The United States House of Representatives launched momentous televised impeachment hearings yesterday as Democrats seek to make the case to the American public that President Donald Trump abused the powers of his office.
“There are few actions as consequential as the impeachment of a president,” said House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, the California congressman overseeing the historic inquiry in the Democratic-controlled House.
“The questions presented by this impeachment inquiry are whether President Trump sought to exploit (Ukraine’s) vulnerability and invite Ukraine’s interference in our elections,” Schiff said. “If this is not impeachable conduct, what is?”
Democrats who control the House plan to prove over several weeks of hearings that Trump abused his office by asking Ukraine to conduct a politically motivated investigation into his potential 2020 Democratic president rival Joe Biden.
Trump, who maintains he did nothing wrong, lashed out at the inquiry with a series of tweets early yesterday morning, citing prominent supporters who called it a “partisan sham.” Coming just one year before national elections, the hearings carry great risks for both parties and no certain reward, with a divided US electorate weary of Washington infighting. Polls show a slim majority of Americans favour impeaching the president.
Meanwhile, Senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers presented dueling narratives yesterday as the congressional impeachment inquiry entered a crucial new phase with the first televised public hearing.
The drama unfolded in the hearing as two career US diplomats, William Taylor and George Kent voiced alarm over the Republican president and those around him pressuring Ukraine to conduct investigations that would benefit Trump politically.
One revelation in particular drew attention, showing Trump’s keen interest in Ukraine investigating political rival Joe Biden. Taylor said a member of his staff overheard a July 26 phone call between Trump and Gordon Sondland, a former political donor appointed as a senior diplomat, in which the Republican president asked about those investigations and Sondland told him that the Ukrainians were ready to proceed.
Following the call which occurred a day after Trump had asked Ukraine’s president during a phone call to conduct these investigations, the staff member asked Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, what Trump thought about Ukraine, said Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine.
“Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani was pressing for,” Taylor testified, referring to Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Asked by Adam Schiff, the committee’s Democratic chairman, if that meant Trump cared more about the investigations than about Ukraine, Taylor said, “Yes, sir.” The public hearings are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday.
The 73-year-old Trump faces the most perilous challenge of his tumultuous three-year tenure in the White House as the public impeachment hearings began under the glare of live television cameras.
Speaking minutes before the start of the hearings, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House, said the probe was necessary to show Trump he can’t do “whatever he wants.” “That he is not above the law,” Pelosi said. “And that he will be held accountable.”