Author: Rebecca Ballhaus

WASHINGTON • A Democratic-led House committee approved a report accusing President Donald Trump of soliciting foreign election interference and placing “his own personal and political interests above the national interests” by pushing Ukraine to announce an investigation into a 2020 political rival. Trump and other officials pressured Kyiv to announce probes into Democrat Joe Biden…

Subpoenas issued to people with ties to President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his associates indicate a broad federal investigation into possible money laundering, obstruction of justice and campaign-finance violations, and suggest that prosecutors are looking closely at the work of Giuliani himself, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, prosecutors…

WASHINGTON • Three current and former national security officials testified that they were concerned by a July 25 call in which President Donald Trump urged his Ukrainian counterpart to undertake investigations that could benefit him politically, in the third day of public impeachment hearings. A fourth witness, the former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine negotiations,…

WASHINGTON • The House held televised presidential impeachment hearings for the first time in two decades, affording Democrats an opportunity to make the case to the nation that President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine merit removing him from office and Republicans the chance to defend the president as acting to counter corruption in that country.…

WASHINGTON • A top U.S. diplomat in Kyiv said President Donald Trump made nearly $400 million in aid contingent on the Ukrainian president investigating Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, in testimony that shed new light on the central question facing the impeachment inquiry. Bill Taylor, the…

WASHINGTON • A top White House official for the first time linked President Donald Trump’s decision to hold up aid to Ukraine to his desire for Kyiv to probe a Democratic National Committee server related to the 2016 election, then hours later issued a statement contradicting his remarks. The initial comments at a White House…

WASHINGTON • Two donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges stemming from their alleged efforts to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections and influence U.S. politics on behalf of at least one unnamed Ukrainian politician. In an indictment unsealed…

WASHINGTON — Two Soviet-born donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges of violating campaign finance rules, including funneling Russian money into President Donald Trump’s campaign. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Florida businessmen, have been under investigation by the…

WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump ordered the removal of the ambassador to Ukraine after months of complaints from allies outside the administration, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, that she was undermining him abroad and obstructing efforts to persuade Kiev to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, according to people familiar with the matter. The…

WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump called for China to investigate Joe Biden, redoubling his efforts to push foreign countries to undertake probes of the Democratic presidential hopeful. The president’s comments come as his efforts to persuade Ukraine in a July call to investigate Biden have set off an impeachment inquiry by House Democrats, who are…