U.S. judge orders State Department to release more Ukraine records

(Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge on Friday ordered the State
Department to make public certain “readouts or summaries” of the
July 25 call between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian
counterpart at the center of a congressional impeachment
investigation.

The order by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in
Washington gave the State Department until Nov. 22 to hand the
documents over to American Oversight, a watchdog group that sued
for access to them based on a public records law.

Last month, Cooper ordered the State Department to confer with
American Oversight and negotiate the release of other categories of
Ukraine-related documents, including senior officials’
correspondence with Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

American Oversight’s lawsuit has assisted congressional
investigators, who have also sought documents and testimony from
the State Department but been rebuffed.

In an Oct. 30 court filing, the State Department objected to
producing readouts and summaries of the July 25 phone call that are
currently in the possession of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a
close aide, saying “such records have a high likelihood of being
classified and/or privileged.”

The State Department said those summaries and readouts “are
likely to contain additional information beyond a transcription of
the call itself.”

Cooper said in Friday’s order that American Oversight’s request
was lawful and did not place a heavy burden on the department,
however.

Samson Itodo Joins Emerging Leaders at Global Leadership
Programme

In line with the UK’s vision of promoting civic leadership and
building a global community of leaders, the UK Foreign and
Commonwealth Office hosts an annual International Leaders Programme
for emerging leaders who are transforming their societies through
social entrepreneurship, political leadership, technology, civic
activism, music and arts, journalism etc. Launched in March 2013,
the ILP is designed to create and develop lasting relationships
with future leaders who have an impact on the UK’s global
interests.

Joining the 2019 cohort is Samson Itodo, Executive Director,
YIAGA AFRICA and Convener of the Not Too Young To Run movement.
Samson will join 17 other leaders from around the world for the
program in London. The programme is shaped according to the broad
interests of the group, and will include a range of visits,
discussions, and meetings with senior British decision makers and
opinion formers.

These will include UK leaders in Government (including a visit
to No 10 Downing Street, the home of the Prime Minister),
Parliament, the media, civil society, education, business and
industry. Most of the program is based in London but the team will
take a trip to Cambridge as part of the program. In addition to the
general program, each participant is offered an option of a bespoke
two personalized program to facilitate professional development,
networking and leadership.

This is the first time a Nigerian will be selected for the
program since it’s commencement. This is not surprising as as
impact of Samson’s work at YIAGA AFRICA has earned him recognition
from international and local organizations. In 2018, he was
appointed by the Gates Foundation as a Goal keeper and honoured by
the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Washington DC as a Rising
Democracy leader in Africa. He is the recipient of The Future
Africa Award Young Person of the Year 2018 award and the Leadership
Newspaper 2018 Outstanding Young Person of the Year award.

Recently, he became a fellow of prestigious Archbishop Desmond
Tutu Leadership program and recipient of the Junior Chamber
International, Nigeria 2019 Ten Outstanding Young Persons in
Nigeria Award for Political, Legal and or Government Affairs.

Moshood Isah, Spokesperson YIAGA Africa