As Democrats enter the second week of public impeachment hearings, lawmakers on Tuesday will hear from four Trump administration officials about their alarm at President Trump’s call with the leader of Ukraine and efforts to pressure the country to announce investigations into Mr. Trump’s political rivals.
The Basics
Who: Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council, and Jennifer Williams, a senior aide to Vice President Mike Pence, will appear together in the morning. Kurt D. Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine, and Timothy Morrison, a senior national security aide, will appear in the afternoon.
What: The House Intelligence Committee, led by its chairman, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, continues to examine the case for impeaching Mr. Trump.
When and Where: The morning proceedings start at 9 a.m. Eastern in the vaulted, columned chambers of the House Ways and Means Committee, and could last until the early afternoon. The second set of hearings is scheduled to start around 2:30 p.m., depending on when the morning session is finished.
How to Watch: The New York Times will stream the testimony live, and a team of reporters in Washington will provide real-time context and analysis of the events on Capitol Hill. Follow along at nytimes.com, starting a few minutes before 9.
Two White House officials will challenge Trump’s claim that his call with Ukraine’s president was “perfect”
Two senior national security officials will open Tuesday’s hearings by recalling their alarm as they listened in real time to Mr. Trump appeal for investigations into a political rival on a call with the president of Ukraine. Colonel Vindman is expected to testify that he reported the call to the National Security Council’s top lawyer. Ms. Williams will also testify that she found the president’s call “unusual and inappropriate.”
Honor and duty: A decorated Iraq war veteran expresses outrage about a pressure campaign
Democrats are betting that Mr. Trump’s defenders will have a difficult time dismissing the testimony of Colonel Vindman, a Ukrainian-American immigrant who received a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb. His previous testimony was filled with declarations of duty and patriotism, and he delivered it wearing his dark blue Army dress uniform with military ribbons on his chest. Colonel Vindman described his concern about a pressure campaign on Ukraine to announce the investigations that Mr. Trump wanted.
Republicans are hoping to portray Colonel Vindman’s strong opinions about the president’s call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, as just that — his own opinions. They intend to point out that the president made no mention of security aid during the call.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy will say he was out of the loop, and a national security aide says there was nothing illegal on Trump’s call
Mr. Volker is expected to say he was out of the loop as Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, effectively sought to pressure Ukraine for investigations into former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other Democrats. Other witnesses, however, have challenged Mr. Volker’s testimony. Mr. Volker will be joined on the afternoon panel by Mr. Morrison, a former longtime Republican congressional aide who has testified about a call between the president and Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, in which Mr. Trump insisted that Ukraine must publicly announce investigations. But Republicans plan to focus on Mr. Morrison’s assessment that he heard nothing illegal or improper on the president’s July 25 call with Mr. Zelensky.
Before then, catch up on some important background on the impeachment inquiry
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The four witnesses have already appeared for closed-door depositions in the inquiry. Read key excerpts from their testimony here: Vindman, Williams, Volker, Morrison.
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Mr. Trump repeatedly pressured Mr. Zelensky to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including the former vice president. Here’s a timeline of events since January.
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A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint.