Politics

Republican lawmakers are asking that the impeachment inquiry into President Trump hear publicly from Hunter Biden and the anonymous whistleblower whose allegations prompted the probe.

In a letter to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who is leading the inquiry, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes said that calling these witnesses would help ensure the investigation "treats the President with fairness."

The Berlin Wall stood for 28 years. Today, Nov. 9, marks the 30th anniversary of when it began to come down.

It may be hard to imagine, a generation later, what a momentous event that was and why the sight of ordinary citizens, chipping away by hand and hammer at that edifice of cruelty, lifted so many hopes around the world.

When William Barr's name surfaced as a possible replacement for Jeff Sessions as attorney general, Republicans and Democrats alike greeted the news with a measure of relief.

If Barr took over he'd replace a frequent target of the president's ire in private, on Twitter and in television interviews.

As a prominent Republican lawyer who had served as attorney general before, Barr was viewed as an establishment figure who could restore stability to a Justice Department caught in the middle of Washington's bitter political fight over the Russia investigation.

There was lots more detail in the transcripts released by congressional investigators this week that help color in the picture of what went down in the pressure campaign from the Trump administration to Ukraine.

Some had been known already, based on reporting and previously released opening statements. But far more depth was given after seeing the questions and answers from what were hours-long depositions.

And a lot of it will be aired publicly, beginning Wednesday with the first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

The ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump can be difficult to follow. There are so many witnesses who testified, transcripts and witnesses who were called to testify but did not show up that it can seem impossible to figure out where things stand and where it's all going.

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam vows it's "a new day and a new landscape" in Virginia. He says when Democrats take over the state legislature for the first time in a generation at the start of the new year, passing gun violence prevention laws will be a top priority.

He adds guns "shouldn't be a partisan issue," even though he says he's prepared to pass new "common sense" gun laws without Republican support.

The cloud of toxic smog covering New Delhi is visible from space. This week, that smog reached record levels.

From The Guardian:

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces a bid for his old Senate seat, much to the reported ire of President Donald Trump.

Public impeachment hearings on Trump’s dealings with Ukraine are set to begin next week.

Updated at 2:21 p.m. ET

White House officials filed the record of President Trump's now-famous call with his Ukrainian counterpart on a "different, more secure system" from the one they normally used, a key witness told House impeachment investigators.

House investigators have released the testimony of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a top specialist on Ukraine on the National Security Council.

Vindman is an Army foreign area officer and is believed to have listened in to the July 25 call in which President Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart for the "favor" that would have involved investigations that could help Trump in the 2020 election.

That makes Vindman a key witness in House Democrats' impeachment inquiry.

House investigators have released the deposition of Fiona Hill, who until earlier this year served as the top Russia policy specialist on the National Security Council.

Hill was said to have told investigators that she registered concerns about President Trump's policy to pressure the government of Ukraine in exchange for commitments to launch investigations that might help him in the 2020 election.

Vice President Pence traveled to New Hampshire on Thursday to officially add Donald Trump's name to the first-in-the-nation primary ballot.

His visit comes as President Trump's GOP challengers see the primary as a place where they'll make a stand against Trump, especially as other states have canceled primaries and changed Republican National Committee convention delegate rules to prevent any sort of insurgent candidate from emerging.