WATCH: The first public impeachment hearings of Pres. Trump kicked off on Capitol Hill, calling the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, William Taylor, and Deputy Assistant Sec. of State George Kent to testify before the House.
The House on Wednesday convened its first impeachment hearing in more than 20 years. Testifying was William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, the State Department's top career official tasked with Ukraine policy.Much of Wednesday's testimony recounted details already provided in closed-door depositions.
Following that call with Trump, the staffer asked Sondland what the president thought about Ukraine, according to Taylor."Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden," which Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had been"pressing for," Taylor said. Taylor said he personally didn't hear from his Ukrainian counterparts expressing concern about the aid until after the Politico article published. Other witnesses testified in separate closed-door hearings that their Ukrainian counterparts had figured it out earlier than that. The State Department's Catherine Croft couldn't give an exact date the Ukrainians found out, other than it was"earlier than I expected them to.
Republicans contend there is no clear evidence that Trump personally forced a"quid pro quo" on Ukraine -- $400 million in security assistance in exchange for launching an investigation that includes Democrat Joe Biden – because Ukraine eventually received the money without the public announcement the president wanted.
But there were some interesting moments, including when Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan told Taylor he wasn't much of a"star witness" because most of Taylor's information was second-hand.
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