A nonpartisan watchdog said the White House broke the law when it withheld about $214 million appropriated by Congress for security aid to Ukraine. The move was central to the impeachment of President Donald Trump for pressuring that nation to interfere with the 2020 campaign. The report from the Government Accountability Office comes amid a torrent of new allegations Wednesday about how Trump knew his allies were pushing for a Ukrainian probe of Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden. Ironically, officials there opened a criminal investigation of alleged illegal surveillance of U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch by those same allies. Whether the Republican-controlled Senate allows any of this to be heard during the third impeachment trial in U.S. history remains to be seen. On Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts, as dictated by the Constitution, arrived to take charge of the proceedings. —David E. Rovella

Here are today’s top stories

Biden may not be the frontrunner for long. For Senator Bernie Sanders, the timing may be just right, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. With the Iowa caucuses approaching, he’s poised for a potential victory.

The 2017 Congressional tax overhaul was marketed as a way to get companies to expand, invest and hire more Americans. It turns out $32 billion in subsequent savings for the biggest U.S. banks instead resulted in less borrowing, more employee cuts and increased shareholder payouts.

Detroit automakers are laying off workers as they see less demand in the coming year.

Nobody makes money like Apollo’s Leon Black. The private equity CEO skates on the edges of other people’s catastrophes, walking away richer.

A man who had traveled to Japan after visiting a Chinese city was infected with a new pneumonia-causing virus, widening the spread of the SARS-like germ first reported in China less than three weeks ago.

Most everyone knows the economic calamities that may befall the U.K. when it leaves the European Union, but Bloomberg Businessweek has some thoughts on how the EU may miss Britain in the end.

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director says that with indexes off to a fast start to 2020, investors are looking for parallels to previous strong bull markets. Joe contends fuel cell stocks are a potential signpost of market exuberance. The technology promises to power cars and buildings without causing pollution, and three notable manufacturers went absolutely crazy during the bubble in 1999 and 2000. Those stocks have been surging over the last six months.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Hyperdrive

Toyota Makes a $394 Million Bet on Flying Taxis

Toyota is making a $394 million investment in Joby Aviation, one of the handful of companies with the seemingly implausible goal of making electric air taxis that shuttle people over gridlocked highways and city streets.

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