Week 157 - Impeachment Hearings Begin

This week public impeachment hearings started,  with three career diplomats testifying before the House Intelligence  Committee. Senate Republicans were notably quiet in their defense of  Trump, while Republican House members focused mostly on the process,  especially for the third witness, Maria Yovanovitch, who proved  unassailable. William Taylor testified about a previously unknown phone  call on July 26 overheard by his staffer David Holmes, in which Trump  asked about “the investigation,” and Sondland assured him Ukraine would  comply. Closed door hearings continued as well, as more career officials  came forward to testify. This week, Trump faced threats on other fronts,  as longtime ally Roger Stone was found guilty on all charges of lying to  Congress, tampering with witnesses, and concealing evidence in an  effort prosecutors said was to shield Trump. Stone’s conviction was the  sixth of a senior Trump official arising from the Mueller probe. This  week Trump lawyers appealed two cases to the Supreme Court, both of  which would require him to turn over eight years of his tax returns. The world order continued to shift, as Trump  hosted and praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White  House, weeks after Turkish-forces invaded Northern Syria, and notably in  contrast to having not yet hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr  Zelensky. French President Emmanuel Macron announced France would host a  Ukraine summit on December 9, inviting leaders of Ukraine, Russia, and  Germany, while pledging unwavering support to Zelensky. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-157/