WASHINGTON (AP) โ House Democrats will launch a major new phase of their impeachment inquiry next week with public hearings that will feature three State Department officials who have testified about their concerns about President Donald Trumpโs dealings with Ukraine.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who is leading the impeachment investigation, announced Wednesday that the committee will hear from top Ukraine diplomat William Taylor, career department official George Kent and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in hearings next Wednesday and Friday.
All three have already testified behind closed doors in the first phase of the investigation. Yovanovitch, who was ousted in May at Trumpโs direction, told investigators she had been told to โwatch my backโ and that people were โlooking to hurtโ her. Both Kent and Taylor testified about their concerns about her ouster as the presidentโs lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, took a leading role on Ukraine policy.
Despite Trumpโs daily denials, Schiff said Wednesday that the witnesses will show that โthe most important facts are largely not contestedโ in the inquiry.
The Democrats are investigating Trumpโs requests for allegedly politically motivated probes by Ukraine as the U.S. withheld military aid from the country. Trump, backed by Giuliani, asked new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July telephone call to probe Trumpโs political rival Joe Biden and his family and also to investigate Ukraineโs possible role in the 2016 presidential election.
The impeachment investigators are also releasing transcripts of more of the closed-door interviews this week, including Taylorโs transcript on Wednesday.
