Trump news: President asked about Ukraine 'investigations', impeachment hearings told as Democrats reject effort to force whistleblower testimony
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Your support makes all the difference.The House impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump is beginning its first public hearings with Bill Taylor, acting US ambassador to Ukraine, and State Department official George Kent. Both witnesses delivered joint-testimony to Congress as the president derides the process as a “partisan sham”.
Mr Trump has meanwhile reportedly been threatening to fire his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney over his recent blunders. He also previously considered axing Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the US intelligence community, over his handling of the whistle-blower complaint about his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, as senior Republicans insist they will not be watching the hearings and Mr Trump hosts his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Wednesday, progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is calling for the resignation of senior Trump aide Stephen Miller over racist emails he sent to the right-wing news site Breitbart, in which he advocated white nationalist ideologies.
Following a meeting between the two leaders, Mr Trump repeated to reporters at a press conference that the day's public impeachment hearings are a "witch hunt" and a "joke".
"I haven't watched, I haven't watched for one minute because I've been with the president which is much more important as far as I'm concerned," Mr Trump said.
But the leaders were at odds following their controversial summit, to which five Senators were invited, discussing Turkey's cease-fire against Kurdish forces in Syria, as well as a two-day $100b trade deal and Turkey's acquisition of Russian anti-aircraft weapons.
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Alabama Democrat Terri Sewell asks George Kent whether it was normal having Rudy Giuliani involved in US-Ukraine relations.
"I did not find his particular engagement normal, no", he responds.
William Taylor also says it is "not normal" to have a private citizen dealing with such issues inside a channel "that goes contrary to US policy".
Adam Schiff has just posted the following tweet from the public impeachment hearings:
A note on Ohio Republican Mike turner's line of questioning just now from The Independent's Andrew Feinberg, who is sitting in on the proceedings in Washington:
"Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) just said the Sixth Amendment doesn’t allow hearsay. In fact, the Sixth Amendment says nothing about it."
Donald Trump has retweeted this video during the impeachment hearings from one of his closest allies on Capitol Hill:
Adam Schiff asks about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's comments on there being "no pressure" during his call with Donald Trump. The House Intelligence chairman asks whether it's fair to say Mr Zelensky would have faced political troubles within his own country if he were to speak in contradiction of Mr Trump.
"That's a fair assessment", George Kent replies.
William Taylor adds: "[Zelensky] cannot afford to be seen as deferring to any foreign leader, he is very confident in his own abilities, and he knows the Ukrainian people expect him to be clear and defend Ukrainian interests."
Indiana Democrat Andrew Carson asks George Kent about Marie Yovanovitch. Mr Kent says he asked Ms Yovanovitch to stay until this year, but a "smear campaign" spearheaded by Rudy Giuliani and others ultimately caused her to be forced out.
Ohio Republican Brad Wenstrup calls out former President Barack Obama for not delivering military weapons to Ukraine.
William Taylor responds by describing "long-standing" support from Congress and "increasing military support" from the US.
Mr Wenstrup refutes Mr Taylor by saying there was "strong support" for Ukraine from the Trump administration not previously seen in the former administration.
It certainly appears Mr Wenstrup was trying to attack the former administration, though it may have backfired:
California Democrat Jackie Speier asks George Kent about a memo he sent to the US State Department related to the impeachment investigation which the House has yet to receive.
She is asking whether withholding military aid to Ukraine weakens the country. Mr Kent says "it sends the wrong signal" and "sends the signal to Vladimir Putin".
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