10 things you need to know today: November 8, 2019

Official says Trump pushed Ukraine to investigate Biden and Clinton, Michael Bloomberg prepares for a possible presidential run, and more

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

1. Official testified Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate Biden, Clinton

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent told impeachment investigators that President Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the 2016 U.S. election, according to a transcript of his closed-door deposition released Thursday. Kent, who oversaw Ukraine policy, said Trump also demanded Ukraine focus on two of his biggest rivals, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic candidate in 2020. Trump "wanted nothing less than President Zelensky to go to a microphone and say investigations, Biden, and Clinton," Kent told House impeachment investigators. Kent also testified that Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, led a smear campaign to undermine former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, using "assertions and allegations against former Ambassador Yovanovitch" that "were without basis, untrue, period."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.