Politico reports: CNN’s Jake Tapper fact-checked Rep. Jim Jordan in real time during an interview Sunday on “State of the Union” as the Ohio Republican defended President Trump amid an impeachment inquiry sparked in part by Trump’s dealings with his Ukrainian counterpart. Tapper pushed back on several fronts, including when Jordan repeated Trump’s unfounded allegations over former Vice President Joe …

“I have zero problems with this phone call. There is no quid pro quo here, but I do have a problem with Nancy Pelosi. If you believe that Donald Trump did something to hurt this country, you owe it to vote, not talk about impeaching the president. The only way to open up an impeachment inquiry is to vote. We …

Splinter News reports: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff confirmed on Sunday that the whistleblower who denounced President Donald Trump’s inappropriate phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will appear before the committee to testify “very soon.” Appearing on ABC News’ This Week, Schiff said the whistleblower would appear with their attorneys, but not “minders” from either the Justice Department …

Axios reports: White House senior adviser Stephen Miller claimed on “Fox News Sunday” that the whistleblower who filed a complaint about President Trump’s interactions with Ukraine is a “deep state operative” who does not deserve to be honored for forwarding a “partisan hit job.” Reality check: Miller has no evidence of who the whistleblower is. He also cited the intelligence …

The Hill reports: President Trump Donald John Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Sunday called House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) “an illegitimate chairman” but said he would testify before Congress if instructed to do so by President Trump. Giuliani told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” that he will be “guided by my client.” “I’m a lawyer,” …

The Toronto Star reports: A rally promoting unity was held Saturday in response to an anti-LGBTQ Christian group’s march through the city’s gay village. A group of evangelicals, including street preacher David Lynn and longtime activist Charles McVety, marched up Church Street calling for the protection of free-speech and civil liberties. The march was in response to several incidents this …

CNN reports: Our first CNN/SSRS polls of the South Carolina Democratic primary and Nevada Democratic caucuses show two very different races. Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a large 37% to 16% advantage over Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in South Carolina among likely Democratic primary voters. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is at 11%. No one else gets above 5%. This …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration is investigating the email records of dozens of current and former senior State Department officials who sent messages to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email, reviving a politically toxic matter that overshadowed the 2016 election, current and former officials said. As many as 130 officials have been contacted in recent weeks by …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump was present to kick off Season 45 of “Saturday Night Live” — well, the sketch show’s president anyway. Alec Baldwin resumed his Trump persona, who was seeking advice for how to handle a possible impeachment. Trump’s Baldwin vented to Rudy Giuliani, played by Kate McKinnon on the phone. “I’m being impeached. It’s the greatest …

The Indianapolis Star reports: The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday issued a Statement of Interest in support of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in its ongoing dispute with a former Catholic school teacher who alleges he was wrongfully terminated because he was in a same-sex marriage. Joshua Payne-Elliott is currently suing the archdiocese, alleging it illegally interfered with his contractual …

Billboard Magazine reports: The Honey Drippers’ oft-sampled 1973 funk single “Impeach the President” surged 1,053% in on-demand U.S. streams in the wake of the House of Representatives announcing that it was moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. On Sept. 24 (the day the impeachment inquiry was announced) and Sept. 25, “Impeach the President” garnered 52,000 …

The Washington Post‘s Philip Rucker nails it: Donald Trump is not the first American president staring down impeachment to nurse a deep sense of persecution and self-pity. But he is the first to broadcast that mentality to the world. Trump has been determined to cast himself as a singular victim in a warped reality – a portrayal that seems part …

CNN reports: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is on shaky ground in the wake of a bad week for President Trump, according to multiple sources with knowledge of discussions surrounding the whistleblower fallout. The sources say the President is not upset with Mulvaney for the White House releasing the summary of his July 25 call with Ukraine’s …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump is on tape saying he had a conversation with Blackstone Group Inc. founder Steve Schwarzman about former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. On Friday, Schwarzman’s spokeswoman disputed that account. Trump presented his version of events at a closed-door gathering with U.S. diplomats in New York this week, where he attacked Democratic rival Biden and disparaged …

NBC News reports: On a Friday in late July, Rudy Giuliani boarded a plane to Spain to meet with an adviser to the Ukrainian president about a plan to investigate Joe Biden. The trip was described in a whistleblower’s complaint. Several former Giuliani colleagues said they believe it should appear in a future indictment. Giuliani’s role in the scandal that …

The Texas Tribune reports: White House hopeful Beto O’Rourke on Saturday called on President Trump to resign amid mounting scrutiny over his dealings with Ukraine. The former Texas congressman argued at the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival that “the best possible path” for the country would be for “this president to resign, allow this country to heal, and ensure that we …

The New York Daily News reports: Porn star Stormy Daniels will be paid $450,000 to settle her lawsuit against an Ohio city after she was arrested during a performance at a strip club in 2018, her lawyer said Friday. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, agreed to drop all of her claims in a civil suit against Columbus related …

The Washington Post reports: The looming battle over President Trump’s potential impeachment has sparked an online hunt in the far-right corners of the Web as self-styled Internet sleuths race to identify the anonymous person Trump has likened to a treasonous spy. Their guesses have been scattershot, conspiratorial and often untethered from reality, spanning a wide range of such unlikely contenders …

Page Six reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham on Friday gave a commercial flight a private preview of his appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” a source told Page Six, including calling the whistleblower controversy “Kavanaugh on steroids!” We’re told that the South Carolina pol was on a JetBlue flight from Washington, DC, to Charleston and was chatting loudly with “Jared” — …

From the editorial board of the Connecticut Post: The proper next step for the president is clear. He should resign. He has repeatedly proven himself unfit for office and appears to view the presidency as a position meant to benefit himself personally, not as one that must represent the interests of an entire nation. Because there’s almost no chance he …