1. An investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee found no evidence that Ukraine attempted to interfere in the 2016 election. The Republican-led committee was investigating claims by Trump and his allies that Ukraine launched a top-down interference campaign against Trump, similar to the one Russia engaged in to help get Trump elected. Trump has used those claims to defend his demands for political investigations from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Committee Chairman Richard Burr said that while some Ukrainian officials actively supported Hillary Clinton, “I don’t think anybody interfered in the same way Russia did.” (Politico / CNN)

  2. Ukraine knew about Trump’s hold on U.S. military aid in July and attempted to keep the information from going public, according to a former Ukrainian deputy minister of foreign affairs. Olena Zerkal learned about the freeze from an incoming diplomatic cable and informed Ukrainian senior officials, who tried to prevent it from surfacing in order to avoid getting drawn into the impeachment discussion. Zerkal’s planned trip to the U.S. was also canceled for similar reasons. Zerkal’s statements are the first public acknowledgement by a Ukrainian official that senior members of the Zelensky administration knew about the freeze as the Trump administration was attempting to pressure Zelensky into launching investigations into Trump’s political rivals. (New York Times)

  3. House Democrats are considering expanding their articles of impeachment to include charges beyond Trump’s alleged abuse of power related to Ukraine. Some members of the Judiciary Committee have discussed drafting articles for obstruction of justice and other “high crimes” outlined in the Mueller report, as well as allegations that Trump has used the presidency to personally enrich himself. Others on the committee support a more narrow approach that focuses solely on Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine to launch investigations into his political opponents. (Washington Post)

  4. Trump called the impeachment inquiry “very unpatriotic” during the opening of the NATO leadership summit in London. He also called the inquiry a “performance” and said it was “a bad thing for our country.” (Associated Press)

  5. Trump said he would be willing to wait until after the 2020 election to finalize a trade deal with China. Trump claimed that China wants to “make a deal now,” but said he likes the idea of waiting until after the election to “see whether or not the deal is going to be right.” Trump also said he had no deadline for a potential deal, but it’s unclear whether he was talking about a complete trade deal between the U.S. and China or if he was referring to the “phase one” agreement he has been touting recently. Stocks in Europe fell and Dow futures lost more than 100 points in response to Trump’s comments. (CNBC / Bloomberg)

  6. The Department of Defense awarded a $400 million construction contract to build sections of Trump’s border wall in Arizona to a North Dakota-based company owned by a Republican donor. Trump urged the Army Corps of Engineers to give the contract to build 31 miles of new barrier in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to Fisher Sand and Gravel, which is owned by CEO Tommy Fisher. Fisher’s bid for the contract was initially rejected because it failed to meet the required project standards, but Fisher has appeared on Fox News multiple times to make the case for his company. Fisher Sand and Gravel has previously been fined more than $1 million for environmental and tax violations, and the former co-owner of the company was sentenced to 37 months in prison in 2009 after pleading guilty to tax fraud. (Grand Forks Herald / Fox 5 San Diego / Washington Post / The Independent)