Trump impeachment inquiry: witnesses line up for first public hearings – live | US news

A House official working on the impeachment inquiry confirmed that Bill Taylor and George Kent were subpoenaed to publicly testify today.

“The House Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas this morning to Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent prior to the public hearing,” the official said.

Some White House staffers have chosen to defy congressional subpoenas, but several administration officials — including Taylor and Kent — have testified after receiving them, despite Trump’s resistance.

And both witnesses have now arrived on Capitol Hill for their public testimony, which is scheduled to begin in about 20 minutes.

The first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry is set to begin in about half an hour, and the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino will be providing updates from inside the hearing room.

A number of journalists and spectators have gathered in the large hearing room in the Longworth House office building to hear today’s testimony — including some unexpected characters …

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify in the impeachment inquiry alongside George Kent.

Taylor previously testified behind closed doors that he was told Ukraine’s military aid was held up to pressure the country into publicly announcing investigations of Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

Visitors to Capitol Hill hoping to witness a piece of history started lining up at 3:30 a.m. E.T. to get a seat in the hearing room where the first public impeachment testimony will be heard.

This morning’s hearing will take place in Room 1100 of the Longworth House office building, which previously served as the temporary House chamber while the main chamber was undergoing reconstruction in 1949 and 1950.

It appears that Trump has got his messaging straight for the morning. If his Twitter feed is any indication, the president would like his supporters to believe the two state department officials testifying this morning, Bill Taylor and George Kent, are “never Trumpers” who are misrepresenting his communications with Ukraine.

The “transcript” the president referenced is actually the White House memo on Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president. Trump has cited the memo as evidence of how “perfect” the call was, but in reality, it shows the president asking Ukraine for a “favor” and going on to discuss baseless corruption allegations against Joe Biden.

In terms of the partisan leanings of the today’s witnesses, Taylor was first nominated to serve as US ambassador to Ukraine by former Republican president George W. Bush, and Kent is a career diplomat who has worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

All eyes will be on Capitol Hill this morning, but Trump also has a busy day scheduled that could have a significant effect on the future of the Middle East.

Trump will greet Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House just weeks after the Turkish president launched a violent military operation in northern Syria, following the withdrawal of US troops from the region.

The two presidents will speak at a joint press conference scheduled for 3:10 p.m. E.T., which will be closely watched for signs of what Trump has agreed to when it comes to the future of Syria.

A number of lawmakers encouraged Trump to cancel his planned meeting with the strongman leader after the attack on America’s Kurdish allies, but the president chose to go ahead with it.

During a speech at the Economic Club in New York yesterday, Trump offered this rationale for meeting with all types of world leaders: “Anybody who wants to come in — dictators, it’s OK — come on in, whatever’s good for the United States.”

The fist public hearing in the impeachment inquiry is set to start in less than two hours, but Democrats have already announced the next steps in the investigation.

Maria Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine who was recalled from her post in the spring, will testify publicly on Friday morning.

And Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, announced yesterday that eight more witnesses will testify next week.

Three of the newly announced witnesses – Volker, Morrison and Hale – were requested by Republicans on the committee, which will throw some cold water on arguments from Trump and his allies that Democrats are presenting a one-sided argument.

However, Schiff rejected some of Republicans’ other witness requests, including the whistleblower and Hunter Biden. The committee chairman also implicitly warned in a memo yesterday that anyone who attempts to name the anonymous whistleblower, whose complaint kicked off the Ukraine controversy, could face an ethical investigation.

Good morning, live blog readers!

Well, we’ve arrived. Public hearings begin this morning in the impeachment inquiry, marking only the fourth time in American history that such proceedings have occurred.

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, and George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, are scheduled to testify at 10am on Capitol Hill. Taylor previously told impeachment investigators that he was informed Ukraine’s military assistance was held up to pressure the country into announce investigations of Joe Biden and the 2016 election. Kent testified in his closed-door interview to the House committees that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, led a “campaign of lies” against the former US ambassador to Ukraine.

Donald Trump is facing the investigation that could spell the end of his presidency with his typical indignation, claiming Democrats “have stacked the deck against President Trump and the Republicans”. “They have leaked out everything,” Trump added in a morning tweet.

The president appears to be downplaying the significance of today’s hearing, given that transcripts from Taylor and Kent’s interviews have already been released. But the hearing will give Americans the first chance to hear directly from these senior state department officials, which could shift public opinion of the inquiry. The question now is whether or not people will listen to them, with just a year left until the 2020 election.