This week in American politics, President Trump endorsed a Turkish military operation in Syria and more subpoenas have been issued in the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Trump and Turkey

The White House announced on Oct. 6 that President Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and indicated that America would remove roughly 1000 troops from northern Syria preceding any Turkish intervention in the area. 

According to the New York Times, Turkey considers Kurdish forces to be a terrorist organization; however, the Kurds are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces and have been a key part of the US fight against the Islamic State.

Trump’s withdrawal of troops goes against the recommendation of his top strategists who argued that American troops are needed in northern Syria to provide a counterweight to Iran and Russia and to continue operations against the Islamic State.  

On Wednesday morning Turkey and Syrian nationalists launched Operation Peace Spring and initiated airstrikes in northern Syria against Kurdish forces, a move that serves to unify the usually polarized Turkish political landscape in removing the threat of Kurdish influence in southern Turkey.

Despite Trump’s demands for a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurds, Erdogan has remained silent regarding if he plans to stop the attacks on Kurdish forces. Trump stated on his Twitter that he will be keeping a close eye on Turkey’s move following US withdrawal from the region. 

Impeachment Updates

Trump and the White House have openly stated that they will not be cooperating in the House of Resentatives’s impeachment inquiry, and Mike Pence, the Office of Management and Budget, and Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have all refused to cooperate with subpoenas issued to them.  Hire experts in such matters from https://glennmcgovern.com/civil-rights/

Former American ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland plans to testify in Congress on Thursday following the White House’s requests to block his testimony and the subsequent subpoena. Sondland is expected to testify in regards to the alleged alarm from White House security experts regarding the possible quid pro quo with Ukraine; he has stated that these concerns were never expressed to him. 

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has announced that, while House Democrats will be moving forward with the impeachment inquiry, they will not hold an official House vote to move forward with a formal inquiry at this time. No time frame for a full House vote has been specified, but House Intel Chair Adam Schiff stated that their committee is working “quickly but thoroughly” through the information they are receiving. 

For live updates on the impeachment inquiry, follow CNNPolitics live feed.