Amita Kelly

Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET

President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday encouraging police departments to improve training — a step critics say falls short of what is needed to curb police officers' use of force against nonwhites.

The order comes as the president faces tremendous pressure to take action following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police last month.

The presiding judge in Michael Flynn's criminal case has appointed a retired judge to present arguments in opposition to the Justice Department's move to dismiss its prosecution of the former national security adviser.

Judge Emmet Sullivan has asked John Gleeson, a retired judge in the Eastern District of New York, to act as a friend of the court and look into whether Flynn should face a contempt hearing for perjury.

Updated on April 5 at 11:50 p.m. ET

Updated 8:00 a.m. ET Thursday

Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Ben McAdams each said Wednesday evening that they have tested positive for COVID-19. They are the first two members of Congress to announce positive tests for the novel coronavirus.

They both said they experienced symptoms and have been self-quarantining.

Diaz-Balart, 58, and McAdams, 45, both voted on the House floor as recently as early Saturday morning, when lawmakers passed a coronavirus relief package.

As the House of Representatives moves toward impeachment, President Trump penned a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, blasting her and other Democrats for what he calls "an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power ... unequaled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history."

The House begins debate on Wednesday, when lawmakers are expected to approve two articles of impeachment against the president.

Updated at 12:12 p.m. ET

The House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump, making him the fourth president in American history to face impeachment.

In contrast to Thursday's contentious back-and-forth between the two parties, Friday's session was devoid of rancor, or even any debate. Immediately after calling the session to order, Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., ordered two votes, one for each article. Both were approved 23-17 along party lines.

Updated at 8:50 p.m. ET

House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment against President Trump on Tuesday morning, charging him with abuse of power in the Ukraine affair and obstruction of Congress.

Read the articles of impeachment here.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is defending himself against criticism over a heated town hall earlier this week in which he called a voter a "damn liar" and challenged him to a pushup contest and IQ test. The voter, an 83-year-old retired farmer, asked about Biden's and his son Hunter's work in Ukraine, making some false accusations about it. He also said Biden was too old to run for president.

Christopher Anderson is testifying in the ongoing House impeachment inquiry on Wednesday, along with Catherine Croft.

Anderson and Croft both worked for the U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker — Anderson for almost two years. He served in Kyiv from 2014-2017 and then as special adviser for Ukraine negotiations through July 12, 2019.

Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina gave an emotional eulogy Thursday for his friend and Democratic colleague Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who is lying in state at the National Statuary Hall of the Capitol.

"He's called a number of things — a father, a husband, friend, chairman. For me, I was privileged enough to be able to call him a dear friend," Meadows said.

"Some have classified it as an unexpected friendship, but for those of us that know Elijah," he continued, "it's not unexpected or surprising."

Updated at 7:10 p.m. ET

Longtime U.S. diplomat William Taylor told lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that President Trump orchestrated a parallel foreign policy for Ukraine that made U.S. aid to the country contingent on investigations to help himself politically.

In a written statement to three House committees tasked with Democrats' impeachment inquiry, Taylor said he "became increasingly concerned" as "irregular, informal channels" of policymaking diverged from official U.S. goals — led by Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee took in a huge haul in the third quarter, which ended Monday — a combined $125 million.

This means that this year alone, they've raised more than $300 million — double the total that then-President Obama and the Democratic Party had raised at this point in 2011 on Obama's way to a successful reelection bid.

Updated at 11:20 p.m. ET

President Trump has released a transcript of his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Updated at 9:50 p.m. ET

Democratic presidential candidate Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that he is withdrawing from the race.

"It's become clear that I'm not going be carrying the ball, I'm not going to be the president, so I'm withdrawing tonight from the race," the Washington governor said on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show.