The Washington Post - 05.10.2019

important endorsement of abor-

tion rights in 25 years.

Trump’s choices for the court,

Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and

Brett M. Kavanaugh, who re-

placed the late Antonin Scalia

and Kennedy, respectively, were

enthusiastically supported by

antiabortion groups.

The court could reaffirm or

overturn that 2016 precedent, or

distinguish it in a way that a

restriction deemed unconstitu-

tional in one state is allowed in

another.

Leaders on both sides of the

issue took news of the court’s

action as momentous, even if the

questions in the case are narrow.

“The Supreme Court now has a

chance in this case to reconsider,

reverse, and return Roe v. Wade

and the issue of abortion to the

American people, which is long

overdue,” Students for Life of

America President Kristan Haw-

kins said in a statement. “States

should absolutely have the right

SEE SUPREME COURT ON A

BY ROBERT BARNES

The Supreme Court said Fri-

day that it will review a restric-

tive Louisiana abortion law, pro-

viding the first opportunity for a

conservative majority reinforced

by President Trump’s two appoin-

tees to begin reconsidering the

court’s abortion rights land-

scape.

In the coming months, the

court will examine whether the

state’s 2014 law requiring doctors

at abortion clinics to have admit-

ting privileges at nearby hospi-

tals unduly burdens women’s ac-

cess to abortion. Practitioners

have said the law would force

most of Louisiana’s abortion clin-

ics to close, leaving only one

doctor eligible to perform the

procedure.

It is almost identical to a Texas

law struck down by the Supreme

Court in 2016. Now-retired jus-

tice Anthony M. Kennedy joined

the court’s four liberals to form a

majority in what was its most

BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA

President Trump conceded Fri-

day that Democrats had enough

votes to impeach him, but he sug-

gested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi

hold a House vote to formally

begin an inquiry to force a Senate

trial on whether to remove him

from office.

“They’ve taken away our

rights,” Trump told reporters Fri-

day, as he capped a tumultuous

week when new revelations about

his administration’s dealings with

Ukraine emerged each day.

“They’re all in line. Because even

though many of them don’t want

to vote, they have no choice. They

have to follow their leadership.

And then we’ll get it to the Senate,

and we’re going to win.”

But even as Trump boasted of a

“very unified” Republican Party

that would protect him from con-

viction, some Republicans public-

ly broke ranks with him Friday. At

least two GOP senators and one

former administration official ex-

pressed uneasiness with Trump’s

efforts to encourage foreign gov-

ernments to investigate former

vice president and 2020 Demo-

cratic presidential candidate Joe

Biden.

Separately, intelligence com-

munity inspector general Michael

Atkinson met with lawmakers Fri-

day to discuss a whistleblower

complaint alleging abuse of power

by Trump. Atkinson, a Trump ap-

pointee, previously said that the

whistleblower “appeared cred-

ible” and that the complaint repre-

sented an “urgent concern” wor-

thy of Congress’s immediate atten-

tion.

And documents reviewed by

SEE IMPEACHMENT ON A

BY GREG MILLER,

PAUL SONNE,

GREG JAFFE

AND MICHAEL BIRNBAUM

By mid-May, the U.S. relation-
ship with Ukraine was unravel-
ing: The U.S. ambassador had
been recalled home for no appar-
ent reason, the country’s new
president was anxious about U.S.
support, and President Trump’s
personal lawyer was hawking
Kiev conspiracy theories.
Amid this turbulence, an unex-
pected figure stepped forward to
assert that he was now in charge
of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship.
Gordon Sondland, the U.S. am-
bassador to the European Union,
had no apparent standing to seize
this critical portfolio, nor any ap-
parent qualifications as a diplo-
mat beyond the $1 million he’d
given to Trump’s inauguration.
But when some in the White
House and State Department
sought to block his power grab,
current and former U.S. officials
said, he rebuffed their demands to
know who had granted him such
authority with two words:
“The president.”
Over the next four months,
Sondland worked closely with
Kurt Volker, the U.S. special repre-
sentative for Ukraine, to reorient
America’s relationship with Kiev
around the president’s political
interests.
Newly released texts ex-
changed by Sondland, Volker and
other U.S. officials during this pe-
riod read like a government-sanc-
tioned shakedown. Again and
again, they make clear that
Ukraine’s new president, Volod-
ymyr Zelensky, would not get mil-
itary aid or the Oval Office invita-
tion he coveted until he commit-
ted to investigations that Trump
SEE UKRAINE ON A

Texts show

push to

strong-arm

Ukraine

Trump loyalist led coterie

of officials who pressed

Zelensky for probes

President says

House has votes

to impeach him

SEEKS VOTE TO FORMALLY LAUNCH INQUIRY

He touts ‘unified’ GOP as some in party break ranks

BY GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER,

LAURA VOZZELLA

AND SCOTT CLEMENT

richmond — Gun policy is the
top issue for Virginia voters just
one month before pivotal elec-
tions that will determine control
of the state legislature, according
to a Washington Post-Schar
School poll.
That could be a positive sign for
Democrats, who have seized on
gun control in the months since a
gunman killed 12 people at a Vir-
ginia Beach municipal building
on May 31. Three out of four voters
rate gun policy as a “very impor-
tant” issue in casting their ballots,
and majorities support proposals
pitched by the Democrats, includ-
ing statewide bans on assault
weapons and high-capacity am-
munition clips as well as limiting
gun purchases to one a month.

Overwhelming majorities fa-

vor expanding background

checks and “red flag” laws allow-

ing authorities to take weapons

away from someone deemed a

danger.

But the voters most concerned

about gun policy split almost

evenly between supporting Dem-

ocratic candidates, 47 percent,

and Republican candidates, 44

percent. Nearly every Republican

officeholder has opposed gun

control measures.

That signals that both sides of

the gun control debate are ener-

gized for the Nov. 5 elections,

when all 140 seats in the General

Assembly are on the ballot. Re-

publicans are defending thin ma-

jorities of 51 to 48 in the House of

Delegates and 20 to 19 in the

Senate, with one vacancy in each

chamber.

Like the majority of Virginians,

Steve Hunter supports certain

gun-control measures. He thinks

SEE POLL ON A

Va. voters motivated

by gun policy, poll finds

For justices, abortion case

signals a pivotal moment

Kurt Volker to Ukrainian aide Andrey Yermak: 8:36 a.m.

Aug. 9, 2019

Sept. 1, 2019

Sept. 9, 2019

Good lunch - thanks. Heard from White House — assuming President Z convinces

trump he will investigate / “get to the bottom of what happened” in 2016, we will nail

down date for visit to Washington. Good luck! See you tomorrow- kurt

Gordon Sondland to Kurt Volker: 5:35 p.m.

[White House ocial Tim] Morrison ready to get dates as soon as Yermak confirms.

Gordon Sondland: 5:19 a.m.

e president has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind. e president is

trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and

reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop

the back and forth by text.

5:46 p.m.

Gordon Sondland: 5:47 p.m.

Not sure i did. I think potus really wants the deliverable

Gordon Sondland: 12:42 p.m.

Call me

Bill Taylor 12:08 p.m.

Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on

investigations?

Bill Taylor 12:47 a.m.

As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with

a political campaign.

Kurt Volker:

Excellent!! How did you sway him? :)

July 25, 2019

Newly released texts by State Department ocials make clear that Ukraine would not get military

aid or a meeting with President Trump without committing to investigations into the 2016

election and an energy company that employed the son of Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden.

The beating heart  A

tragic crime. A medical

breakthrough. A last chance

at life. Adapted from Gene

Weingarten’s upcoming book,

“One Day.” Magazine

Decade Influencers Lele

Pons, one of the people who

helped shape the culture of

the past decade, is a perfectly

generic, and successful,

online star. Arts & Style

Come sail away A 40-hour

low-key “mini-cruise” gives a

taste of the Baltics. In Peru,

learning to go with the flow

along the Amazon River on a

cargo ship. And avoiding the

swells and focusing on

wellness in Bermuda. Travel

THE NATION

Heart attack led to

Sanders’s hospitalization

Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, who was

released from a Las Vegas hospital

Friday, experienced chest pains at

a Tuesday campaign event.

Doctors found a blockage in one

artery and revealed Friday that he

had a myocardial infarction. A

THE WORLD

Iraqi security forces

open fire on protesters

A crackdown on anti-government

demonstrators has left at least

41 people dead and more than

1,600 wounded even as Grand

Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s most

influential Shiite cleric, backed

protesters’ demands. A

In Sunday’s Post Inside

ILLUSTRATION BY PATRIK SVENSSON

1

CONTENT © 2019

The Washington Post / Year 142, No. 304

BUSINESS NEWS ............................................. A

COMICS ............................................................. C

OPINION PAGES...............................................A

LOTTERIES.........................................................B

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TELEVISION ....................................................... C

WORLD NEWS..................................................A

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SEAN LOOSE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

JEAN-JACQUES LEVY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

An acclaimed pioneer

Diahann Carroll, seen in 1972, broke ground as the first black 

woman to star in a non­servant role on a TV series. She died 

Friday at 84. Obituary, B4, and Appreciation, C

BY CAROL D. LEONNIG,

SHANE HARRIS

AND JOSH DAWSEY

In one of his first calls with a

head of state, President Trump

fawned over Russian President

Vladimir Putin, telling the man

who ordered interference in

America’s 2016 election that he

was a great leader and apologiz-

ing profusely for not calling him

sooner.

He pledged to Saudi officials in

another call that he would help

the monarchy enter the elite

Group of Seven, an alliance of the

world’s leading democratic econ-

omies.

He promised the president of

Peru that he would deliver to his

country a C-130 military cargo

plane overnight, a logistical

nightmare that set off a herculean

scramble in the West Wing and

Pentagon.

And in a later call with Putin,

Trump asked the former KGB

officer for his guidance in forging

a friendship with North Korea’s

Kim Jong Un — a fellow authori-

tarian hostile to the United

States.

Starting long before revela-

tions about Trump’s interactions

with Ukraine’s president rocked

Washington, Trump’s phone calls

with foreign leaders were an anxi-

ety-ridden set of events for his

aides and members of the admin-

istration, according to former and

current officials. They worried

that Trump would make promises

he shouldn’t keep, endorse pol-

icies the United States long op-

posed, commit a diplomatic blun-

der that jeopardized a critical

SEE CALLS ON A

Trump’s calls

with leaders

have long

troubled aides

William B. “Bill” Taylor Kurt Volker Andrey Yermak Gordon Sondland

Under review: Ukraine prosecutor
will “audit” old Burisma cases. A

Poll: Virginia Gov. Northam’s image
has recovered since scandal. A

DOJ firepower: Department helps

Trump fight financial probes. A

IG in spotlight: Atkinson vowed

to protect whistleblowers. A

Trump as victim: Alternate reality

is spun as inquiry escalates. A