Trump impeachment news: Witness warns of Russian 'fictional narrative' in damning testimony as Republican conspiracy theories challenged
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Your support makes all the difference.The fifth day of public impeachment hearings has come and gone, with another pair of key witnesses delivering damning evidence against Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the president spent his time lashing out against the proceedings on Twitter, writing: “Never in my wildest dreams thought my name would in any way be associated with the ugly word, Impeachment!”
Mr Trump has had a more controversial week than usual, as his EU ambassador, Gordon Sondland, implicated the president in a quid pro quo with Ukraine during his own impeachment hearings - along with vice president Mike Pence, secretary of state Mike Pompeo and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. “Was there a ‘quid pro quo’?" Mr Sondland said in his opening statement. "As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."
The president's critics have said the proceedings are exposing impeachable offences, including ex-White House ethics lawyer Richard W Painter, who said it was effectively “game over” for his administration. Mr Trump has attempted to undermine the inquiry, insisting that he barely knew his ambassador and wanted “NOTHING” from Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev. As all that happened, the Democratic 2020 contenders took to the debate stage in Georgia to attack Mr Trump as "one of the most corrupt presidents" in US history.
During the Thursday testimony, Fiona Hill, a former White House adviser on Ukraine, and David Holmes, a top staffer at the US embassy in Ukraine, testified about the irregular channel of communication in which Mr Trump pushed for a domestic-ally oriented political investigation.
Ms Hill told investigators that she believed Republican arguments claiming that it was OK for Mr Trump to ask for an investigation into Ukraine's 2016 role played into Russian talking points, and that furtherance of that played into their hands.
Mr Homes, meanwhile, told investigators that he was on the phone call that allegedly occurred 26 July, just a day after Mr Trump's call with Mr Zelensky. He said that he could hear the president speaking, even though he was not on spearker phone.
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'Mike Pompeo scorns the law because powerful men like him never have to follow it'
For Indy Voices, Robert Fisk tears into Trump's secretary of state over his decision this week to see no illegality in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
He will no doubt have enjoyed seeing Sondland drag Pompeo into the soup over Ukraine yesterday.
Here's more on the latest developments the president appears to be speaking out about on Twitter:
Fiona Hill, the former senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council, has arrived on Capitol Hill. (Photo via Manuel Balce Ceneta at the Associated Press)
Also enter: David Holmes, the political counselor at the US Embassy in Kyiv. He will deliver joint-testimony along with Ms Hill. (Photo via Jacquelyn Martin at the Associated Press)
'Despite the circus in Washington, we must not ignore the Democrat race to challenge Trump'
For Indy Premium, Chris Stevenson reminds us not to overlook the Democratic 2020 bun fight as the impeachment inquiry continues to dominate the news cycle.
Good morning and welcome to another day of impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill. Today we’ll be hearing from the former senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council, Fiona Hill, as well as the political counselor at the US Embassy in Kyiv, David Holmes.
The joint hearings will begin momentarily. The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg is in the room where the proceedings are taking place, and together we’ll bring you live updates, news and analysis.
Stay tuned!
The impeachment hearings are beginning as House Intelligence Chairman delivers an opening statement. Stay tuned for more.
A note from The Independent's Andrew Feinberg as he watches the hearings from inside the room:
As this round of impeachment hearings wraps up, it’s worth noting that three of Democrats’ most consequential witnesses — Marie Yovanovitch, Alexander Vindman, and Fiona Hill — are, as Hill puts it in her opening statement, “American[s] by choice..”
Much of this hearing will likely focus on the president's conspiracy theories that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 US presidential election. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff noted in his opening statement: "The first investigation [Donald Trump sought] was of a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine and not Russia was responsible for interfering in our 2016 election."
Devin Nunes, the Republican ranking member, is now delivering his opening statement. The California congressman is defending the president, saying he was right to withhold aid while looking into the country's corruption.
He's also denouncing a "carousel of accusations" from the Democrats, citing "quid pro quo" and bribery as multiple terms employed by the majority party throughout the impeachment inquiry.
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