WASHINGTON - For the first time a top diplomat testified Wednesday that President Donald Trump was overheard asking about `the investigations` he wanted Ukraine to pursue that are central to the impeachment inquiry.William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, revealed the new information as the House Intelligence Committee opened extraordinary hearings on whether the 45th president of the United States should be removed from office.Taylor said his staff recently told him they overheard Trump when they were meeting with another diplomat, Ambassador Gordon Sondland, at a restaurant the day after Trumpīs July 25 phone call with the new leader of Ukraine that sparked the impeachment investigation.The staff explained that Sondland had called the president and they could hear Trump on the phone asking about `the investigations.` The ambassador told the president the Ukrainians were ready to move forward, Taylor testified.The hearing Wednesday was the first public session of the impeachment inquiry, a remarkable moment, even for a White House full of them.Itīs the first chance for America, and the rest of the world, to see and hear for themselves about Trumpīs actions toward Ukraine and consider whether they are, in fact, impeachable offences.An anonymous whistleblowerīs complaint to the intelligence communityīs inspector general - including that Trump had pressed Ukraineīs president to investigate Democratic foe Joe Biden and Bidensī son and was holding up U.S. military aid - ignited the rare inquiry now unfolding in Congress.The country has been here only three times before, and never against the 21st century backdrop of real-time commentary, including from the Republican president himself. The proceedings were being broadcast live, and on social media, from a packed hearing room on Capitol Hill.The session unfolded in measured, quietly dramatic tones. Taylor, a former Army infantry leader, his voice weathered after a 50-year career in foreign service, paused fo ...
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