CAFE Insider

In this episode of the CAFE Insider podcast, “Abuse(s) of Power,” co-hosts Preet Bharara and Anne Milgram break down the latest developments:

-- House Democrats unveil two articles of impeachment focused on abuse of power and obstruction of congress

-- Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the FBI’s Russia investigation finds no political bias and proper predication, but serious errors

-- Attorney General Bill Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham object to the Inspector General’s botttom line conclusions in highly unusual public statements

We hope you’re enjoying CAFE Insider. Email us at [email protected] with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Anne. 

REFERENCES AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

• WATCH: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler’s Remarks Announcing Introduction of Articles of Impeachment (and read the remarks here), 12/10/19
• WATCH: Hearing on Evidence in Impeachment Inquiry, C-SPAN, 12/9/19
• WATCH: Hearing on Constitutional Framework for Impeachment, C-SPAN, 12/4/19
• Tweet of Rep. Eric Swalwell’s exchange with Steve Castor, 12/9/19 
• Jonathan Turley: “Five myths about impeachment,” Washington Post, 8/1/14
• Rep. Justin Amash’s tweet about the constitutional hearing, 12/5/19
• Preet’s tweet addressed to Steve Castor, 12/9/19 
• Tweet of Steve Castor’s Fresh Market bag, 12/9/19

HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE

• The Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report, December 2019

DOJ INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT

• Department of Justice Office of Inspector General’s Report, Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation, December 2019
• FBI Director Christopher Wray’s Response to Inspector General Report, FBI, 12/9/19
• Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Inspector General's Report of the Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation, DOJ, 12/9/19
• Statement of U.S. Attorney John H. Durham, DOJ, 12/9/19 
• Trump’s tweet about FBI Director Chris Wray, 12/10/19
• “Christopher Wray, basically: Don’t listen to Trump’s Ukraine conspiracy theories,” Washington Post, 12/10/19
• Susan Hennessey’s tweet about the Mueller Report’s treatment of Carter Page, 12/9/19

In this episode of the CAFE Insider podcast, “Impeachment: Phase 2,” co-hosts Preet Bharara and Anne Milgram break down the latest developments:

-- The House Intelligence Committee’s report summarizing its findings and the House Judiciary Committee hearings, the first of which is set for this Wednesday.

-- A decision by a DC federal judge ordering former White House Counsel Don McGahn to appear before impeachment investigators and the implications that case has for other witnesses, like former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

-- A phone call between Trump and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland that has emerged as a centerpiece of the president’s defense.

-- Revelations from the deposition of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official Mark Sandy.

-- Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation due on December 9th.

We hope you’re enjoying CAFE Insider. Email us at [email protected] with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Anne. 

REFERENCES AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARINGS

• Letter from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to President Trump, 11/29/19
• Letter from Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, to Chairman Jerry Nadler, 11/30/19
• Letter from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone to Chairman Jerry Nadler, 12/1/19
• VIDEO: Rep. Collins’ appearance on Fox News Sunday, 12/1/19
• Trump’s tweet about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and his participation in the House impeachment inquiry, 11/18/19
• “House Judiciary Panel Asks Trump if He Will Present Impeachment Defense,” New York Times, 11/29/19
• “Judiciary Takes Up Impeachment As House Intelligence Panel Prepares To Release Report,” National Public Radio, 12/2/19
• “Trump’s photo op play: Facing impeachment, the president strives to look hard at work,” Washington Post, 11/30/19

GORDON SONDLAND

• “Here’s the Proof that Trump’s “No Quid Pro Quo” Call Never Happened,” Just Security, 11/29/19 
• “Witness testimony and records raise questions about account of Trump’s ‘no quid pro quo’ call,” Washington Post, 11/27/19
• “Multiple Women Recall Sexual Misconduct and Retaliation by Gordon Sondland,” ProPublica, 11/27/19

MARK SANDY

• “The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: What Is It? Why Does It Matter?,” House Committee on the Budget
• “Read Mark Sandy’s Closed-Door Deposition,” New York Times, 11/26/19
• “White House Budget Official Said 2 Aides Resigned Amid Ukraine Aid Freeze,” New York Times, 11/26/19
• “Timeline: Trump, Giuliani, Biden, and Ukrainegate (updated),” Just Security, 11/27/19

DON MCGAHN

• The decision in Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives v. Donald F. McGahn II, 11/25/19
• DOJ’s emergency motion for stay pending appeal, Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives v. Donald F. McGahn II, 11/27/19
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s order granting a stay in the case, Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives v. Donald F. McGahn II, 11/27/19
• “The Don McGahn Ruling Has Big Consequences for Impeachment,” Slate, 11/25/19

IG REPORT PREVIEW

• “Russia Inquiry Review Is Expected to Undercut Trump Claim of F.B.I. Spying,” New York Times, 11/27/19

In this episode of the CAFE Insider podcast, “Impeachment Game Plan,” co-hosts Preet Bharara and Anne Milgram break down the latest developments:

-- The House Intelligence Committee has reportedly begun writing a report summarizing its inquiry findings, which will be used by the House Judiciary Committee to help draft the articles of impeachment. 

-- It remains to be seen what the impeachment charges will be, and what will happen in a Republican-controlled Senate trial which will be presided over by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts.

-- Meanwhile, we have also learned that Trump defender Rep. Devin Nunes reportedly met with a former Ukrainian prosecutor last year to get dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden; Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s long-awaited report into the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation will be released on December 9th; and Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was forced to resign on Sunday in connection with the case of Navy SEAL Ed Gallagher who was pardoned by President Trump earlier this month. 

We hope you’re enjoying CAFE Insider. Email us at [email protected] with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Anne. 

REFERENCES AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

• Stay Tuned with Preet: Impeachment Hearings (Special Episode with Anne Milgram), 11/21/19
• Guide to the Impeachment Hearings, PBS News Hour
• “Trump’s GOP support hardens despite damning impeachment testimony,” The Washington Post, 11/23/19
• “‘Improper’ and ‘unusual’: White House aides criticize Trump’s Ukraine call,” Politico, 11/19/19
• Clip of Fox News host Chris Wallace confronting Republican Louisiana Senator John Kennedy who refused to openly disagree with President Trump in saying that it was Russia, not Ukraine, that had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, 11/24/19
• “White House review turns up emails showing extensive effort to justify Trump’s decision to block Ukraine military aid,” The Washington Post, 11/24/19
• “Judge will rule by Nov. 25 in Don McGahn subpoena fight,” Politico, 11/19/19
• “Bolton re-emerges after public hiatus charging White House froze his Twitter account,” CNN, 11/22/19 (Twitter account of John Bolton, Former Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs) 

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT

• “What’s Next in Impeachment: Judiciary Committee Up Next,” The Associated Press, 11/25/19
• “Does Trump Impeachment Case Need to Prove a Quid Pro Quo? Asking Ukraine for Help is Bad Enough, Legal Experts Say,” Newsweek, 11/22/19
• Full text of the Articles of Impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee on July 27, 1974 against President Richard Nixon
• Full text of the Articles of Impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee on December 11, 1998 against President Bill Clinton 
• “Impeachment is about to get a Robert Mueller reprise,” Politico, 11/22/19
• “Must Impeachable Offenses Be Violations of the Criminal Code?,” Lawfare, 11/19/19

SENATE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

• Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate when Sitting on Impeachment Trials, 1986
• Material from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, which includes the rules that governed the Senate trial, 1/13/99 
• “Senate impeachment trial to test chief justice who has tangled with Trump,” The Washington Post, 11/5/19

DEVIN NUNES-UKRAINE ALLEGATIONS

• “Lev Parnas Helped Rep. Devin Nunes’ Investigations,” The Daily Beast, 11/21/19
• “Exclusive: Giuliani associate willing to tell Congress Nunes met with ex-Ukrainian official to get dirt on Biden,” CNN, 11/22/19
• “Devin Nunes doubles down on promise to take CNN and Daily Beast to court: ‘It should be fun,’” Fox News, 11/24/19

INSPECTOR GENERAL’S INVESTIGATION

• “Exclusive: Former FBI lawyer under investigation after allegedly altering document in 2016 Russia probe,” CNN, 11/21/19
• “Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts,” The New York Times, 11/22/19

OUSTER OF NAVY SECRETARY

• “Navy secretary forced out by Pentagon chief over handling of Navy SEAL’s war crimes case,” The Washington Post, 11/25/19
• Letter to President Trump from Navy Secretary Richard Spencer acknowledging his “termination,” 11/24/19

IUD OR IED?  

• “GQ Corrects Vindman Story After Saying He Was Injured By Birth Control Instead Of Explosive Device,” Daily Caller, 11/22/19