WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today marked the opening of the public phase of the process to consider impeaching President Donald Trump, and at the Longworth House Office block, the public showed up. There were TV cameras lining either side of the security gates in the lobby, there was a bewigged drag queen comedian in a red minidress holding court around the corner, there was a stern-faced procession of people in black “Arrest Trump” T-shirts pacing the hall and reciting the constitutional text delineating impeachment. And outside the jammed-full Ways and Means committee room where testimony before the House Intelligence Committee was heard, there were hundreds of people lined up, watching the livestream on their phones.What they heard during more than five hours of the hearing, was William Taylor, the top-ranking Ukraine diplomat, and George Kent, the State Department’s top Ukraine official, testify to what they understood to be a scheme to condition both a White House meeting and hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid on launching politically motivated investigations to benefit Trump’s re-election campaign.In the biggest new revelation of the day, Taylor testified, in a rich voice that recalled that of famed broadcaster Walter Cronkite, that one of his staff members overheard a cellphone conversation between America’s EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland and Trump on the day after the famous call that launched the whistle-blower complaint. On the call, Taylor said, Trump directly asked about the progress of “the investigations,” and Sondland replied that the Ukrainians were “ready to move forward.”“Following the call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of (Joe) Biden, which (Trump lawyer Rudy) Giuliani was pressing for,” Taylor said.Ken ...
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