A key figure in President Donald Trump's first impeachment is running for the U.S. Senate in Florida as a Democrat.

Incoming senior Trump officials have begun questioning career civil servants serving on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for, their political contributions in the 2024 election and whether they've made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by the Trump team.

Election results are contested.

In the months since a single senator froze military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion policy, the uniformed officers affected have been largely silent, wary of stepping into a political fray.

A judge has ruled that the oldest son of Donald Trump and other Trump allies did not defame a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a key witness in the first impeachment case against the former president.

From the earliest days of his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump aggressively dismantled pillars of Republican foreign policy.

A retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a pivotal witness in the first impeachment case against Donald Trump has sued the oldest son of the former president and other Trump allies.

Who is the woman at the center of the viral coffee chugging moment during Tuesday’s impeachment hearing? The woman dramatically chugged her cup of coffee as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified Tuesday. She says she grabbed an oatmeal and large coffee on her way to the hearing, where the world saw her chug every last caffeinated drop. Meanwhile, bombshell testimony came from Gordon Sondland, the Ambassador of the European Union, on Wednesday. He was appointed ambassador to the European Union by Trump after he donated $1 million to the presidential inauguration.

(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was another major day on Capitol Hill in the ongoing House impeachment inquiry into President Trump, as several more key witnesses are set to testify. Alexander Vindman, Jennifer Williams, Kurt Volker, and Timothy Morrison all answered questions under oath in the latest chapter into this inquiry.

Vindman believed the existence of a quid pro quo was clear during a July 10 meeting between American and Ukrainian officials. In a separate meeting of US officials immediately afterward, "Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma," Vindman testified. But the fact that the $400 million in aid, including desperately needed military assistance, was also being used by the President didn't become clear until the next month, Vindman testified. Zeldin also questioned why Vindman had not carried out the President's order to push for the Ukrainians to investigate the Bidens. "I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government's support of Ukraine," Vindman wrote in his opening statement.

"After more than a year of service at the National Security Council, Mr. Morrison has decided to pursue other opportunities -- and has been considering doing so for some time. Inside the nearly 150-year-old building next to the White House where the National Security Council is housed, the mood has shifted dramatically. Like Vindman, much of the National Security Council staff is drawn from the Pentagon, State Department or the US intelligence agencies. One source noted that several National Security Council staffers are worrying about having to hire lawyers when they don't have the resources to. The list of senior State Department and National Security Council officials who Trump claims are strangers is long.

There has not been a request yet made for Taylor to testify publicly, according to the source. But Democrats privately say that Taylor would be a logical choice for one of the first witnesses when the House begins public impeachment hearings. Sondland's lawyer did not reply to a request for comment when asked if he would be willing to return to testify publicly. "I don't speak Latin"Taylor's opening statement provided a preview of what kind of witness he would be for Democrats publicly. "According to Mr. Morrison, President Trump told Ambassador Sondland that he was not asking for a 'quid pro quo.'

It also contradicts the President who has insisted the transcript the White House released was an exact depiction of the call, even though the memo itself describes it as rough. Vindman also said that he would have edited the transcript to specifically show that Zelensky mentioned Burisma -- the company that hired Hunter Biden -- rather than just "the company," according to sources. Vindman is the first person who was actually on the call to testify in front of House investigators. Vindman testified that he spoke to his twin brother, who works in the National Security Council's ethics office, to discuss his concerns about the July 25 call, according to multiple sources. In the hearing, Republicans questioned why there weren't more people who raised concerns to the National Security Council lawyers about the call, according to sources.

Alexander Vindman: White House's top Ukraine expert testifying in impeachment probe is decorated Iraq War veteran. Distributed by LAKANA. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

(CNN) - House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming said on Tuesday that it is "shameful" to question the patriotism of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the White House National Security Council's top Ukraine expert, who is testifying in the House impeachment inquiry. It is shameful to question their patriotism, their love of this nation, and we should not be involved in that process." I don't know that he's concerned about American policy, but his main mission was to make sure that the Ukraine got those weapons. "Supposedly, according to the Corrupt Media, the Ukraine call 'concerned' today's Never Trumper witness. This man is a decorated American serviceman, and I have full confidence in him as an individual and his patriotism."

Vindman, a decorated veteran who was born in Ukraine, is already facing attacks by Trump and Republicans, who are seeking to discredit the aide ahead of his potentially-damaging testimony. "The privilege of serving my country is not only rooted in my military service, but also in my personal history. I sit here, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, an immigrant," he will say, according to his remarks. "My family fled the Soviet Union when I was three and a half years old. Vindman served multiple overseas tours, including in South Korea and Germany in addition to his deployment to Iraq, according to his prepared remarks.

In addition to questions about the content of that conversation, Vindman is likely to be pressed on how the transcript of the call was handled by White House officials who moved to contain the fallout in its aftermath. The anxiety and internal concern reflect a phone conversation that deeply troubled national security professionals, even as Trump now insists there was nothing wrong with how he conducted himself. The source said Perry regularly travels at the behest of the White House. The entreaty caused concern among some of his national security officials, who discussed among themselves whether Trump had crossed a line. From there, the National Security Council director responsible for Ukraine -- Vindman -- reviewed the document for accuracy before it made its way to then-national security adviser John Bolton and his deputy Charles Kupperman.

The Kupperman case presents a new challenge to House Democrats seeking cooperation from close aides of Trump. Kupperman, who worked closely with former national security adviser John Bolton, is scheduled to sit Monday for questioning by the three House committees handling impeachment. Before she worked directly for Volker, Croft was at the National Security Council and worked on Ukraine policy there. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council's top expert on Ukraine, is expected to appear at his scheduled deposition on Tuesday, says a source familiar. He will be the first White House official to appear before the committees as part of the impeachment inquiry.