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View in browser NOVEMBER 4, 2019 Here's the latest:
1. The three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump released two transcripts of the behind-closed-doors interviews they have conducted so far as their investigation moves to a more public phase.
According to the transcript to the deposition of Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, she asked Gordon Sondland, U.S. Ambassador to the EU, for advice on how to handle an onslaught of criticism from conservative media and Donald Trump Jr. "He said, 'You know, you need to go big or go home. You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president, and that all these are lies and everything else,'" she told the committees.
2. Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, who was indicted last month for making illegal campaign contributions, is willing to provide documents and testimony to House impeachment investigators, his lawyer confirmed to NBC News.
Parnas was originally asked to testify before Congress last month, a request he ignored. He was arrested at the airport on the day he was supposed to be deposed with a one-way ticket to Vienna.
The Florida businessman is a key figure in the Trump administration's dealings with the Ukrainian government. He and Igor Fruman helped President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani hunt for dirt there on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
3. While Congress heard closed-door testimony last week about the Ukraine plot, Rudy Giuliani was holding his own private Ukraine meeting in his Manhattan office.
NBC's Josh Lederman has this exclusive report: Far from keeping their heads down, those working in common cause with the president's and Giuliani's campaign to get Ukraine to investigate Trump's political opponents are moving ahead unabated, interviews in Kyiv and Washington with several of those involved reveal.
4. Four witnesses who were scheduled to testify Monday in the House impeachment inquiry skipped their closed-door depositions. All four witnesses had been subpoenaed.
House Democrats had previously said that they would forgo court battles with defiant witnesses and instead consider their efforts to stonewall lawmakers as grounds for a separate article of impeachment on obstruction of Congress.
5. At a campaign rally for Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Sen. Rand Paul told the attendees said that "we now know the name of the whistleblower" and called on the media to "print his name."
It's the latest example of President Trump or a Trump ally pushing to out the whistleblower, despite legal protections. Sen. Rand Paul took to the stage after being called on by President Trump.
Campaign attendees were seen sitting behind the president wearing matching T-shirts with the words “READ THE TRANSCRIPT.”
Earlier Monday, the president himself called for the whistleblower to testify publicly, saying written answers to lawmakers' questions were "not acceptable."
6. The FBI notes for the Mueller investigation were released just last weekend, in documents obtained by BuzzFeed News following Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. One of the revelations in the Mueller team's notes is that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was pushing the unfounded conspiracy theory — now part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump — that Ukraine hacked the Democratic National Committee's emails as early as 2016.
"[It's] just shocking, this crazy idea about Ukraine being responsible," said former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul on The Last Word. "Why would the Ukrainians want to steal emails from the DNC to help Donald Trump? It just makes no sense."
7. A federal appeals court ruled Monday that President Trump's tax returns must be turned over to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who had subpoenaed the documents from Trump's accounting firm as part of an investigation into the pre-election payoffs to two women who alleged affairs with Trump.
Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow said he would appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Trump is engaged in a series of legal battles across the country to keep his tax returns private.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: VIDEOS
Rudy Giuliani’s indicted Ukraine-linked associate Lev Parnas will comply with requests for records and testimony in the Congressional impeachment probe. It comes as NBC News exclusively reports Giuliani just met with a Ukraine official about 2020. (The Beat)
Chris Hayes: The transcripts are as damning as expected Chris Hayes looks as what we learned from the transcripts of the testimonies of former top State Department Official Michael McKinley and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Maria Yovanovitch. (All In)
We’re celebrating 20 years of Hardball this week. Here’s a look back at Chris’s sit-down interviews with presidents. (Hardball)
MORE VIDEOS
Impeachment witness lays out White House campaign against her (11th Hour) The Inquiry: Democrats release testimonies as impeachment fight heats up (Katy Tur) ‘Shocked’ and ‘threatened’: Dems go public with Trump impeachment bomb (The Beat) Whistleblower offers written answers to House investigators (Ali Velshi) Mitch McConnell: ‘We're changing the federal courts forever’ (All In) Trump struggles on defense strategy to combat impeachment inquiry (Hardball) South Carolina teacher works two jobs to get by (Velshi & Ruhle)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I think Trump will be a repeat litigant and under siege in the courts for the rest of his life.” — Fmr. US Attorney Harry Litman on Pres. Trump's fight to keep his tax documents secret and possible legal battles after his presidency (Video)
OPINION
Trump's Ukraine scandal doesn't mean U.S. politics are corrupt. Saying so can be dangerous. As a Latino, I no longer feel safe in Trump's America. So I'm leaving it. Susanne Ramírez de Arellano writes, "I live in New York City now and I love this place for what it is ... But I no longer trust that America is another name for opportunity, as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote. For a Hispanic, like me, America has become another name for hate; it’s come to feel like Germany in the early 1930s, the preamble to the horror."
WHAT TO WATCH TUESDAY
The House impeachment committees are scheduled to release the transcripts of the interviews with United States Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker on Tuesday.
Tuesday is election day with general elections in Virginia, Kentucky (gubernatorial) and Mississippi (gubernatorial).
We will continue to update you on the latest in politics. Check out the NBC News impeachment live blog and watch MSNBC for the latest.
This newsletter was prepped for you by Sam Go, Daniel Shapiro and Natasha Roy. Tell us what you think of the news and drop us an e-mail.
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