OnPolitics special edition: Monday impeachment inquiry news

FROM WASHINGTON AND BEYOND

Monday, September 30

In this Nov. 20, 2016 photo, then-President-elect Donald Trump, right, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani pose for photographs as Giuliani arrives at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J.

A lot has changed over the weekend and today. Here's what you need to know.

Happy Monday, OnPolitics readers! We don't want to wait until Friday to catch you up again, so we'll be sending you updates as needed right here in your inbox. Don't worry, this newsletter won't be long; We're talking summary, not transcript length.

Think any of your friends, family, or particularly tuned-in acquaintances would enjoy this newsletter? Forward them this email, and they can sign up here.

What happened Monday with the impeachment inquiry

1. 'Treason,' 'spying,' 'civil war': President Donald Trump lashes out at impeachment accusers. Trump opened another week of impeachment turmoil with attacks on his accusers - including a suggestion that a leading investigator, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, be arrested for "treason." How did Trump suggest this? Twitter of course.

•	Another tweet of note: "If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal,'" Trump tweeted, quoting Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress.

Then ...

2. Jeff Flake told Republicans: Don't support Trump reelection in 2020. Former Sen. Jeff Flake, who has been a harsh critic of Donald Trump, called for Republicans on Capitol Hill to announce that they will no longer support the president's reelection campaign regardless of the outcome of the Trump impeachment inquiry.

•	"My fellow Republicans, it is time to risk your careers in favor of your principles," Flake wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Post Monday. "Whether you believe the president deserves impeachment, you know he does not deserve reelection."

Back with Biden ...

3. Joe Biden's 2020 campaign is asking TV networks to not book Rudy Giuliani. Former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign urged top TV network executives Sunday to stop booking Rudy Giuliani on their shows, accusing Trump's personal attorney of introducing "increasingly unhinged, unfounded and desperate lies into the national conversation."

And back to the GOP ...

4. Mitch McConnell: Senate would have 'no choice' but to hold trial if House votes to impeach Donald Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday the Senate would have "no choice" but to hold a trial on whether to remove President Donald Trump from office if the House votes to put forward articles of impeachment.

•

How it works: It would take a simple majority of the House (218 votes) to submit articles of impeachment to the Senate. Impeachment would be akin to an indictment in a court proceeding. A trial would then be held in the Senate where it would take at least two-thirds (or 67 votes) to convict Trump and remove him from office. The chief justice of the Supreme Court would preside over the trial.

What about America? ...

5. Americans approve of an impeachment probe by slim margin, but are split on removal from office. A new poll shows that American voters are split on impeachment and removal from office, as President Donald Trump is the subject of an ongoing impeachment inquiry related to his asking Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

And this just in ...

6. Democrats have subpoenaed Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, for Ukraine documents. "A growing public record indicates that the president, his agent Rudy Giuliani, and others appear to have pressed the Ukrainian government to pursue two politically-motivated investigations," the three chairmen wrote to Giuliani on Monday.

What we already knew

It's been roughly a week since Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced an official impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump over a whistleblower complaint related to Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.

After the impeachment probe was announced, the White House released a summary of the phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the whistleblower's complaint was declassified and made public.

•	Phone call: What Trump and Zelensky said on July 25
•	Complaint: Key takeaways from the now-released whistleblower complaint
•	Timeline: The events that led up to Trump's fateful phone call