Newsletter: Pelosi Plans To Announce Impeachment Inquiry

Nancy Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., heads to a meeting with her caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. Susan Walsh / Associated Press
Nancy Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., heads to a meeting with her caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. Susan Walsh / Associated Press

Newsletter: Pelosi Plans To Announce Impeachment Inquiry

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Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and I have a three-day weekend coming up and unfortunately it can’t come sooner. Here’s what you need to know today. (PS: You can have this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.)

1. Dems expected to announce impeachment inquiry

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to announce today a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, according to The Washington Post. It’s a remarkable turn of events as Pelosi has long resisted calls to begin impeachment proceedings against the president.

The momentum for an impeachment inquiry comes after a whistleblower complaint alleged Trump made a “promise” to a world leader that was so troublesome that the whistleblower reported it to the intelligence community’s inspector general, who deemed it a matter of “urgent concern.” [Washington Post]

While the contents of the whistleblower complaint remain a secret, recent reports indicate it’s tied to a July phone call in which Trump allegedly tried pressuring Ukraine’s leader into investigating Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. Just days before the call, Trump froze military aid to Ukraine.

Trump said today he will release an unredacted transcript of the July phone call tomorrow, saying the call was “totally appropriate.” Trump also said he withheld the military aid because European countries were offering less than the U.S. [Washington Post]

More than half of House Democrats support an impeachment inquiry against Trump. [New York Times]

2. Meanwhile, at the United Nations

President Trump delivered a nationalist message to the U.N. during a speech today, criticizing “globalists” and calling for stronger borders and tougher measures on migration.

Trump said very little about the attacks on Saudi oil facilities that have been blamed on Iran, which denies any involvement. But Trump called for more talks between Iran and the U.S. and reiterated his distaste for “endless wars.” [New York Times]

Also at today’s gathering, the Trump administration called on U.N. member nations to oppose efforts promoting access to abortions. [NPR]

The head of the U.N. warned of a “great fracture” between the U.S. and China that would threaten international law. [AP]

And the leader of Brazil struck back at critics worried about the fate of the Amazon, which has seen a record number of fires. [BBC]

3. Hundreds of new vaping illnesses have been reported in the last week

That’s according to a top official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says at least 530 people have been sickened by a mysterious lung illness that’s linked to vaping, though health officials have not yet discovered the exact cause. So far nine people have died from the illness, one of whom was an Illinois resident. [CNBC]

While health officials have not determined the exact cause of the illness, investigators are focusing on black-market vaping products for possible clues. [Washington Post]

And in Illinois, state lawmakers held a hearing on the vaping-related illness. The state’s top public health official testified that the vast majority of illnesses in the state have been linked to vaping THC, a psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said his office has launched a wide-ranging investigation into the vaping industry. [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. Feds raid Illinois lawmaker’s office

Do FBI agents get paid by the raid like some writers get paid by the word? Because they have been on a roll in Illinois this year.

The feds today raided the Springfield office of state Sen. Martin Sandoval. As WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos reports, “A source close to the investigation told WBEZ that agents also had obtained warrants to search Sandoval’s district office in Cicero and other, unspecified locations.”

​It was unclear whether the raids on Sandoval’s offices were related to an ongoing probe that has looked at Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party boss Michael Madigan, utility giant ComEd and others with ties to Madigan. [WBEZ]

5. The North Shore’s reefer madness

An affluent North Shore suburb is throwing down its New Yorker magazines in outrage over recreational marijuana, and I would know because I grew up in the area.

The northern suburb of Glencoe is considering a plan to allow recreational marijuana shops near the border of Winnetka. High-ranking Winnetka officials oppose weed dispensaries in their suburb and accuse Glencoe of being bad neighbors.

Officials in nearby Wilmette, meanwhile, are allowing voters to weigh in on pot dispensaries in a Nov. 3, 2020 ballot referendum. [Chicago Tribune]

Under Illinois’ landmark law legalizing recreational cannabis, local municipalities can decide whether to allow the sale of weed in their areas. Here’s a look at how the debate is playing out across the state. [Politico]

Here’s what else is happening

A deported Army vet returned to Chicago to have his citizenship request reconsidered. [WBEZ]

A Chicago LGBTQ center faces criticism for hiring a security firm run by a police officer accused of racism. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Cook County judges are fighting to preserve the right to lock up children. [WBEZ]

A program aims to give free books to about 8,000 Chicago students. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Oh, and one more thing …

A new memoir from Disney CEO Bob Iger claims George Lucas was disappointed with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and said there was “nothing new” to director J.J. Abrams’ sequel to the original trilogy.

“We’d intentionally created a world that was visually and tonally connected to the earlier films, to not stray too far from what people loved and expected, and George was criticizing us for the very thing we were trying to do,” Iger recounts in [takes deep breath] The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. [Hollywood Reporter]

Tell me something good …

I had to use a new character in Dungeons and Dragons this week, so I’m going with Glöstik the Destroyer, lord of ravers, rider of strobe lights. And that got me thinking, what are some of your favorite fantasy characters?

Janet writes:

“My favourite fantasy character is Avice Benner Cho, in China Miéville’s Embassytown (2011). She is a space traveler who calls herself a ‘floaker,’ one adept at minimally obeying orders while looking useful; however, she has a steely core of goodness, strength, and purpose which helps her to save the inhabitants of her home world.”

Who is one of your favorite fantasy characters? Feel free to email at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah.

Have a nice night! I’ll see you tomorrow. And if you like what you just read, you can subscribe to the newsletter here and have it delivered to your inbox.

And special thanks to WBEZ member Fran Mueller in Mt. Prospect, who had this to say about donating to the station:

“We renewed our membership because we’ve been traveling for over 2 weeks and came to rely on Hunter’s daily updates to keep us connected to home. Plus we recognize how great WBEZ is and how fortunate we are to have such ready access! Can’t wait to get back home and hear it more clearly!”