Tipsheet: GOP vows to take new steps to protect Trump

View in your browser     GOP vows to take new steps to protect Trump BY SCOTT WONG AND JULIEGRACE BRUFKE Republicans are vowing more action after they stormed the secure impeachment hearing room last week, disrupting a deposition and grabbing headlines that were cheered by President Trump. The problem is they just don't know what to do next. Read the full story here     ISIS leader believed killed in US raid BY KYLE BALLUCK Officials believe ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. military raid in Syria, according to multiple reports. The White House also announced that President Trump would be making a “major statement” on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Read the full story here     Bolton looms large as impeachment inquiry accelerates BY LAURA KELLY One of the loudest voices emerging from House Democrats impeachment inquiry about President Trump’s alleged abuse of power has come from a man who has yet to utter a word publicly about the probe: former national security adviser John Bolton. Read the full story here     Sondland told the House that Trump's Ukraine pressure was a quid pro quo, attorney says BY RACHEL FRAZIN A lawyer for the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told The Wall Street Journal that Sondland told impeachment committee members that President Trump's dealings with Ukraine amounted to a quid pro quo. Read the full story here       State Dept. official broached Pompeo's role in Ukraine in new testimony BY MIKE LILLIS A leading State Department official testified before Congress on Saturday and touched upon Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's role in the administration's dealings with Ukraine — the issue at the center of the Democrats' fast-evolving impeachment investigation into President Trump. Read the full story here     John Kelly: Pulling out of Syria was a catastrophic idea BY RACHEL FRAZIN Former White House chief of staff John Kelly on Saturday joined a chorus of bipartisan voices that have criticized President Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, calling it a "catastrophically bad idea." Read the full story here     Grisham: John Kelly ill-equipped to work with 'the genius of our great president' BY RACHEL FRAZIN The White House on Saturday pushed back on former White House chief of staff John Kelly's recent statement saying he told Trump not to hire a chief of staff who was a "yes man" in order to avoid impeachment. Read the full story here     Ex-GOP lawmaker on Graham, Gaetz's defense of Trump: 'They look like fools' BY TAL AXELROD Former GOP Rep. David Jolly (Fla.) tore into congressional Republicans over their defenses of President Trump against Democrats’ impeachment investigation, saying they “look like fools.” Read the full story here     Harris reverses course, attends South Carolina justice forum BY TAL AXELROD Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) attended a criminal justice forum in South Carolina on Saturday, dropping her boycott of the event. Read the full story here     Ocasio-Cortez blasts Facebook's ad decisions, calling them 'increasingly disturbing' BY RACHEL FRAZIN   Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Saturday doubled down on her criticism of Facebook, saying the company's decisions have been "increasingly disturbing." Read the full story here     Truth and competence clearly terrify Donald Trump BY JAMES PARDEW Opinion | President Trump has attacked ambassador William Taylor, a very experienced and respected professional member of the U.S. foreign service, for presenting the facts as he saw them in Ukraine to the House committee conducting the preliminary impeachment investigation. Read the full story here     The return of socialism is about the political divide BY ROBERT J. SHAPIRO Opinion | Young people extolling socialism have caused conservatives to sound alarms about the direction the country is going. But the reappearance of socialism is more a sign of a wide partisan divide than it is evidence that people want to change America’s economic system. Read the full story here     The Washington Post: GOP focuses on whistleblower, conspiracy claims, loyalty to Trump BY GREG MILLER AND RACHAEL BADE The GOP line of questioning in closed-door hearings comes as President Trump continues to lash out publicly against the whistleblower in ways that seem designed to goad Republican allies into naming the person. Read the full story here     The Wall Street Journal: State Department’s Philip Reeker testifies top officials blocked show of support for ousted ambassador BY VIVIAN SALAMA Reeker is latest State Department witness called in impeachment inquiry. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: Ex-Trump aide wants judge to decide on impeachment testimony BY DEB RIECHMANN, MARY CLARE JALONICK AND MATTHEW LEE An ex-White House adviser scheduled to testify before House impeachment investigators on Monday has asked a federal court whether he should comply with a subpoena or follow President Donald Trump’s directive against cooperating in what the president dubs a “scam.” Read the full story here     The New York Times: ‘Keep the oil’: Trump revives charged slogan for new Syria troop mission BY MICHAEL CROWLEY After dismissing Syria as a land of “sand and death,” Mr. Trump is redeploying American troops around its oil fields. But how the U.S. might benefit from them is unclear. Read the full story here     Reuters: In South Carolina, Democrats accuse Trump of sowing racism BY TREVOR HUNNICUTT Democratic presidential candidates in South Carolina on Saturday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of stoking racism as they vied for the state’s black vote in its strategically important early primary. Read the full story here   Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for The Hill Tipsheet       Forward this Tipsheet     You might like         Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.