INVESTIGATIONS/MIKE POMPEO/STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE : “Michael McKinley told investigators he resigned last week as a top aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo out of frustration with an increasingly politicized State Department — particularly the way the Trump administration wrestled Ukraine policy away from career diplomats. He warned that efforts to pressure Ukraine ‘to procure negative information on political opponents’ would ‘have a serious impact on foreign service morale and the integrity of our work overseas.’ Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, outlined the next few months of impeachment at the Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch. He said House Democrats wanted to move expeditiously, possibly approving articles of impeachment by Thanksgiving. Chief Justice John Roberts would then preside over the Senate trial, which Mr. McConnell hoped would be completed by Christmas.”
–Noah Weiland, “The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: What Happened Today,” The New York Times online, October 16, 2019