Our live coverage of the impeachment inquiry has ended for the day. Read up on the latest news below and visit CNN's impeachment tracker.
The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry
By Eliza Mackintosh and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN
Updated 4:29 p.m. ET, October 26, 2019
19 Posts
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Philip Reeker was expected to testify he didn't know about push for Ukraine investigations
From CNN's Kylie Atwood and Jeremy Herb
Acting assistant secretary of state Philip Reeker was expected to testify in the impeachment inquiry today that he did not find out there was a push by Trump administration officials for Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into Vice President Joe Biden and the 2016 election until the whistleblower complaint was made public, a source familiar with his testimony told CNN.
While Reeker's testimony for the Democratic led House impeachment inquiry appeared to be absent the more explosive allegations that came from depositions earlier in the week with regard to the assistance, his comments are expected to color in details surrounding the firing of the Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine who was discharged at President Trump's behest.
Reeker is testifying behind closed doors in a rare Saturday session before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees as part of the impeachment inquiry sparked by a whistleblower complaint alleging Trump pushed Ukraine to open investigations that would help his reelection campaign at the same time that US security aid to Ukraine had been frozen.
Some background on Reeker: He was involved in the discussions about Yovanovitch dating back to his first week on the job in March.
Reeker was an advocate of an internal push for the State Department to put out a statement of support for Yovanovitch when she left the post. But other top State Department officials under Secretary Mike Pompeo forbid the kind of statement he thought was necessary.
Reeker has known Yovanovitch for over 20 years and, as many other foreign service officers, supported her work.
Yovanovitch said that she was told the decision was due to Trump losing confidence in her based on "unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives."
Rep. Jamie Raskin speaks about impeachment inquiry during testimony stakeout
From CNN's Gregory Clary
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, spoke at a stakeout outside the sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) today as members held a deposition for acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker.
Raskin cheered yesterday’s court ruling allowing for Democrats to get their hands on grand jury material related to the Mueller investigation saying, “The single best line in the whole case appeared on page two, where Chief Judge Beryl Howell says the Department of Justice is wrong.”
When asked about making the impeachment inquiry a more public process Raskin said, “it is our intention to make everything public that we can make public at the correct time. And we have every interest in transparency.”
Raskin also took a shot at Attorney General William Barr.
"The reason we’re in the situation we’re in is precisely because Attorney General Barr refused to undertake an investigation into the Ukrainian episode. He had all of the information contained in the whistleblower’s report and found that there was basically nothing there to investigate. And so we know that the attorney general has been trying to smother the investigation into Ukraine," Raskin said.
Nancy Pelosi on impeachment: No Democrat "comes to Congress to impeach a president"
From CNN's Gregory Clary
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke at an event with Polk County Democrats at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, today where she touched on several impeachment threads.
"I don’t know anybody, and I know that I can speak for each and every Democrat in this regard, nobody comes to Congress to impeach a president. You come about the future, about our children, about issues you care, well there’s education, climate you know it, gun safety. So nobody comes for that. But we do take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. And when that is under threat, we cannot ignore it," Pelosi said.
Philip Reeker was issued a subpoena
From CNN's Jeremy Herb
As has been the case for all of the current administration officials who have testified, acting assistant secretary of state Philip Reeker was issued a subpoena before he appeared this morning for his deposition before congressional committees, per an official working on the impeachment inquiry.
“In light of an attempt by the State Department to direct Ambassador Philip Reeker not to appear for his scheduled deposition, and efforts by the State Department to also limit any testimony that does occur, the House Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to compel his testimony. As is required of him, Ambassador Reeker is now complying with the subpoena and answering questions,” an official working on the impeachment inquiry said.
Some context: Reeker is well-regarded among those who know him, with multiple officials pointing to his smarts.
Sources suggest he won't be bringing any bombshells to his testimony.
"I have a feeling his testimony will simply be repeating what other people said," a former State Department official who knows him told CNN, noting Reeker's status as an acting secretary.
Reeker has served in the role in an acting capacity since March following the departure of A. Wess Mitchell in February. He has known former US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker, who was an early witness in the impeachment inquiry, for decades.
According to the former State Department official, the two would check in with each other, and Volker wanted to keep Reeker in the loop on what was happening with US-Ukrainian relations. That official said they did discuss President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and that Volker had told Reeker about when he met with Giuliani. Reeker seemed to indicate he did not want to get involved with the matter, according to the official.
Reeker was among the State Department officials who sought to shield former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch from the campaign of false allegations against her in March, according to internal emails turned over to Congress by State Department Inspector General Steve Linick in early October. Yovanovitch was removed from her post in May.
As he continues tweets on the impeachment inquiry, President Trump again repeats "I did nothing wrong"
From CNN's Kevin Bohn
As President Trump tweets about the impeachment probe hitting the media on the question of whether he is concerned, the President said “I am not because I did nothing wrong. It is the other side, including (House Intelligence Chairman Adam) Schiff and his made up story, that are concerned. Witch Hunt continues.”
The President's tweet from this morning also focuses on the Washington Post which has a story about Trump still looking for help on the impeachment defense.
Also in a separate tweet, the President continued to hit the theme of the whistleblower not testifying.
The whistleblower’s attorneys, Mark Zaid and Andrew Bakaj, wrote an op-ed arguing their client doesn’t need to testify in person
Trump's tweet comes after the White House urged all federal agencies to cancel subscriptions to the Washington Post and New York Times.
Read Trump's tweet below:
Philip Reeker arrives for deposition
From CNN's Gregory Clary
Acting assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker has arrived at the Capitol ahead of his deposition as part of the House’s impeachment inquiry.
Why Philip Reeker is testifying on a Saturday
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler
Acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker's testimony today comes as the House works to move forward expeditiously with its closed-door depositions as part of the impeachment inquiry.
Testimonies were canceled on Thursday and Friday in light of Rep. Elijah Cummings' memorial and funeral.
What we expect from Reeker: Reeker is well-regarded among those who know him, with multiple officials pointing to his smarts.
"He is one of the more creative and independent-minded people you will find in the State Department," a former State Department official who knows him told CNN. "He is a problem-solver."
However, sources suggest he won't be bringing any bombshells to his testimony.
"I have a feeling his testimony will simply be repeating what other people said," the former State Department official said, noting Reeker's status as an acting secretary.
Reeker has served in the role in an acting capacity since March following the departure of A. Wess Mitchell in February. He has known former US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker, who was an early witness in the impeachment inquiry, for decades. According to the former State Department official, the two would check in with each other, and Volker wanted to keep Reeker in the loop on what was happening with US-Ukrainian relations. That official said they did discuss President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and that Volker had told Reeker about when he met with Giuliani. Reeker seemed to indicate he did not want to get involved with the matter, according to the official.
Reeker was among the State Department officials who sought to shield former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch from the campaign of false allegations against her in March, according to internal emails turned over to Congress by State Department Inspector General Steve Linick in early October. Yovanovitch was removed from her post in May.
Chairman Adam Schiff arrives for Saturday deposition of Philip Reeker
From CNN's Gregory Clary
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has arrived at the sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, ahead of the 11 a.m. deposition of acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker.
Reeker is well regarded among those who know him, with multiple officials pointing to his smarts.
However, sources suggest he won't be bringing any bombshells to his testimony.
About Reeker: He was among the career state officials who undertook a concerted effort to shield then-ambassador Marie Yovanovitch from conspiracies peddled by conservative media outlets beginning in March.
Reeker, along with State Department official George Kent, sought to provide counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl and Undersecretary for Political Affairs David Hale with facts to counter the conspiratorial narratives being pushed about the career diplomat.