Impeachment Witnesses Detail Trump’s ‘Irregular’ Ukraine Policy
- Public hearings open with two State Department officials
- Staff members for Democrats, GOP lead initial questions
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An explosive, previously unknown account of President Donald Trump stressing his desire for Ukraine to investigate a political rival marked the opening hearing of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, as Republicans gave speeches dismissing the testimony as irrelevant hearsay.
William Taylor, the U.S. envoy to Ukraine, disclosed that a U.S. embassy staffer said he overheard Trump in a July phone conversation personally asking about “investigations.” That could be the most direct evidence yet that the president was focused on pressuring Kyiv to launch a politically motivated investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden.