so part of creating checks and firtash has started these balances and issuing statements anti-biden documents and they like this is to let those that have been provided to rudy giuliani and company to use as feel this way know that they're not alone. certainly i have many conversations with conservative pr ammunition against biden. students, young members of the federalist society and the like, who have these concerns and who the problem with getting this worry that being a legal stuff from dmitry firtash is conservative means exonerating or enabling this conduct. and the point we're trying to that he is under house arrest. make is that's just not so. he can't deliver, you have to go >> charles fried, jonathan to him to pick this stuff up. maybe there are lots of other adler, thank you very much for your time. that is "all in" for this people involved in this scheme who happen to be in vienna, evening. austria, who need in-person "the rachel maddow show" starts visits from rudy giuliani and his tweedle dum and tweedle dee now. if you have a lawyer, as they try to effectuate this particularly one that is representing you on a matter scheme. maybe vienna is full of people that is turning out to be a little dicey, maybe a little helping out with this. but if you step back from this dangerous for you, maybe a just a second, right, to see who little sketchy, i mean in theory has been working with the in that circumstance it's a good president of the united states on this scheme for which he is thing that you have a lawyer, now being impeached, i mean rudy that you have representation, that you are not facing this thing alone. giuliani admits that he has been working on this scheme with however, if in the midst of that dmitry firtash, this guy labeled

ongoing, sketchy/dangerous situation you wake up to the news one morning that your an upper echelon associating of lawyer's other clients, the other people your lawyer is russian organized crime. representing in this same saga, if you wake up to the news this giuliani admits he's been morning that they have just been working with him and getting his best anti-biden stuff from him. arrested and put in jail, that he also admits he's been working is not a good sign about either with paul manafort, who is a federal inmate. your situation or your lawyer. the president's campaign but that is the situation that chairman currently serving a the president of the united seven-plus year sentence in federal prison on fraud and states woke up to this morning. conspiracy charges. when rudy giuliani's clients the personal lawyer of the were arrested last night, turned up for their initial court president of the united states, not that one, the first one, appearance today in the eastern district of virginia, they were he's already in prison. represented in court today by that's michael cohen. the second one is rudy giuliani. paul manafort's lawyers. i guess they just happened to be in the neighborhood. and these two gentlemen who were and we know from giuliani's own arrested last night, they are, account of how this scheme has like the president, clients of been run that the other people mr. giuliani. with whom he has been working they have been arrested on the most closely on this issue multiple felony counts for are these two guys who are now allegedly funneling very large under arrest and sitting in a amounts of illegal campaign virginia jail. so it's the felon guy who's contributions to various republican politicians and political entities using straw fighting extradition and the two guys who tonight are in federal men and a fake natural gas

company and a number of other jail in virginia. that is who rudy giuliani has schemes to conceal the real assembled as his dream team to origins of these illegal work out this scheme for the president of the united states donations, including some of to enlist a foreign country's these funds that were given to them for this purpose by an help for his re-election bid. unnamed russian donor. i mean you couldn't ask for a as of tonight these gentlemen are in custody in a federal jail more impressive group of corruption fighters, right? in virginia, although i believe if they post a million dollars bail each sometime tonight, they so that is one part of that that could be released with monitoring devices and some sort is still developing that we are of third-party representing to watching tonight. the court that they promise not i just can't -- that's your to flee the country. but i mean bottom line here, team? really? when your lawyer's other clients can you all share lawyers, would that be cheaper? get arrested, that's not good. sorry. so that's one. the other part of this i'm very you want to know what's worse than that, though? interested in now, which we now when cnn soon thereafter reports have a much clearer view of is this dynamic in which regular that your lawyer himself is also government officials, people being scrutinized by the same just doing their job, career federal prosecutors who just arrested his other clients today. folks, had to be pushed out of that's what cnn reported this the way so this scheme could be afternoon. rudy giuliani says that he has enacted. we actually got a brand new piece of news on that today, not been contacted by federal which we know from "the wall prosecutors in new york. but if you watch closely the way street journal's" reporting has

this unfolded today, when the already become a new part of the impeachment investigation into u.s. attorney in the southern president trump, and that is next. stay with us. hat is district of new york announced next stay with us the indictment against rudy giuliani's two clients today, these guys who have been directly involved in the ukraine scandal for which the president is now being impeached, that u.s. attorney, geoffrey berman, did say explicitly and with a heavy portent that this investigation is ongoing. meaning they might not expect these to be the only indictments. and if in fact that cnn reporting is right, that rudy giuliani himself is now under scrutiny by the same federal prosecutors who just brought about the arrest of his clients if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, last night, well, that would be every day can begin with flakes. a real kick in the pants, right, in terms of how rudy giuliani's it's a reminder of your struggles with psoriasis. biography will ultimately read at the ending of all of this. but what if your psoriasis symptoms didn't follow you around? i mean if you've been following that's why there's ilumya. rudy giuliani at all, it was one with just 2 doses, a majority of people were clear or almost clear. of the great landmark moments in and over time, even more people were clear or almost clear. republican politics and rudy giuliani's sort of downfall as a all with dosing 4 times a year...

national -- a public figure of after 2 initial doses. national esteem when his plus, ilumya was shown to have similar risks of infections hand-picked police commissioner, compared to placebo. bernie carrick, got arrested and don't use if you are allergic to ilumya had to get locked up at a or any of its ingredients. downtown jail in new york that before starting treatment, your doctor should check for tuberculosis and infections. rudy giuliani had named for after checking there is no need for routine lab monitoring bernie carrick. i mean it's never good to go to unless your doctor advises it. jail. but when you have to go jail to ilumya may increase your risk of infections the jail that's named after you, and lower your ability to fight them. that's the kind of thing that tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms, people remember. or if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. well, now if that bernie carrick this could be your chance to leave your psoriasis symptoms behind. ask your doctor for ilumya today, for a clearer tomorrow. din incident is book ended by rudy giuliani being indicted by the southern district of new york, being indicted by his own successor in that district, if rudy giuliani gets criminally charged by the u.s. attorney's office that he himself used to run, which is apparently a real prospect here, i don't -- that will be something. i don't even know what to say about that prospect. but that is a nonzero

possibility at this point, at least if that cnn reporting bears out. and you probably notice that the (vo) the big dogs. news developed quite fast today. the old dogs. i do feel, though, that this is the deaf, blind, one of those days when instead of being hit by like a the different. subaru presents the underdogs. these shelter dogs still love unconditionally. thunderstorm or, you know, buffeting winds, we just kind of they're just hoping to find their human, got hit by a fire hose today. who does too. to help, subaru is establishing national make a dog's day it was one solid stream of information coming at us today that all really had to do with to ask you to please consider adopting an underdog, the impeachment, that all really had to do with one thing and it or do something extra-special for your dog. actually all fits together pretty cogently so let's take this piece by piece. these two men are both u.s. citizens. one is -- was born in belarus, one was born in ukraine. that doesn't necessarily matter. they are u.s. citizens. they have been working with rudy giuliani apparently for months on this scheme for which the president is now being impeached. and that's not a complicated scheme, right? the president pressed the government of ukraine to provide him assistance in his next election against the democrats

and specifically against his potential opponent, joe biden. that is illegal. you can't solicit a thing of value for a u.s. election from a foreign entity. it is plainly illegal. that is the grounds on which the house of representatives is going to impeach president trump. and while that core criminal act, that core impeachable offense is something the president has already confessed to and the white house has in fact already provided evidence of, as the house continues to investigate this matter to try to nail down that article of impeachment, the details of how the president was trying to carry out this scheme has been coming into sharper relief. for example, we have learned from the president's recently resigned envoy to ukraine that this effort by president trump to get dirt from that foreign country to use against his booen opponent wasn't a whim or a wish or a joke. it was actually a scheme, it was a plan. he gave orders within the federal government for this scheme to be carried out.

in order to do that, he needed as today we saw the first multiple officials to take part arrests of people associated in it. by following that path a little with the scheme for which the president is being impeached, bit, we have very quickly one of the things that is coming into clearer view is that as the learned that one of the elements president tried to enact this of this plan is that the president and other members of scheme to get ukraine to give the administration who were in him help against his democratic on this scheme, they pretty opposition in the next election, quickly realized that there were he not only had to enlist going to be some people in their friends of rudy, including a way. and so they had to get those number of whom are either in people out of their way. part of what we are now seeing prison or on their way to it, he happened on multiple levels. also had to move people out of the u.s. government who were in it's that the president and the the way of that scheme, people other people who took part in who were doing their jobs and this scheme took steps to remove were either prone to raise the people in the u.s. government alarm about what was happening who they saw as standing in the or just wouldn't help carrying way of enacting this scheme to it out had to get pushed out. benefit the president in the we know, for example, that the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, a next election. one of the people they took out of the picture, they removed career foreign service officer named marie yovanovitch was from her post was the then u.s. suddenly removed from her ambassador to ukraine. position as ambassador because her name is marie yovanovitch. people like rudy giuliani had started a campaign to denounce she is due to give a deposition her and people like the president's eldest son, don to the house of representatives in the impeachment inquiry junior, soon joined in. tomorrow. ambassador yovanovitch was here, for example, is a nice removed from her post in the picture of donald trump jr. on spring of this year after a the left with the two guys who

campaign in the conservative were arrested last night, that's media spearhelded by rudy the two of them on the right. giuliani denounced her as some the guy in between them is the kind of bad guy that had to be man who at the time was heading taken out of that embassy and the pro trump super pac to which replaced. what we learned from today's those arrested guys had just indictment, that these handsome given a gigantic $300,000 plus men who were arrested last night were allegedly a key part of that plan, as was this illegal donation. after marie yovanovitch was gentleman, former republican slimed by people like rudy congressman pete sessions of giuliani and the president's texas. according to today's indictment, eldest son with bogus the guys who got arrested last allegations against her that had been reportedly provided by night, giuliani's clients, they these two guys who have now been illegally funneled more than arrested, after she was recalled $300,000 into a pro trump super from kiev, one of the interesting things about this pac that among other things was saga is that president trump supporting the re-election never made an effort to replace campaign of congressman pete the u.s. ambassador in ukraine. sessions in texas. they also committed to raise there's no nominee for somebody $20,000 for congressman sessions to be the new u.s. ambassador since marie yovanovitch was directly. and then they met with him to secretary hom-- sent home. make their big ask. quote, at around the same time that parnas and fruman committed instead what the president did is put in a different guy in a to raising those funds for congressman 1, who we believe to different role but it was at the president's request. be congressman pete sessions, he was sent in to handle this very special situation that the parnas met with sessions in president was cooking up with person and sought the congressman's assistance in rudy giuliani and his big band

causing the u.s. government to of corruption fighters in remove or recall the then u.s. ukraine. ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch. >> now, certainioncerning your so they give tons of money to you're the u.s. ambassador to this pac that's supporting the eu but have been spending a great deal of time in can i iki? sessions' re-election and pledge to raise tens of thousands of dollars for his re-election. they get a meeting with sessions >> well, president trump has not and say you've got to help us only honored me with the job as get this ambassador out of ambassador to the eu but he's there. and in fact republican gibb me other special congressman pete sessions makes assignments, including ukraine. good on his end of the bargain. >> that's gordon sondland on ukrainian television after our nbc news has obtained the letter u.s. ambassador to ukraine, that congressman sessions sent marie yovanovitch, was sent home to secretary of state mike pompeo shortly after that meeting with these guys who have apparently for part of this now been arrested. scheme for which the president is being impeached. in that letter congressman sessions in fact tells the gordon sondland does seem to secretary of state that he have personally directed by the should, quote, consider president to oversee his terminating her ambassadorship interests in ukraine, including now what we understand to be as soon as possible. those interests. sondland, for example, appears to be the one who pressed the so again, i mean the scheme here for which president trump is ukrainian government not only to open investigations into joe being kbeechimpeached is a simp biden but to make sure that they made public announcements about thing. but in order to enact this the fact that they were doing so scheme where he's going to get help from ukraine against the because it seems clear what the

democrats, a lot of different trump administration wanted from people had to play their part. ukraine was the public impact of this is something he did on his own. he put the u.s. government to announced investigations into work to enact this scheme. biden. once he did that, people who they wanted it to have a public impact and a political effect so it was important that it had to weren't going to play their part be announced out loud. had to be cleared out of the way. people who might squawk about gordon sondland is the one who this, people who might realize delivered that message. this was wrong, people who might sondland also spoke directly to president trump about the ukraine scheme multiple times, pose resistance to this scheme, they had to be ousted. including talking directly with and it started to seem very the president on the phone immediately before the president clear to them that one of the made the phone call to the people that would need to be ukrainian president, which is cleared out of the way was u.s. now the basis for the ambassador marie yovanovitch. president's impeachment. sondland also reportedly told wisconsin republican senator ron those guys making illegal johnson that in fact president trump wanted a quid pro quo with campaign donations and meeting with that congressman were also ukraine. that he was not planning on giving them promised military the guys reportedly arranging meetings with ukrainian aid unless the ukrainian government initiated officials for rudy giuliani, investigations that the trump again to try to put together administration was requesting. this scheme where the ukrainian in "the washington post" government would help trump by tonight, gordon sondland blurted launching basically bogus out at a white house meeting investigations into democrats, that ukraine needed to start up specifically joe biden. some investigations, an out

importantly they specifically burst at a white house meeting sought from ukraine a public that caused alarm among other announcement of those national security officials. so this ends up being sort of an investigations into joe biden to make sure that they could cast important part of the dynamic for how they carried this thing maximum aspersions on biden and out, right? trump wasn't doing this alone. the democrats ahead of the 2020 he had to use the u.s. government to try to effectuate election. so there's a couple parts of the this scheme. story that i think are still developing tonight that i'm in order to do so they had to get the normal foreign service super interested in. one is this report from reporter officers, its normal law-abiding career officials out of her so elena plot at the atlantic magazine. you see the title there, the they can instead de facto replace the ukraine ambassador mystery of rudy giuliani's with this other guy who was vienna trip. now, you might have seen the apparently happier to be part of news today about these arrests the scheme. i mean in this case gordon sondland was reportedly put in that when these guys who had to take over u.s. relations with been working with rudy giuliani ukraine, even though on paper on the ukraine scheme, his what he was supposed to be was supposed clients, when they were the u.s. ambassador to the arrested last night, they were european union. actually arrested at the dulles ukraine is not part of the airport in the d.c. suburbs. european union. why would he be the ambassador according to the u.s. attorney who unsealed their indictment, to them and also have ukraine these guys were about to leave tacked onto it? the country with one-way he also has zero experience as a tickets. they were reportedly going to diplomat whatsoever. take them to frankfurt, germany. he's a portland hotel guy. whether they were planning on he only got his ambassadorship just stopping in germany or after giving a million dollars continuing on from a further to president trump's inaugural flight from there, it's not

committee through a series of totally clear. but for his part, mr. giuliani anonymous llcs that were intended to conceal his identity says that vienna is where his as a million dollar donor. clients were going when they were arrested by the fbi last sondland was due to testify about his role in this scheme night. they might have had initial tickets to frankfurt but their earlier this week. that was blocked by the state department. ultimate destination was vienna ambassador yovanovitch, the person he effectively replaced after she was pushed out for not austria. he also told elaina plott that being willing to go along with the scheme, she is due to testify tomorrow before the impeachment committees. he too was on his way to vienna, as yet that testimony appears not to be blocked because she is still a state department employee. she's still a serving foreign austria. this was drawn up yesterday aund sealed this morning so we could service officer. some observers have raised the all see it. there is some reporting today prospect that she might have to that suggests that the timing of quit the state department if she the grand jury indictment, the wants to in fact give this timing of the arrest was driven testimony tomorrow morning. that is if secretary of state by the fact that these guys were mike pompeo takes steps to block going to the airport to the her from showing up. international terminal and planning to leave on a foreign but i want to point out this trip for which nobody knew if article that i think otherwise got a little bit overshadowed they would ever return. i mean that's interesting in its today just because of all of the own right just in terms of like the cops and robbers of this. just in terms of the way the hullabaloo around these arrests. wheels of justice turn. we've been working on this, "the wall street journal" better getting the indictment reports on another instance that done, better get the arrests looks just like this within this

done tonight before they get on those planes, right? scheme. this dynamic where they have to get the real public official, i think that detail may also go the technocratic person out of some distance toward dispelling any conspiracy theorizing about why they happened right now and the way so they can replace them not any other day. with someone willing to be part it looks like why they happened of the president's scheme. right now is because these guys according to this very important were about to leave the country. article today in "the wall but if as rudy giuliani tells street journal" trump and giuliani appear to have not only "the atlantic" magazine these done that with the u.s. guys were going to vienna, if ambassador, they appear to have done that inside the white house that's where they were leaving itself when it comes to military the country to go. aid to ukraine. if rudy giuliani himself was on according to "the wall street his way to vienna, why vienna? journal" they replaced career staffers inside the white house who worked on budget issues well, i don't know. after those career officials but vienna has surfaced one raised concerns about the other time in this scheme for legality of the president which the president is being blocking this military aid. impeached. quote, after career budget staff do you remember this? members questioned the legality a couple of weekends ago after of delaying aid funds to ukraine, the white house gave a the impeachment proceedings politically appointed official against president trump were announced, rudy giuliani went on the authority to keep the aid on network television and started hold. quote, after career staff began waving around this damning raising their concerns, document, which he said was like political appointee michael the pot of gold at the end of duffy was given the authority the rainbow and he was the for continuing to keep the aid happiest leprechaun ever.

this was the much heralded dirt retained. the involvement of a political official like mr. duffy in the against joe biden that this whole scheme had been designed to elicit from the government of aproportionment process is unusual. ukraine. he was like this is it, i got according to several former omb it. what that document was that rudy officials, career staff have historically overseen the giuliani was waving around on tv was a sworn statement from a apportionment process, people with years and sometimes decades former ukrainian official, who of technical knowledge of the had sort of left office in a funding process. cloud of ethics allegations. all right, but that's the problem, see. that sworn statement is people with years or decades of basically all the accusations technical knowledge about the that giuliani and trump have funding process and the legal standards necessary for holding been wanting to make about joe biden. it's the whole point of why they up congressionally approved enacted this scheme. this is the thing they can smear joe biden to help trump get money, those would be inconvenient people in the re-elected in 2020. here's all the terrible things we want you to believe joe biden process if you were trying to did that ukraine ought to be enact a criminal scheme to investigating. well, that sworn statement which withhold money until they is all of this made up stuff coughed up dirt that you could use in your re-election campaign about joe biden, that was against your opponents. obtained by rudy giuliani from a and so after career technocratic man named dimitri furtash. officials expressed concerns it says that it was obtained about the illegality of what the white house was trying to do, from dimitri furtash. the white house took those people out of the process and instead installed this guy, he lives in vienna, austria, and michael duffy, to be in charge

he never gets to leave. of ukraine's military aid. now, what's his background that he always has to stay in vienna, might make him a better fit inside this scheme? austria. why is that? that's where he is under house he's the former executive arrest. he is a ukraine an billionaire, director of the wisconsin a favorite of the kremlin who is republican party. so maybe that's enough. a billionaire because of the that's perfect. kremlin. he is described as an upper echelon associating of russian they have got to get the real people, the career people, especially the people who know what's illegal, they have got to organized crime. he was arrested several years ago after the u.s. government get them out of the way so they requested his arrest because can instead install the million dollar inaugural donor and the they wanted him extradited to this country to face trial on a guy from the wisconsin republican party to be in charge multi billion dollar bribery of what is otherwise to be the professional workings of the u.s. government. scam. he has been fighting that you have to get those guys into extradition, trying to avoid getting sent back to the u.s. to these key positions if what the new purpose of the u.s. go to trial on those charges. government is, is extorting within the last few months, foreign countries that are supposed to be our allies into dimitri furtash added to his participating illegally in the legal representation team a president's re-election effort couple of less known u.s. and taking these wild swings at lawyers. people who are less known as democrats, just to make trump's lawyers and more known as people re-election effort a little bit easier. who go on fox news and scream about the witch hunt. the problem with this is that he has added these pro-trump because they actually tried to lawyers to his team. enact this scheme using the u.s. as he is fighting this effort to government and moving

have himself -- fighting this inconvenient people out of their way, there's a paper trail. effort to have him extradited you idiots. i mean "the wall street journal" tonight describing a public document indicating the change inside the white house once they ousted the career people who thought this was illegal and instead installed their own guy. with gordon sondland being shoved to run things in ukraine after they ousted the real ambassador, there's a paper trail there too. we've seen the text messages, right? as i said on the phone i think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. this stuff is all written down, because they tried to do these things through the u.s. government. there is a paper trail for all of these things. and you know what else there are? witnesses. including the undisappearable true-life stories of the real public officials, the normal, nonpolitical, technocratic career staff people who were at multiple levels pushed out after raising the alarms about this

illegal scheme that the president was carrying out or just refusing to take part in it. marie yovanovitch is due to testify to the impeachment committees tomorrow. fiona hill, top russia aid on the national security council is due to testify on monday. nbc tonight reporting on her intentions on that testimony. both will come under disgusting attack from conservative media and from the president's allies in congress and from the white house. they will come under incredible pressure to try to prevent them from testifying tomorrow and monday. in terms of what happens next here, we'll presumably get efforts from the president and his eldest son to explain away their photos with the guys who have just been arrested in this scheme. "the new york times" reports that the fourth of four men who were charged in this scheme today is expected to surrender himself to authorities. there were four people in total charged in this illegal campaign donation scheme today. those two guys i showed the mug shots of, they were arrested last night at dulles.

the third was arrested in san francisco and has already appeared in court. the fourth one has been at large all day but "the new york times" is reporting that he is expected to soon turn himself in. we don't know who the russian national is who the indictment says put up a considerable amount of money that giuliani's clients started spreading around to lots and lots and republican entities and candidates over the course of this alleged illegal scam. we know many of these entities and candidates including the national republican campaign committee, the national house election campaign committee, we know that the nrcc, the house minority leader, kevin mccarthy. we know florida governor ron desantis and others have made announcements that they will returning those funds or donate them to charity. so the news is coming in fast now. the energy secretary, rick perry, just got subpoenaed by the impeachment committees. the whistle-blower who set off this impeachment proceeding has communicated that he wants to give his testimony in writing because he is so worried about his identity being unmasked by

republicans or by the white house. for their part the impeachment committees now say they may no longer make public announcements about which former officials they are asking to come in and give depositions and provide documents. that's an effort to shield those former officials from pressure by the president and by the conservative media to try to intimidate those people out of providing their testimony. i don't know exactly what to do with this but after all the big headline news yesterday that the president had retained former republican congressman trey gowdy to come back to lead his impeachment defense team, it appeared that fizzled out and maybe congressman gowdy won't be doing that at all. i don't know if it's too late for him to get his fox news gig back in the meantime, but it appears that he may not be going to washington. the impeachment saga remains at its core as simple as it has been from the very beginning. the involvement of all these other people in the scheme is now proving to be a fascinating story and a criminal one as well.

but this is basically the story of the people who tried to implement the president's scheme to get help from a foreign country for his election. as criminal charges start to be brought here, as other people start to fear legal jeopardy and career jeopardy here let alone exposure and shame, more will shake loose. but the central allegation at the heart of the president's impeachment remains as simple as it ever was. just a landmark day today. one of the reporters who helped unravel this thing from the very beginning by doing the first follow the money reporting that appears to have led to this indictment today, he's going to join us tonight as will congressman adam schiff, who is the lead on the impeachment inquiry in the house of represe representatives. big night tonight, stay with us. big night tonight, stay with us.

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we've got congressman adam schiff of california standing by. we'll speak with him in just a moment. he's the head of the intelligence committee and is essentially taking point on the impeachment proceedings at this point. before i bring in congressman schiff, i want to tell you about some breaking news that has just been posted at "the washington post" website. the headline is senior advisor to pompeo resigns. michael mckinley, career diplomat and senior advisor to secretary of state mike pompeo has resigned his position amid rising dissatisfaction and plummeting morale inside the state department over what is seen as pompeo's failure to support personnel ensnared in the ukraine controversy. mckinley is a senior officer who's held a range of diplomatic

posts, including ambassador to afghanistan, colombia, peru and brazil. he was ambassador to brazil when pompeo recrude him to come to washington and be his senior policy advisor. like many others, mckinley was disappointed in secretary pompeo's lack of public support for diplomats who have been named in the ukraine controversy. concern has been especially high for marie yovanovitch, the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, whom pompeo recalled from her post when a right-wing media campaign accused her of disloyalty. yovanovitch had questioned jiel a -- giuliani's efforts. yovanovitch is scheduled to give a deposition to the investigating committees tomorrow morning. joining us now is congressman adam schiff of the great state of california, chairman of the house intelligence committee and point man on impeachment at this point. congressman, thanks for being here. >> great to be with you. >> so i want to ask first your reaction to this breaking news. this is a senior career diplomat

at the state department advising apparently in protest of secretary of state pompeo not supporting the diplomats caught up and in some cases demoted because of this ukraine scheme. >> well, i think it's a reflection of the fact that morale at the department has really plummeted. a lot of the career people who are devoted to furthering the best interests of the united states, devoting themselves to upholding the values of the united states feel that those values are being undermined by the way the department is run, that the career people, the real professionals are being undermined and people are making a decision they're not going to put up with it anymore. this is -- there are a lot of story lines running through this investigation and certainly one of them is about the effort of career professionals not just in the state department, but throughout the government who are trying to do the right thing and running into this political

interference of the white house, this corrupt influence of the white house and, you know, i think this resignation may very well have to do with the fact that people are deciding they're simply not going to put up with this anymore and can't look the other way. >> let me ask you, sir, in kind of a big picture way right now, obviously we've been covering the impeachment proceedings since they were initially announced by the house speaker a few weeks ago. we've been covering it as intensively as anybody. as you know, the whole national media is very intently focused on what's going on, wondering if this is going to become a more complex inquiry than the relatively simple allegation against the president that started this, that the white house essentially has already admitted the president committed. i just want to ask in a big picture way if you feel like we in the media are accurately understanding the way it is that you are pursuing this. if you feel like the national public understanding of what you are doing is accurate or if there's something else about the way you are proceeding that you

feel like you want people to understand? >> well, look, i think that the challenge for the country and challenge for the media, and this is a challenge for our investigation as well is that developments are breaking so fast and furious. i mean there were probably more than a dozen significant developments just today alone that it's hard to be able to put them in context. i think that you do a masterful job of that and did so in the open of your show today. but let me just, i guess, frame it this way for people. we know based on the call record that the president pressured his ukrainian counterpart essentially to investigate his rival, to investigate this debunked conspiracy theory in 2016 to engage in investigations to help his re-election. we know that he did that in the context of the ukraine president asking for more military assistance. that alone is an egregious abuse of the president's office and one that endangers our country.

but we also know that it goes beyond that one call, that indeed there was a lot of groundwork laid before that call and a lot of work after that call. and i think these text messages make it pretty clear that there were a couple of things that the ukraine president desperately wanted from donald trump. one was a meeting in the white house. now, there's been a lot of focus on the military aid that ukraine also desperately sought to fending off russian aggression. but the meeting was really important to this new president of ukraine to show that the relationship between the two countries was strong, that he had a relationship with the u.s. president, that on all of the legitimacy that goes along with a white house meeting. the white house understood how important that was to ukraine. what's more, career diplomats understood how important that was as a showing of u.s. support for ukraine and its struggle for democracy and its struggle against the russians. and so these text messages i think make clear that that meeting was being conditioned on

the deliverable they wanted from the president, that they wanted from ukraine, which was basically these two investigations. and so we are investigating obviously that whole constellation of issues, what went on before it and after it but also the withholding of this military support. the irregularity of how that was done. the fact that even mitch mcconnell couldn't find out from the secretary of state or secretary of defense why that was being done. and so what we already know is damning, but there may be far more to come. i think that the country should have the full picture, indeed the congress should have the full picture before it makes a decision on something as weighty as articles of impeachment. but if indeed the administration is determined to try to stonewall that effort, that even as they prevent us from getting some information about the president's misconduct on ukraine, they will be building the case against the president for obstruction of congress. >> very briefly, sir, may i just

ask you if you do expect marie yovanovitch to testify tomorrow, and if you have any response to the apparent request, the reported request by the initial whistle-blower that he'd like to give his testimony in writing? >> well, i would say with respect to to both, and i don't want to get into the specifics, that on the whistle-blower, we want to protect that whistle-blower. we want to protect the whole whistle-blower system. and the threats that the president has made, the way the president has talked about those who reveal wrongdoing being spies and traitors is designed to intimidate not just this whistle-blower but others as well. our paramount priority is to protect this whistle-blower and others that may want to come forward. with respect to any particular state department or other witness, i'm going to demur tonight. we also wanting to do what we can to protect those witnesses and their ability and willingness to come forward without their own form of intimidation or threat coming

from the white house or the president's allies. so our first priority, protect these courageous people that are stepping forward and then make sure that we can put the facts before the american people. >> chairman adam schiff of the house intelligence committee, sir, thanks for taking the time. i know it's a really, really busy night. >> thank you. >> much more ahead, stay with us. ou. >> much more ahead, stay with us performance comes in lots of flavors. there's the amped-up, over-tuned, feeding-frenzy-of sheet-metal-kind. and then there's performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. that's the kind lincoln's about. ♪ steven could only imaginem 24hr to trenjoying a spicy taco.burn, now, his world explodes with flavor. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day all-night protection.

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to detecting and preventing threats... to scaling up your production. giving you a nice big edge over your competition. that's the power of edge-to-edge intelligence. among all the other things that today, it was a remarkable journalism day. and here's why. july last year, july 2018, a daily beast reporter named lochlin marcay posted this snip pet on his weekly pay dirt newsletter. who's behind this six-figure donation to a leading trump pac? it was a donation that was over $300,000 to a trump superpac and appeared to come from a company called global energy partners. as noted at the time, there's very little indication of what the company does or who's behind

it. the end of that month, marcay had sleuthed out the company was founded, at least, by two soviet-born businessmen. okay? the other details like what sort of this this was, where all its money came from, why they'd be giving more than $300,000 to a trump pac, it all remained unclear. he kept at it. by november last year, markay felt confident enough this mysterious company might have illegally hidden the true source of the much that it had used to make this big donation to the trump superpac and also other republican candidates. that post from lachlan markay at the daily beast led to ferocious pushback both from the company that made the donations and also from trump portland, but he kept at it and by june of this year, that same tenacious reporter still writing at the daily beast, he finally had what he suspected all along, he said he had was proof that this mysterious company that had made these gigantic donations was, in

fact, a straw donor, that it appeared to be basically a fake, a front. well, today, that reporter's hunch dating all the way back to last summer of 2018, it was proved right. at least it was proved to be in line with what the justice department has concluded. today, the two men behind global energy partners, igor fruman and lev parnas were arrested for violating campaign finance laws. today's indictment states despite their huge donations, their supposed company, supposed natural gas company they had invented, had no income or significant assets. it was not engaged in energy trading, rather the indictment states that these contributions were made for the purpose of gaining influence with politicians so as to advance their own personal financial interests and the political interests of ukrainian government officials, including -- it also contains this amazing quote. "when media reports about the contributions first surfaced an

individual working with parnas remarked, quote, this is what happens when you become visible. the buzzards descend." to which lev parnas responded, "that's why question newe need under the radar." if only they'd stayed under the radar. thanks to aggressive follow the money reporting by the daily beast and others, that scheme didn't stay below the radar. tonight multiple high-ranking republicans are scrambling to return the funds from these indicted accomplices of rudy giuliani. told you it was a great journalism story. joining us now is the hero of that story, daily beast reporter lachlan markay, congratulations on being right from the start here. thank you for being here. >> haunk ythank you, rachel. >> let mae ask you, that's a quick summary of detailed reporting. let me ask you if i said anything wrong there. >> that's all right. started off as an in the weeds campaign finance story, my pet issue, that's what i love covering. and, you know, we just kept turniturn i turning up more and more public

records involving these guys, they were involved in very shady legal dealings in florida and as more kept coming out the picture really sort of crystalized and that indictment spelled it out if tremendous detail. the general thrust we had known for months, we had known this was pretty clearly a donation being made in someone else's name under campaign finance law, that is simply not legal. >> you had -- the campaign legal center which is a nonpartisan ethics watchdog that filed a complaint on this this year. i wonder given what dthey turne up with that complaint, what you turned up with your reporting, once you saw the indictment today, was there anything in there that really popped for you as new, was it simply just vindication of what you'd found? did the justice department make any allegation today that surprised you? >> you know, a lot of the stuff involving america first action, this pro-trump superpac was stuff that was pretty evident from the public records we'd been looking at for months. what was very new was this sort of separate business deal that parnas, fruman, and their crew

was involved in having to do with cannabis dispensaries in nevada, donations to state-level political candidates to secure licenses. and, in fact, one of the gentlemen who we'd been writing about, david correia, a longtime business partner of lev parnas actually circulated a spreadsheet internally including to this unnamed russian they were using this guy's money to donate to political candidates, they had sent the spreadsheet around sort of detailing all the people they were going to have to essentially pay off to advance this separate business venture of theirs. that wasn't on anyone's radar but they were in the legal marijuana business so i was really interested in that. >> it helps when they make a menu. now, these are the people that were going -- i mean, i doubt it's labeled bribe, but somebody should check the metadata just in case. i know that you received a lot of pushback during your reporting of this story from this supposed, now apparently, fake gas company and from prominent folks in the trump world. i wuonder what your reflections are on that now that this has

been vindicated with the indictment. >> in retrospect, it was sort of a preview of the more general strategy when it comes to all things ukraine and all things impeachment. that is to say every bit of criticism, even criticism based on public records and documents clearly showing that something happened are the products of the deep state or a conspiracy by the media or democrats or joe biden. and, you know, i mean, it's really sort of, you know, i see two different worlds as this scandal plays out reacting to it from two different sides. and when i think back to that conversation, that was in november of last year, you know, the person that i was speaking with was really just, you know, the things they were saying were so divorced from the reality, it was jarring in the moment, and, you know, looking at everything that all of the president's allies are having to say these days in reaction to the spiraling allegations and revelations coming out about ukraine, it strikes me as sort of a microcosm of that. >> right. seeing that they had to go that wild, that early, kind of gave you a signal, or at least in

rhett etrospect it now looks li where this was heading all along. daily beast reporter lachlan markay. thank you for doing this kind of reporting. i know it doesn't always feel like it pays off along the way. people see this as interstitchall stuff. we really owe you a debt of gratitude. >> thanks. >> we'll be right back. stay with us. stay with us - [spokeswoman] meet the ninja foodi pressure cooker,

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zblavrnlg zblavrnlg that's going to do it for s tonight. i want to say thanks to everybody in l.a. who's been kind to us hosting the "the rachel maddow show" for the last few days. we're going to do the show tomorrow night live from seattle. very much looking forward to that. got book tour events in seattle and chicago and atlanta. there's still a few tickets left for the atlanta event if you'd like to come see me talk this weekend. it's been a great week here in l.a. thanks to everybody including you guys in the studio for being so good. thanks a lot, you guys. now it's time your "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." >> i have your schedule ahead of me, it says you have to race to the airport. go. >> i do. bye. kellyanne conway's husband, george conway and 15 other conservative lawyers have