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Vox Sentences: Testimony, Take 2
This week in impeachment news; Bolivia protests escalate with attack on Vinto mayor.
The impeachment testimony transcripts
- House Democrats released the full transcripts of closed-door depositions with witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. They corroborate what we already know: There was a quid pro quo. [Vox / Lauren Katz]
- Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU and Trump donor, revised his previous testimony to say that — yep — there was a quid pro quo after all. That’s the first time a Trump ally willingly offered such information. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
- So wait: Why are Democrats holding risky open hearings next week if they have all the information they need? Because they want Americans to hear about for themselves, Democrats say. [Vox / Alex Ward]
- John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, is willing to testify as long as a court allows him to over the White House’s objections. It could make the inquiry’s most dramatic moment. [Washington Post / Carol Leonnig and Tom Hamburger]
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came oh-so close to caving to Trump’s demands by going on CNN to announce an investigation into the Bidens. But in the end he didn’t have to — everyone in Washington found out about the frozen military aid to Ukraine. [New York Times / Andrew Kramer]
- Vox released a mega-explainer of the impeachment drama. It’s the most comprehensive guide to the entire story, and the team here will update it to keep you in the know on the twists and turns. [Vox / Matthew Yglesias and Andrew Prokop]
Bolivia protests boil over
- In response to the controversial Bolivian presidential election last month, protesters escalated unrest by snatching the mayor of Vinto. [New York Times / Mónica Machicao and Kirk Semple]
- Protesters doused Patricia Arce in red paint, chopped off her hair, forced her to sign an ad-hoc resignation letter, and paraded her in the streets without shoes. They claim that Arce organized a pro-government crowd that clashed with the anti-government demonstrators, killing one protester from the latter group. [BBC]
- This latest chapter in global protests began when Bolivian President Evo Morales overrode the voting down of a constitutional amendment to allow him to run for a third term. Morales then proceeded to declare himself the outright winner of the election and put an end to a potential runoff. [AP News / Carlos Valdez]
- Following an outcry from the people of Bolivia, the opposition party, and international election monitors, the votes were recounted to reveal Morales’s victory by a slim margin, but it didn’t stop swirling accusations of electoral fraud and protesters clashing with counterprotesters in the streets. [Reuters / Vivian Sequera and Daniel Ramos]
- Foreign Policy put the protests in Bolivia in context with a pessimistic view of the protests sweeping across Latin America. [Foreign Policy / Christopher Sabatini and Anar Bata]
Miscellaneous
- On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, reflections on how much has actually changed. [Washington Post]
- A lawsuit from a referee claims that Jim Jordan — a Congress member who was previously an assistant football coach at Ohio State University — was aware of the acts of sexual misconduct by Dr. Richard Strauss at OSU. [NBC News / Corky Siemaszko]
- One Florida library’s refusal to pay for a “fake news” subscription mirrors a larger fight between journalism and Trump. [Tampa Bay Times / Zachary T. Sampson and Josh Fiallo]
- ACLU lawyers are bringing a case against the US government’s unwillingness to disclose how they use facial recognition technology. [Vox / Delia Paunescu]
- Kurds warn the EU that Europe could face a surge in ISIS fighter arrivals if it fails to take a harder line with Turkey. [Reuters / Guy Faulconbridge]
Verbatim
“There isn’t really a gender achievement gap in math, but there is in reading.” [Assistant professor at St. John’s University Erin Fahle asserting that females read about two-thirds of an academic year ahead of their male peers]
Watch this: The mistake that toppled the Berlin wall
One of the biggest moments in the Cold War started with a little confusion at a press conference. [YouTube / Coleman Lowndes]
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By Cameron Peters
By Cameron Peters
By Cameron Peters
