WARSAW, Poland — A Russian prankster posing as the U.N. secretary-general managed to reach Poland’s president on the telephone and rendered him speechless with questions about Ukraine, Russia and his reelection on Sunday. The prankster, Vladimir Kuznetsov, known as Vovan, posted a recording of the 11-minute call on YouTube. President...
What was Rudy Giuliani Doing in Fresno?
President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was in Fresno on Thursday soliciting funding for a proposed documentary. The former New York mayor pitched small groups at Ovidio Ristorante Italiano and The Limelite in northwest Fresno on a film investigating alleged corruption in the Democratic Party and its connection to Ukraine. Giuliani...
Trump's Acquittal Confronts Dems With Election Year Choices
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s impeachment ended with a reminder of why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resisted the idea for so long — an acquittal everyone saw coming, followed by a bombastic presidential victory lap and a bump in his poll numbers just as the 2020 campaign officially began. Now Democrats have...
Not Guilty: Split Senate Acquits Trump of Impeachment
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump won impeachment acquittal Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential trial in American history with votes that split the country, tested civic norms and fed the tumultuous 2020 race for the White House. A majority of senators expressed unease with Trump's pressure campaign...
Ukraine: Recordings Show Iran Knew Jetliner Hit by a Missile
KYIV, Ukraine — A leaked recording of an exchange between an Iranian air-traffic controller and an Iranian pilot purports to show that authorities immediately knew a missile had downed a Ukrainian jetliner after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, despite days of denials by the Islamic Republic. Ukraine's...
Trump Trial End in Sight as Vote Nears on More Witnesses
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump seems headed for acquittal in his impeachment trial after Sen. Lamar Alexander's decision to stick with fellow Republicans and oppose Democratic efforts to call more witnesses and keep the Senate trial going for weeks or even months. A vote on witnesses, expected Friday, could lead...
GOP Squirms as Bolton Prepares to Dish on Trump White House
WASHINGTON — For much of the last 20 years, John Bolton was a conservative poster child, a Republican hawk whose worldview helped shape the GOP establishment’s approach to dicey foreign policy questions. Now, as President Donald Trump's former national security adviser prepares to dish on his days in the White...
Bolton Book Pressures GOP to Allow Senate Witnesses
WASHINGTON — Pressure is increasing on senators to call John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial after the revelation that a draft of a book by the former national security adviser undercuts a key defense argument — that Trump never tied withholding military aid to Ukraine to his demand...
24 Hours In, Senators Flout Quaint Impeachment Rules
WASHINGTON — So much for the Senate's quaint rules and tradition. Almost immediately after Chief Justice John Roberts gaveled in Wednesday's session of President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, bored and weary senators started openly flouting some basic guidelines in a chamber that prizes decorum. A Democrat in the back row leaned...
Buckle Up: What to Watch as Impeachment Trial Takes off
WASHINGTON — Senators like to float above messy politics in what's known by some as the dignified “upper chamber," home of Congress' cooler heads and lofty rhetoric. But as a court of President Donald Trump's impeachment, the Senate beginning Tuesday might seem more like the economy cabin of an oversold flight...