Tim Morrison, who is set to testify in the House impeachment inquiry about what he has witnessed as the senior National Security Council official handling Russian affairs, is leaving his White House post, according to people familiar with his plans.
Morrison has been on the job for about 15 months, joining the security council during former national security adviser John Bolton’s tenure. He could be a key witness in the inquiry into President Donald Trump’s efforts to get Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.

The Federal Reserve reduced the benchmark U.S. interest rate for the third time this year Wednesday in an effort to boost the economy as the trade war and a global slowdown threaten to drag the U.S. economy down.
But it also signaled that its campaign of rate cuts has come to an end, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell telling reporters that the current stance was “appropriate.”
Fed leaders have stressed that they do not see a recession on the horizon. Instead, they have sought to portray these rate reductions as “insurance” cuts that are meant to give the economy extra protection in a world of rising uncertainty.

Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan appeared headed toward Senate approval Wednesday as U.S. ambassador to Russia, even as Democratic lawmakers questioned his professed lack of curiosity or pushback against policies on Ukraine he indicated that he opposed.
At a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sullivan deftly offered benign responses to questions on what he knew about President Donald Trump’s conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In his current job, Sullivan said, he was in charge of shepherding U.S.-Russia dialogues on counterterrorism and strategic security.

A former executive contends in a new lawsuit that Juul released 1 million tainted vaping pods onto the market, then failed to warn retailers and consumers.
Siddharth Breja, who had been the vice president of global finance, claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was “inappropriately terminated” in March, days after raising concerns about a shipment of mint-flavored refill kits and for protesting the company’s refusal to alert the public. The suit also alleges that Juul breached several California business regulations.

Allies of Joe Biden on Wednesday launched their super-PAC supporting his presidential candidacy, arguing it’s needed to help him fight attacks from President Donald Trump as his campaign focuses on the Democratic primary.
In a press release announcing its formal launch on Wednesday, Unite the Country says Biden has the best chance to beating Trump, and the group will focus its efforts on getting that message across to voters. It plans to push back against attacks on the Democratic primary front-runner by Trump and his allies.
“We will not sit idly by while Trump spreads lies about a man who has served this country with honor and dignity,” said Steve Schale, the group’s strategist.

President Donald Trump today posted a picture drapeing the Medal of Honor around the f the dog he said ran down Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a Syrian tunnel before Baghdadi killed himself.
The picture originally showed James McCloughan, who was credited with saving the lives of 10 men in a brutal, days-long battle in Vietnam. Trump told the former Army medic that “we are in awe of your actions and your bravery.”
On Wednesday, Trump posted a photo of that moment with McCloughan’s image replaced by that of a dog.
“AMERICAN HERO!” Trump tweeted.
The distinctive star of the medal was replaced with a paw print.

Twitter on Wednesday said it would ban all advertisements about political candidates, elections and hot-button policy issues such as abortion and immigration, a significant shift that comes in response to growing concerns that politicians are seizing on the vast reach of social media to deceive voters ahead of the 2020 election.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the move in a series of tweets, stressing that paying for political speech has the effect of “forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people.” The ban marks a break with Twitter’s social-media peers, Facebook and Google-owned YouTube, which have defended their policies around political ads in recent weeks.

The body of disgraced money man Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan federal prison cell in August, bore telltale signs of homicide despite an official ruling that he killed himself, a pioneering forensic pathologist revealed to “Fox & Friends” in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

Twenty-four years after the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, about 40% of Israelis believe there will be a moderate to high likelihood of political murder in the coming years, according to a survey conducted by the Roshink Research Institute for Rabin Memorial Organizers, which will take place on Saturday night.
The data shows that 39% believe that a political murderer is likely to come from the right-wing camp and target a left-wing politician, while 21% believe a left-wing murderer will target a right-wing politician. 16% stated that they think a murderer on political grounds would actually come from the Arab sector and target someone on the right.
 

Fox News contributor and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on resolution formalizing impeachment probe.
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