In the article in Common Cause, Jay Riestenberg makes a brief but highly informative run-down on the latest news on the ongoing impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, taking care to note that there is a good change of having missed out on some developments.

[On Thursday] President Trump stood in front of the White House and [public] urged the government of China to investigate Joe Biden. This [was] not the first time [Trump indulged in brazen presidential advertisement for foreign interference]. [CNN reported that Trump] has asked China for… election help with opposition research on Biden

Meanwhile, Kurt Volker, then the State Department’s special envoy to Ukraine, testified privately to members of Congress for nine hours [Thursday]. ABC News reported that U.S. diplomats to Ukraine were texting each other in early September about the White House withholding aid from Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of the Bidens. Overnight, those text messages became public. As NBC News reported, the texts show that U.S ambassadors pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden as a condition for a White House visit. The New York Times reported that Trump administration officials also drafted a statement for the Ukrainian president earlier this year committing the country to the investigation.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump ordered the removal of the ambassador to Ukraine after months of complaints from allies, including Rudy Giuliani, that she was undermining him abroad and obstructing efforts to persuade the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden.

At the same time, THERE IS ANOTHER WHISTLEBLOWER! The Washington Post reported that a whistleblower from the IRS has come forward with information that a Trump political appointee at the Department of Treasury improperly interfered with an audit of Trump or Pence’s tax returns.