Members of the U.S. House of Representatives started to hold public impeachment inquiries of the President this week, with open sessions having been scheduled for both Wednesday and Friday. This is the next step in House Democrats’ gradual ramping up of their investigation into allegations of President Trump withholding military aid from Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of the Biden family. The House holding public inquiries means that cameras and visitors will be allowed to witness the impeachment inquiry process and the questioning of witnesses.
In order to give the public an idea of what will be discussed and what the witnesses that have been called will likely say, most of the transcripts from witnesses’ closed-door depositions have been released. As of writing, most of the expected deposition transcripts have been released, with another several to be released in the coming weeks. These transcripts include depositions from U.S. ambassadors, security experts, White House employees, and other officials who may have knowledge of the circumstances around the alleged crime.
The first of the public hearings were scheduled for Wednesday, November 13, beginning around 10 a.m. ET. The two witnesses testifying were George Kent and Bill Taylor. Kent is a deputy assistant Secretary of State and Taylor is a former ambassador and top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine. According to reporting from CNN, Taylor’s testimony is expected to be some of the most significant of the entire investigation, as his previous statements have been said to have corroborated information in the initial whistleblower report that prompted the impeachment inquiry.
The second public hearing is scheduled for Friday, November 15, and will include testimony from the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich. There is not, at time of writing, a scheduled time for the hearing to start. However, it is expected that the hearing will be set for around 9 a.m. ET. According to some of Yovanovitch’s previous testimony, she was ousted earlier this year by “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.” It is expected that her public testimony will center around this statement.
These recent steps signal that the House is getting closer to finishing their part of the impeachment process and preparing to hand off the investigation to the Senate. Exactly when this handoff will occur is still unknown.
Joe Doner - Political Editor