Can you even really say “what a week!” if the week before it and before that were also super intense? This is OnPolitics, let’s talk Turkey. (Literally.)Â
President Donald Trump on Sunday surprised basically everyone with an announcement that he’d be pulling U.S. soldiers out of an area along the border of Turkey and Syria. Why? Turkey was preparing a military assault on the Kurds in Syria, who the Turkish president considers to be allied with Kurdish insurgents in his country. The Kurds in Syria are an ethnic minority group who have long been allied with the United States in the fight against ISIS. The president faced blistering blowback from Republicans and Democrats alike over the decision, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s most staunch supporters and a veteran, called it “a stain on America’s honor.”
Men standing in Turkish territory watch smoke rising from targets inside Syria during a bombardment by Turkish forces at Tel Abyad town, as seen from Akcakale, in Sanliurfa, Turkey on October 10, 2019. Turkey has launched an offensive targeting Kurdish forces in north-eastern Syria, days after the US withdrew troops from the area. (Photo: Sedat Suna)
Oh and also, the impeachment inquiry is still happening.Â
Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union was scheduled to appear before a trio of House committees Tuesday morning. But hours before Sondland’s schedule appearance, the State Department told him not to go. So House Democrats subpoenaed him.Â
But the biggest news of the week (so far) came Thursday, when two Ukrainian-born men were indicted on federal campaign finance law violations. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman had previously helped Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, meet a Ukrainian prosecutor in the push for an investigation into Joe Biden.
Parnas and Fruman had showered Republican campaign committees with nearly $500,000 and dined with President Donald Trump at the White House, though Trump denied knowing them Thursday. Both of the men are among prospective witnesses House Democrats want to question in their impeachment inquiry, and following their arrests, they were subpoenaed. Bad day, to put it mildly.
If you’re thinking “Seems like there’s been a lot of subpoenas,” we’re keeping track of that for you.
This week in 2020
Thanks, as always, for reading. Hope you get to sleep in tomorrow. — Annah Aschbrenner
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