By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News |
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Good Thursday morning. Here’s what’s in our Nightly Rundown tonight. |
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Trump impeachment trial opens with swearing-in of Senators |
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The impeachment trial of President Trump formally began today, hours after a federal watchdog ruled the administration violated the law by withholding military aid from Ukraine. Kasie Hunt is on Capitol Hill for us tonight. |
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The swearing-in: The proceedings began today with the House’s lead impeachment manager, Rep. Adam Schiff, reading aloud the two articles against Trump. Later, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who will preside over the trial, was sworn in. Roberts then swore in all 100 senators who will serve as the jury, with this oath, “Do you solemnly swear, that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you God?” The opening arguments are expected to happen Tuesday.“Violated” the law: The U.S. Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan government watchdog, found that the White House Office of Management and Budget “violated” the law when it withheld nearly $400 million in military aid from Ukraine last year that had been approved by Congress. The abuse of power article against Trump accuses him of freezing that aid to pressure a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election by announcing an investigation into his political rival.The reaction: “The OMB, the White House, the administration broke — I'm saying this — broke the law,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters. “This reinforces, again, the need for documents and eyewitnesses in the Senate.” An OMB spokesman responded to the watchdog report in a statement, “We disagree with GAO's opinion. OMB uses its apportionment authority to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly spent consistent with the President's priorities and with the law.” |
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Schiff reads full articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate |
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Giuliani associate says “Trump knew,” Barr was “on the team” in explosive interview |
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Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, dropped new bombshells in an interview with MSNBC, claiming Trump was fully aware of the efforts to find incriminating evidence on Joe Biden in Ukraine, and implicating Attorney General William Barr, Vice President Mike Pence, and others in the scheme. |
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“President Trump knew exactly what was going on,” Parnas told Rachel Maddow. “He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the President.” |
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Parnas said Barr also likely knew about the Ukraine efforts. While Parnas said he never spoke directly to Barr, he said he “was involved in a lot of” phone conversations that Giuliani and another individual had with Barr in front of him. “Mr. Barr had to have known everything. I mean, it's impossible,” Parnas said. “Attorney General Barr was basically on the team.” |
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Parnas said he knew “100 percent” that Pence’s planned trip to Ukraine in May for the inauguration of Volodymyr Zelenskiy was canceled because the Ukrainians had not agreed to demands to announce an investigation into the Bidens. Pence was “in the loop,” according to Parnas. |
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In October, Parnas was arrested for campaign finance violations along with Igor Fruman, another Giuliani associate. In response to Parnas’ interview, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement today, “These allegations are being made by a man who is currently out on bail for federal crimes and is desperate to reduce his exposure to prison.” Grisham added, “The facts haven’t changed — the president did nothing wrong and this impeachment, which was manufactured and carried out by the Democrats has been a sham from the start.” |
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Parnas and Fruman have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial. |
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Giuliani, in a statement to Maddow’s show, said Parnas was “never” speaking on Trump’s behalf to the Ukranians. “All I can say is the truth,” Giuliani said, adding that Parnas is “a very sad situation.” |
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A spokesman for the Justice Department said Parnas’ claims about Barr were “100 percent false.” Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, said Parnas is “under a multi-count indictment and will say anything to anybody who will listen in hopes of staying out of prison.” |
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Peter Alexander will have the fallout from Parnas’ explosive interview tonight. |
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Lev Parnas: 'President Trump knew exactly what was going on.' |
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FBI arrests suspected white supremacists ahead of Virginia gun rally |
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The FBI has arrested three suspected members of a white supremacist group on federal gun charges and other alleged charges, according to a criminal complaint from the Justice Department. The three had talked about attending a gun rally in Richmond, Virginia next week in anticipation of a possible race war, the New York Times reported. |
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The suspects, Patrik Jordan Mathews, Brian M. Lemley Jr., and William G. Bilbrough IV, are members of a white supremacist organization known as “The Base,” the complaint states. |
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On Wednesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and announced a temporary ban on firearms on the grounds of the state capitol, where thousands are expected to attend a pro-gun rights rally on Monday. |
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Northam said on Twitter that his office has received credible intelligence of “threats of violence” planned at the rally, and said the “extremist rhetoric” surrounding the event echoed the chatter heard before the Charlottesville rally that erupted in deadly violence in 2017. |
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Geoff Bennett will have more on this development story tonight. |
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Virginia temporarily bans weapons from gun-rights rally after threats |
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Beltran out as Mets manager as cheating scandal widens |
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The team and Beltran said in a joint statement today that they had “mutually” agreed to part ways, less than three months after he was hired as manager. A league investigation found that while Beltran was a player for the Houston Astros, he played a prominent role in the Astros’ scheme to steal signs from opposing teams during their 2017 World Series-winning season. |
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In today’s statement, Beltran said, “I couldn’t let myself be a distraction” for the Mets. |
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On Tuesday, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was left the team, after he was implicated in the scheme while he was a bench coach for the Astros. On Monday, the Astros fired manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, after the commissioner’s report was made public. |
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———Carlos Beltran poses for pictures after being introduced as the next manager of the New York Mets during a press conference at Citi Field on Nov. 4, 2019 in New York City. Rich Schultz / Getty Images file |
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Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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