Trump Administration Officials Testify in Impeachment Inquiry

The House has opened the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff opened the live, televised session Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

It’s a remarkable moment for Trump, facing a rare impeachment proceeding over his actions toward Ukraine. Trump insists he did nothing wrong.

In his opening statement, Schiff said, "In 2014, Russia invaded the United States' ally, Ukraine -- to reverse that nation's embrace of the West and to fulfill Vladimir Putin's desire to build a Russian empire. In the following years, 14,000 Ukrainians died as they battled superior Russian forces."

He added, "Our answer to these questions will affect not only the future of this presidency, but the future of the presidency itself and what kind of conduct or misconduct the American people may come to expect from their commander-in-chief."

Democrats are leading the inquiry into Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine’s president to see if the actions rise to “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

In turn, Rep. Devin Nunes said in his opening statement, "In a July open hearing of this committee following publication of the Mueller report, the Democrats engaged in a last-ditch effort to convince the American people that Pres. Trump is a Russian agent." 

He added, "We're supposed to take these people at face value when they trot out a new batch of allegations, but anyone familiar with the Democrats' scorched earth war against [POTUS] would not be surprised to see the signs that this is a carefully orchestrated media smear campaign."

After the opening statements, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine testified that his staff recently told him they overheard President Donald Trump speaking on the phone to another diplomat about investigations.

William Taylor says some of his staff were at a restaurant with Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland on the day after the July 25 call between Trump and new leader of Ukraine.

Taylor told the committee that Sondland called Trump from the restaurant and the staff could hear Trump on the phone asking about “the investigations.”

Sondland told the president that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.

Top State Department official George Kent says he never saw any effort by U.S. officials to shield from scrutiny a Ukrainian natural gas company where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

Investigators are looking into allegations that Trump asked the new Ukrainian president to dig up dirt on the son of Joe Biden, a Democratic political rival.

Hunter Biden sat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company called Burisma. Kent said he raised concerns in 2015 that his status could create the perception of a conflict of interest.

But Kent said he never saw any attempt to shield Burisma from scrutiny because of Biden’s connection to the company.

(You can read full opening statements from both Kent and Taylor at the bottom of this article.)

Trump asked the Ukrainian leader to investigate the Democrats in the 2016 election and potential 2020 rival Joe Biden’s family, all while withholding military aid to an ally facing Russian aggression.

The panel will hear from two State Department witnesses who defied White House instructions not to appear.

Bill Taylor, the top diplomat in the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, and George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, are appearing before the House Intelligence Committee to face questions from lawmakers and committee staff.

Both have already testified behind closed doors, and told members about they became increasingly alarmed that a delay in military aid to Ukraine was tied to the country launching investigations that would benefit the president politically.

President Trump contends the transcript of his call with Ukraine's president was "perfect." He has dismissed the inquiry as a "witch hunt" and blocked several aides and other administration personnel from cooperating with the Democratic-led investigation.

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is trying to turn public impeachment hearings into a fundraising boon.

The campaign has emailed and texted supporters urging them to give.

And they’re setting a fundraising goal of $3 million over the next 24 hours.

Trump and his campaign have been trying to turn the inquiry into a rallying cry for supporters by making the case that it is an attempt by Democrats to invalidate the results of the 2016 election and harm Trump’s chances in 2020.

They’re calling the hearings “fake” and a “TOTAL SCAM.”

One email reads that, “It’s time to make a statement” and “do something so EPIC that even the FAKE NEWS media won’t be able to ignore us while these baseless Witch Hunt Trials go on.”

While Taylor was answering questions from counsel, Trump tweeted a re-election ad criticizing the inquiry.

Trump says in the video filmed in the White House Rose Garden that Democrats want to take away his viewers’ guns, health care, freedom and votes.

He adds that, “They're trying to stop me because I'm fighting for you. And I'll never let that happen."

Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham has told reporters that Trump is not watching the hearings against him. He did post seven retweets within one minute just after both opening statements from Kent and Taylor. 

Grisham tells reporters by email that Trump is participating in meetings in the Oval Office.

She writes: “Not watching. He’s working.”

Trump is scheduled around noon to receive Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for meetings, including a separate gathering with senators invited by the White House. Trump and Erdogan are also slated to hold a joint news conference at the White House.

During a bilateral meeting with Erdogan, he said, “No I didn’t. I did not watch it. I’m too busy to watch it. It’s a witch hunt, it’s a hoax. I’m too busy to watch it. So I’m sure I’ll get a report. There's nothing-- I have not been briefed, no. I see they’re using lawyers that are television lawyers, they took some guys off television. I’m not surprised to see it because Schiff can’t do his own questions."

Three witnesses are scheduled for this week and eight more are set to testify in public next week.

Republicans are expected to argue that none of the witnesses has first-hand knowledge of the president's actions.

MSNBC has George Conway, husband of White House communications aide Kellyanne Conway and a prominent social media critic of President Donald Trump, as an analyst at the opening of the impeachment hearings.

Conway was identified as onscreen as a “conservative attorney.”

In the hour before the hearing started, Conway said he was horrified and appalled that few Republicans believe that Trump abused his power as president.

Meanwhile, Fox News Channel brought Kenneth Starr, the special prosecutor who made the case for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, as an analyst prior to the hearing. Starr said making a charge of bribery against Trump is going to seem like a stretch for people on the street.

Ukraine is playing a starring role in historic U.S. impeachment hearings - but Ukrainians themselves seem more worried about a divisive government plan for land reform.

Ukraine’s day was wrapping up by the time Wednesday’s public hearing started in Washington, and local newscasts focused on a bill that would allow Ukrainians to sell their land for the first time in nearly 20 years. Kyiv residents had strong opinions about that measure, but appeared perplexed by the details of what’s happening in the U.S. Congress.

Ukrainian officials have sought to distance themselves from the impeachment inquiry.

Former legislator Serhiy Leshchenko is among the few following the proceedings closely. He fears that Ukraine may have to wait for next year’s U.S. election to renew normal relations with Washington.

  

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)