has been declassified
• Axios: Democrats ‘disturbed’ after reviewing whistleblower complaint
• CNN: Whistleblower tentatively agrees to testify, attorneys say, as long as they get appropriate clearances to attend hearing 
• Axios: READ: Whistleblower’s letters with lawmakers on potential meeting
• NYT: Trump Makes Clear He’s Ready for a Fight He Has Long Anticipated – Impeachment, he insists, will be “a positive for me.” 
• Politico: Did Trump Just Impeach Himself? 
• WaPo: Trump’s Ukraine-scandal strategy — counterpunch, confuse and con — depends on the media 
• Guardian: ‘No, you’re corrupt!’: why there’s method in Trump’s playground taunts 
• BuzzFeed: Trump’s Own Lawyers Suggested Democrats Would Have A Stronger Case To Get His Records If They Were Pursuing Impeachment 
• Politico: Trump legal team steps into a battle like none before 
• Wapo: Seven days: Inside Trump’s frenetic response to the whistleblower complaint and the battle over impeachment
• NPR: President Trump Says He ‘Fully Supports Transparency’ On Whistleblower Complaint
• Slate: The White House Accidentally Sent Democrats Its Ukraine Call Talking Points NYT: The case of the White House talking points: File under “Oops.”
• Just Security: Trump’s Call to Ukraine May Constitute “Honest Services Fraud”—A Core Crime of Public Corruption 
• NYT: ‘Do Us a Favor’: Calls Shows Trump’s Interest in Using U.S. Power for His Gain  
• Politico: How to read Trump’s wild phone call with Ukraine’s president 
• Politico: Trump encourages questions to Pence about his own Ukraine calls 
• Daily Beast: House Dems Probing April Call Between Trump and Zelensky 
• ABC News: Ukrainians understood Biden probe was condition for Trump-Zelenskiy phone call: Ukrainian adviser 
• HuffPo: Trump First Pressured Ukrainian President To Work With Giuliani In April Call: Report
• Axios: Zelensky adviser says Biden case was precondition to Trump phone call
• NYT: The Trump-Zelensky Phone Call: Key Takeaways From Two New Documents 
• NYT: Trump’s Not-So-Excellent Day
• NYT: Phone Call Showed Only a Slice of Trump’s Obsession With Ukraine 
• WaPo: Where Trump’s and Giuliani’s claims about the Ukraine call don’t match the rough transcript
• WaPo: Trump’s call with Ukrainian leader is unlike anything presidential scholars have heard before
• WaPo: New revelations on Trump call and Giuliani make impeachment more likely 
• WaPo Ed Board: The Trump-Zelensky readout is a devastating indictment of our president
• Vox: Trump’s weird reference to “CrowdStrike” during the Ukraine call, briefly explained WaPo: Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president includes a key promise. But it might not be the one you think.
• WaPo: ‘Transcripts’ of presidential calls are nearly verbatim but not exact. Here’s how the process works.
• WaPo: There are likely no tapes — but plenty of witnesses in the rough transcript of Trump’s Ukrainian call
• WaPo: Cracks emerge among Senate Republicans over Trump urging Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden 
• Axios: The call heard ’round the world
• Axios: “A classic Mafia-like shakedown”: Schiff reacts to Trump-Ukraine call
• New Yorker: “Do Us a Favor”: The Forty-eight Hours That Sealed Trump’s Impeachment 
• New Yorker: Trump, Impeachment, and the Democracy That Happens Between Elections
• New Yorker: Trump Faces Impeachment 
• The Atlantic: Trump’s Incriminating Conversation With the Ukrainian President 
• The Atlantic: Trump Is Panicking 
• The Atlantic: Trump’s Classic Bully Move 
• Roll Call: Crime or ‘high crime?’ Trump’s Ukraine call spurs legal debate 
• Vox: Trump and the Ukrainian president met today. Here’s what you missed 
• Politico: A subdued Trump confronts a new phase of his presidency 
• Esquire: Trump’s UN Presser Was Hilarious Until It Was Horrifying 
• Business Insider : Ukraine’s president tells Trump to his face that he doesn’t want to be involved in US elections
• CNN: Fact check: What Trump has been getting wrong on Biden and Ukraine 
• WaPo: Trump says Hunter Biden ‘walks out of China with $1.5 billion.’ Biden’s lawyer said that’s not true
• WaPo: Trump’s Pinocchio-laden claims about Joe Biden, Ukraine and polls
• Vox: Trump just debuted his 3 main defenses against the Ukraine scandal 
• FiveThirtyEight: If This Is Trump’s Best Case, The Ukraine Scandal Is Looking Really Bad For Him 
• WaPo: Justice Dept. rejected investigation of Trump phone call just weeks after it began examining the matter 
• Vox: 5 questions Attorney General William Barr should answer about Trump’s call with President Volodymyr Zelensky 
• NYT: Justice Dept.’s Dismissal of Ukraine Call Raises New Questions About Barr
• NBC News: Barr’s relationship with Trump called into question again by Ukraine call 
• Politico: Trump pressed Ukraine’s president to work with Barr for dirt on Biden 
• The Intercept: TRUMP-UKRAINE CALL PUTS ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR IN THE HOT SEAT
• The Hill: Julián Castro calls on DOJ to investigate Barr after Ukraine call memo
• Slate: William Barr Hit a New Low In His Crusade to Bury the Whistleblower Complaint
• HuffPo: Donald Trump Actually Has 2 Whistleblowers To Worry About 

Impeachment:

• FiveThirtyEight: If This Is Trump’s Best Case, The Ukraine Scandal Is Looking Really Bad For Him
• Washington Post: Why Democrats’ fear of impeaching Trump disappeared so quickly
• NBC News: Majority of House members now back some type of impeachment action against Trump
• Reuters: Selling impeachment: Democrats search for common message against Trump
• NYT: White House Sends Impeachment Talking Points to Democrats, Then Tries to Recall Them
• NYT: Why an Impeachment Inquiry Now? Democrats Cite the Clarity of the Case
• Roll Call: Democrats focusing impeachment inquiry on Trump pressuring Ukraine
• WaPo: Pelosi, top Democrats favor quick, narrow Trump impeachment probe focused on Ukraine
• Politico: Democrats look to narrow impeachment focus to Trump-Ukraine scandal
• FiveThirtyEight: Impeaching Trump On Russia Was Unpopular. Will Ukraine Be Different?
• The Atlantic: Limit? What Limit?
• Politico: Ice in his veins’: McConnell steers GOP through Trump’s Ukraine scandal
• Wall Street Journal: Trump Team Bets Impeachment Will Backfire on Democrats
• Politico: Vulnerable Democrats fear impeachment messaging stumbles
• Politico: Democrats fear impeachment blowback in 2020
• NPR: Impeachment Has Never Been Very Popular, But That Hasn’t Stopped Congress Before
• NPR: Biden Blasts Trump As A President Who ‘Believes He Is Above The Law’
• CSPAN: Joe Biden Comments to Reporters on Whistleblower Complaint 
• Mother Jones: Joe Biden Says Congress Should Impeach Trump If He Doesn’t Hand Over Whistleblower’s Report
• NYT: For Joe Biden, Trump Impeachment Inquiry Brings a Long-Expected Test
• Media Matters: “Debunking lies about Trump, Biden, Ukraine, and the whistleblower
• WaPo: Impeachment will define the 2020 election
• NYT: Elated, Furious, Wary: Impeachment Divides Voters, Like Everything Trump
• Reuters: Be careful what you wish for: Impeachment inquiry poses risks for 2020 Democrats
• NYT: 2020 Democrats Say Trump’s Ukraine Call Is a ‘Smoking Gun’ for Impeachment
• The Hill: Tulsi Gabbard: Transcript doesn’t show ‘compelling’ case for impeachment
• LA Times: Democratic candidates back impeachment inquiry — and a GOP challenger accuses Trump of treason
• Lawfare: What Powers Does a Formal Impeachment Inquiry Give the House?