Donald Trump becomes the 4th U.S. President to face impeachment as an explosive whistleblower report is released, the Director of National Intelligence testifies, and Nancy Pelosi launches a formal impeachment inquiry. Housing activist Candice Elder joins Jon, Jon, Tommy, Dan, and Jessica Yellin on stage in San Jose, California.

Show notes

High Crimes:

: White House Knew of Whistle-Blower’s Allegations Soon After Trump’s Call With Ukraine Leader

: Trump Attacks Whistle-Blower’s Sources and Alludes to Punishment for Spies

The Whistleblower:

: A Damning Whistle-Blower Report of a White House Coverup on Ukraine

: All the president’s loyalists: Impeachment net snares Trump’s top advisers

: Giuliani denies charges in whistleblower complaint, says details are ‘total nonsense’

: Timeline: The alarming pattern of actions by Trump included in whistleblower allegations

: Top Democrats accuse Trump of trying to intimidate whistleblower to obstruct justice

: Whistleblower says White House tried to ‘lock down’ Ukraine call

: 5 key takeaways and allegations from the Trump whistleblower complaint

: 6 key takeaways from the Ukraine whistleblower complaint

: 8 Takeaways From the Whistle-Blower Complaint

: White House Tried to ‘Lock Down’ Ukraine Call Records, Whistle-Blower Says

: Whistleblower claimed that Trump abused his office and that White House officials tried to cover it up

Maguire’s Testimony:

WaPo : Acting intelligence chief Maguire defends his handling of whistleblower complaint in testimony before Congress

Politico : ‘This is unprecedented’: Intel chief defends withholding whistleblower complaint

Daily Beast : Trump’s Spy Chief Joseph Maguire: ‘The Whistleblower Did The Right Thing’

NYT : Joseph Maguire, Acting D.N.I., Holds His Ground

WaPo : Trump’s other Ukraine problem: New concern about his business

WaPo : Former Ukraine prosecutor says Hunter Biden ‘did not violate anything’

The Atlantic : The Risks of Impeachment Are Overblown – By Ron Brownstein

The Atlantic : Why Republicans Aren’t Turning on Trump

Rolling Stone : What You Need to Know About Trump’s Crowdstrike Conspiracy Theory

CNN : Lewandowski may lead White House impeachment team

WaPo : Acting director of national intelligence threatened to resign if he couldn’t speak freely before Congress on whistleblower complaint

Daily Beast : Will Joseph Maguire Be the First Hero to Emerge from Trumpland?

LA Times : Acting spy chief to testify on whistleblower’s complaint

CNN : Acting spy chief Joseph Maguire in spotlight ahead of House hearing on Ukraine whistleblower complaint

WSJ : Impeachment Inquiry Casts Spotlight on Spy Chief Joseph Maguire

WaPo : Trump offered Ukrainian president Justice Dept. help in an investigation of Biden, memo shows

NYT : Whistle-Blower Is Said to Allege Concerns About White House Handling of Ukraine Call

Vox : The White House has shared the whistleblower’s complaint with members of Congress

Axios : Rep. Chris Stewart: Whistleblower complaint has been declassified

Axios : Democrats ‘disturbed’ after reviewing whistleblower complaint

CNN : Whistleblower tentatively agrees to testify, attorneys say, as long as they get appropriate clearances to attend hearing

Axios : READ: Whistleblower’s letters with lawmakers on potential meeting

NYT : Trump Makes Clear He’s Ready for a Fight He Has Long Anticipated – Impeachment, he insists, will be “a positive for me.”

Politico : Did Trump Just Impeach Himself?

WaPo : Trump’s Ukraine-scandal strategy — counterpunch, confuse and con — depends on the media

Guardian : ‘No, you’re corrupt!’: why there’s method in Trump’s playground taunts

BuzzFeed : Trump’s Own Lawyers Suggested Democrats Would Have A Stronger Case To Get His Records If They Were Pursuing Impeachment

Politico : Trump legal team steps into a battle like none before

Wapo : Seven days: Inside Trump’s frenetic response to the whistleblower complaint and the battle over impeachment

NPR : President Trump Says He ‘Fully Supports Transparency’ On Whistleblower Complaint

Slate : The White House Accidentally Sent Democrats Its Ukraine Call Talking Points NYT : The case of the White House talking points: File under “Oops.”

Just Security : Trump’s Call to Ukraine May Constitute “Honest Services Fraud”—A Core Crime of Public Corruption

NYT : ‘Do Us a Favor’: Calls Shows Trump’s Interest in Using U.S. Power for His Gain

Politico : How to read Trump’s wild phone call with Ukraine’s president

Politico : Trump encourages questions to Pence about his own Ukraine calls

Daily Beast : House Dems Probing April Call Between Trump and Zelensky

ABC News : Ukrainians understood Biden probe was condition for Trump-Zelenskiy phone call: Ukrainian adviser

HuffPo : Trump First Pressured Ukrainian President To Work With Giuliani In April Call: Report

Axios : Zelensky adviser says Biden case was precondition to Trump phone call

NYT : The Trump-Zelensky Phone Call: Key Takeaways From Two New Documents

NYT : Trump’s Not-So-Excellent Day

NYT : Phone Call Showed Only a Slice of Trump’s Obsession With Ukraine

WaPo : Where Trump’s and Giuliani’s claims about the Ukraine call don’t match the rough transcript

WaPo : Trump’s call with Ukrainian leader is unlike anything presidential scholars have heard before

WaPo : New revelations on Trump call and Giuliani make impeachment more likely

WaPo Ed Board : The Trump-Zelensky readout is a devastating indictment of our president

Vox : Trump’s weird reference to “CrowdStrike” during the Ukraine call, briefly explained WaPo : Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president includes a key promise. But it might not be the one you think.

WaPo : ‘Transcripts’ of presidential calls are nearly verbatim but not exact. Here’s how the process works.

WaPo : There are likely no tapes — but plenty of witnesses in the rough transcript of Trump’s Ukrainian call

WaPo : Cracks emerge among Senate Republicans over Trump urging Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden

Axios : The call heard ’round the world

Axios : “A classic Mafia-like shakedown”: Schiff reacts to Trump-Ukraine call

New Yorker : “Do Us a Favor”: The Forty-eight Hours That Sealed Trump’s Impeachment

New Yorker : Trump, Impeachment, and the Democracy That Happens Between Elections

New Yorker : Trump Faces Impeachment

The Atlantic : Trump’s Incriminating Conversation With the Ukrainian President

The Atlantic : Trump Is Panicking

The Atlantic : Trump’s Classic Bully Move

Roll Call : Crime or ‘high crime?’ Trump’s Ukraine call spurs legal debate

Vox : Trump and the Ukrainian president met today. Here’s what you missed

Politico : A subdued Trump confronts a new phase of his presidency

Esquire : Trump’s UN Presser Was Hilarious Until It Was Horrifying

Business Insider : Ukraine’s president tells Trump to his face that he doesn’t want to be involved in US elections

CNN : Fact check: What Trump has been getting wrong on Biden and Ukraine

WaPo : Trump says Hunter Biden ‘walks out of China with $1.5 billion.’ Biden’s lawyer said that’s not true

WaPo : Trump’s Pinocchio-laden claims about Joe Biden, Ukraine and polls

Vox : Trump just debuted his 3 main defenses against the Ukraine scandal

FiveThirtyEight : If This Is Trump’s Best Case, The Ukraine Scandal Is Looking Really Bad For Him

WaPo : Justice Dept. rejected investigation of Trump phone call just weeks after it began examining the matter

Vox : 5 questions Attorney General William Barr should answer about Trump’s call with President Volodymyr Zelensky

NYT : Justice Dept.’s Dismissal of Ukraine Call Raises New Questions About Barr

NBC News : Barr’s relationship with Trump called into question again by Ukraine call

Politico : Trump pressed Ukraine’s president to work with Barr for dirt on Biden

The Intercept : TRUMP-UKRAINE CALL PUTS ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR IN THE HOT SEAT

The Hill : Julián Castro calls on DOJ to investigate Barr after Ukraine call memo

Slate : William Barr Hit a New Low In His Crusade to Bury the Whistleblower Complaint