Trump impeachment news – live: White House ‘engaged in unprecedented obstruction’, as officials admit they have no record of call president claims proves his innocence

Donald Trump’s White House has “engaged in unprecedented obstruction”, former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal has declared in a damning interview with MSNBC, as the White House admits it has no record of a key call between the president and EU ambassador Gordon Sondland that Republicans had hoped would exonerate him.

Mr Trump made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan on Thursday, serving turkey to American troops at the Bagram Air Field and pledging to resume peace talks with the Taliban just three months after declaring the process “dead”.

His inner circle had gone to some lengths to conceal the trip from the media, sending out Mr Trump’s motorcade to his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, as a red herring after the president tweeted a picture of his head Photoshopped onto a shot of Sylvester Stallone in character as underdog boxer Rocky Balboa to serve as a distraction.

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