Emily Morrow  //  11/7/19  //  Daily Update

Open hearings in the impeachment inquiry will take place next week. Investigators summoned acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to testify, but withdrew a subpoena for testimony from Charles Kupperman to avoid delay in the hearings. A federal judge ruled that the government must provide mental health services to families who were separated at the border under the “state-created danger” doctrine. And a federal district court heard opening arguments in Roger Stone’s trial for allegedly lying to Congress about his connection to WikiLeaks during the Trump campaign.

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

The House Intelligence Committee announced that the first open hearings of the impeachment inquiry will take place next week, beginning with William Taylor and George Kent (NYT; WaPo).

House Democrats withdrew a subpoena for testimony from Charles Kupperman in the interest of speed (WaPo).

Investigators released transcripts of interviews with Ambassador William Taylor, U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland, and former Ukrainian envoy Kurt Volker (Politico; WaPo).

• William Taylor’s transcript is available at Lawfare; key excerpts are available here, here, and here.
• Gordon Sondland’s and Kurt Volker’s transcripts are available at Lawfare.
• An overview of Gordon Sondland’s supplemental declaration is available here.
• These interviews underscore Rudy Giuliani’s disproportionate influence, writes Josh Dawsey at The Washington Post.

Investigators summoned acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who previously ignored a subpoena, to testify (NYT).

House investigators conducted a closed-door interview with State Department official David Hale (WaPo).

If senators take their oath to “do impartial justice” seriously, then they must vote to remove President Trump if they would vote to remove a Democratic President for the same conduct, argue Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle at Take Care.

• Oaths are the bedrock of the rule of law, reflects James Comey at The Washington Post.

Whether a quid pro quo is done “corruptly” turns on “American traditions, the context…, and current attitudes about legitimate rewards,” in Judge Kozinski’s formulationwrites Rick Messick at The Global Anticorruption Blog.

IMMIGRATION

A federal judge ruled that the government must provide mental health services to families who were separated at the border under the legal doctrine of a “state-created danger” (NYT).

A progressive win in the DACA litigation currently before the Supreme Court could carry with it adverse implications for a future progressive administration, writes Zachary Price at Take Care.

The Trump administration is testing a new “Prompt Asylum Case Review” program in El Paso with a goal of resolving asylum claims in 10 days or less (ImmigrationProf Blog).

REGULATION

A federal district court struck down a Department of Health and Human Services regulation that would have permitted medical workers to opt out of procedures such as abortions for religious or moral reasons (WSJ).

At oral arguments in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, regarding the CWA’s application to indirect water pollution, the justices seemed concerned with the sweep of the law and consequences of a narrow interpretation, writes Adam Liptak at The New York Times.

INVESTIGATION AND LITIGATION

Federal district court heard opening statements in Roger Stone’s trial for allegedly lying to the House Intelligence Committee about his connection to WikiLeaks during the Trump campaign (NYT; WaPo).

• A summary of the opening statements is available here.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden indicated he was inclined to permit a House committee sue the Trump administration for failure to comply with tax-return subpoenas (WSJ).

CIVIL RIGHTS

Since Democrats have won control in the Virginia state legislature, Virginia could become the 38^th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, writes Maggie Astor at The New York Times.