A tale of two scheduled interviews

IMPEACHMENT. 2020 ELECTION. WASHINGTON. AND MORE FROM THE POLITICS WORLD.

Thursday, November 7

Then-national security adviser John Bolton observes President Donald Trump in 2018.

John Bolton was a no-show. George Kent's testimony was released. And Pompeo won't explain himself. Here's your impeachment inquiry news.

Not to jinx anything, but it's been a relatively quiet day in Washington.

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We'll keep this impeachment inquiry update short and sweet:

Two scheduled, one interviewed

Today, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton did not show up for his closed-door hearing with the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry of Trump.

•	Past interviewees have portrayed Bolton as one of the main critics of pressuring Ukraine's leader to open investigations against Trump's opponents, led by Rudy Giuliani.

Jennifer Williams, a foreign policy aide to Vice President Mike Pence who listened to the call, complied with her subpoena and spent five hours with the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and Oversight Committees.

Another transcript released

George Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of State, told the House that efforts to undermine Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, began a year before Trump recalled her in May, according to a transcript released Thursday.

•	Kent said a "campaign of slander" unfolded against Yovanovitch by Giuliani through television appearances, newspaper articles and Giuliani's Twitter feed.
•	He testified that he felt Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's letter to the House committees overseeing the impeachment inquiry was inaccurate. Pompeo had blasted the inquiry and suggested he would fight their requests to depose department officials, prompting Democrats to accuse him of "stonewalling" and witness intimidation.
•	Read more about what Kent said here.

Also today...

•	Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to explain his refusal to issue a public statement of support for Yovanovitch when she was ousted after Giuliani's campaign.
•	Vice President Mike Pence told reporters in New Hampshire that the Democratic impeachment inquiry is "a disgrace" and an effort to overturn the 2016 election.
•	Read the transcripts from all the closed-door testimonies in the impeachment inquiry. So far, that includes: Marie Yovanovitch, Michael McKinley, Kurt Volker, Gordon Sondland, Bill Taylor and George Kent.