Attention to the Unseen

  Politico reports: Though Democrats are more confident than ever in their growing impeachment case against President Donald Trump, they’re also setting their sights on a top Trump ally: Ambassador Gordon Sondland. Some Democrats have begun to raise the specter that Sondland, a Republican donor who is Trump’s representative to the European Union, perjured himself during his closed-door testimony to impeachment investigators earlier this month. Testimony from other witnesses has put the credibility of Trump’s most favorable witness into serious…

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Politico reports: Republican leaders are stepping up to defend Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman against vicious attacks from President Donald Trump’s allies. Republicans may quibble with the substance of Vindman’s testimony as they try to protect Trump from the fast-moving impeachment inquiry. But congressional GOP leaders say it’s out of bounds to question Vindman’s patriotism and allegiance to the United States, as some conservative pundits did on Monday night. Several top Republicans on Tuesday made emphatic statements in support of Vindman,…

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Rafael Behr writes: MPs on all sides are trepidatious about a December ballot. Christmas is not traditional election season and it isn’t clear how kindly the electorate will take to the idea. Brexit has already corroded traditional party allegiances and incentivised tactical voting. There is no one pendulum swinging between blue and red. In 2017, polls at the start of the contest proved a hopeless guide to the final outcome. Johnson has no intention of repelling voters as efficiently as…

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The Washington Post reports: Republican senators are lost and adrift as the impeachment inquiry enters its second month, navigating the grave threat to President Trump largely in the dark, frustrated by the absence of a credible case to defend his conduct and anxious about the historic reckoning that likely awaits them. Recent days have delivered the most damaging testimony yet about Trump and his advisers commandeering Ukraine policy for the president’s personal political goals, which his allies on Capitol Hill…

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Julia Davis reports: At the White House Sunday morning, President Trump profusely thanked Russia for its alleged involvement in the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Trump said: “[The Russians] were very cooperative, they really were good… Russia treated us great. They opened up, we had to fly over certain Russia areas, Russia-held areas. Russia was great.” Russia didn’t seem to see it the same way. The Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, refuted President Trump’s…

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The Washington Post reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday called on the White House to brief lawmakers on the raid that targeted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, noting that President Trump had informed the Russians of the military operation before telling congressional leadership. The statement from Pelosi (D-Calif.) came after Trump told reporters at a lengthy news conference that he did not inform the House speaker of the raid because he “wanted to make sure this kept secret.” U.S. presidents typically…

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Nick Cohen writes: Britain is in a revolutionary crisis. Its economy, constitution, place in the international order and sense of who it is and what it can become will be battlefields at the next election. The high stakes alone will ensure that a red mist descends. To heighten the rage, the wilful failure of the Conservative government to prevent the corruptions of the electoral process brought by the age of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will sharpen every grievance. Put…

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