Next week, we’ll enter a new phase of the impeachment inquiry: public hearings. Take a few minutes to catch up on developments from the week.
The impeachment inquiry goes public
After weeks of closed-door depositions, public hearings into whether President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate a rival for political gain are scheduled to begin on Wednesday. William B. Taylor Jr., the top American envoy in Ukraine, and George P. Kent, a top State Department official, are set to appear in front of the House Intelligence Committee. Marie L. Yovanovitch, the former United States ambassador to Ukraine who was removed from her post, is scheduled to appear on Friday.
Representative Adam B. Schiff, above, a California Democrat and the chairman of the committee, is leading the investigation. The Magazine took a look at how he’s running the inquiry. It’s worth setting aside some time for this interesting long read.
Ahead of the hearings, House investigators released several transcripts of closed-door depositions. Scan key excerpts from the testimonies or read the full transcripts:
With a “refreshed” recollection, Gordon D. Sondland, above, the United States ambassador to the European Union, revised his testimony in the impeachment inquiry. Mr. Sondland, a hotelier from Portland, Ore., told investigators that he had laid out a quid pro quo to a top official in Ukraine. In return for military aid, he said, the country would most likely have to publicly pledge to begin investigations that Mr. Trump wanted, involving his political rivals.
From Kiev, Andrew Kramer of The Times reports new details of how Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the country’s top officials dealt with President Trump’s demands for investigations in their country.
Under the threat of a hold on military aid, Mr. Zelensky, above, who was elected on a platform that included ending politically motivated investigations, and his government were making plans to announce the inquiries. News of the freeze leaked in the United States, causing an uproar on Capitol Hill and preventing the Ukranians from having to make those announcements after all.