impeachment in the house
impeachment in the house

By Adam Shaw | Fox News

Public hearings began Wednesday in the House impeachment inquiry, focusing on the circumstances surrounding President Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Those testifying today are: 

William Taylor, Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.

George Kent, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.

Follow below on the Fox News live blog. Mobile users click here.UPDATEDWashington D.C.

  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter29sHere is Rep. Jordan questioning Taylor, where he said “church prayers chains” are easier to understand than the complexities behind how Taylor obtained his knowledge. https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1194691835035312128Share
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter4mIt’s getting testy here as Schiff interrupts Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe demands the clock be reset to to 1:00 — Schiff only gives him 22 seconds. There’s laughter in the hearing room. But with his time, Ratcliffe says that if they impeach one president, they have to impeach two. “To be clear if House Democrats impeach President Trump for a quid pro quo involving military aid, they have to call President Zelensky a liar.”Share77 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter17mFrom Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer: Meet Steve Castor, the attorney handling questioning for GOP during impeachment hearings https://www.foxnews.com/politics/steve-castor-daniel-goldman-to-handle-questions-at-impeachment-hearingMeet Steve Castor, the attorney handling questioning for GOP during impeachment hearingsCongressional hearings are known for being platforms for lawmakers from both parties to have their voices…FOXNEWS.COMShare21 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter18mFrom earlier: Ambassador Taylor said Zelensky was “happy” with the July 25 call with President Trump https://video.foxnews.com/v/6103492475001/#sp=show-clipsTaylor: President Zelensky was ‘happy with the call’Discussing Trump’s "cryptic" call with President Zelensky, Ambassador Taylor said Zelensky…VIDEO.FOXNEWS.COMShare39 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter20mJordan is mocking the complexity of much of the “understandings” that officials had of what was being considered and discussed, and that Taylor’s came amid a series of conversations with other officials — despite three conversations with Zelensky where it didn’t come up. “And you’re their star witness, you’re their first witness, you’re the guy,” he says. “I mean, I’ve seen Church prayer chains that are easier to understand than this.”Share325 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter24mRep. Jim Jordan asks Taylor why there were three meetings with Zelensky but the link with foreign aid did not come up. Jordan notes that there was no press conference, no TV interview, and no announcement of investigations from Zelensky before the aid is released on Sept. 11. But Taylor has a “clear understanding” of a linkage, so he asks where it came from. Taylor says it came from Sondland, and then Jordan points to Sondland testimony in which the EU envoy describes multiple conversations with multiple people in one sentence.Share239 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter31mEditedTaylor tells Schiff he wanted Sondland to push back on the president’s demands on Zelensky for investigations. “I thought the pressure on Zelensky was not a good idea from either president’s standpoint, so I suggested Sondland…should make that point.” He said he was concerned that Zelensky was going to go on television while in New York and announce that investigations were underway — even though he and his aides thought it was a bad idea to get mired in U.S. politics.Share14 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter34mLawmakers are now in 5-minute periods of questioning — there is no second 45 minute round of questioning. Schiff is zeroing in again on Trump allegedly having more interest in investigations into the Bidens and the 2016 election rather than more general corruption in Ukraine.Share11 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter35mSchiff is now resuming his questioning of the witnesses.Share2 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter41mWhite House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, meanwhile, dismisses the hearing as “two bureaucrats with a foreign policy gripe.” https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1194679920859000833Share132 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter43mDemocrats on the House Intelligence Committee are bringing attention to this remark by Taylor, in which he acknowledged it was unusual to see aid “conditioned on the personal or political interests” of a president. https://twitter.com/HouseIntel/status/1194678979548057601Share12 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter44mEric Trump is echoing the White House line that the impeachment hearings have been “boring” so far. https://twitter.com/EricTrump/status/1194664758932385792Share146 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter48mRepublican counsel Steve Castor is asking Kent about Hunter Biden, and asks if he relocated to Ukraine when he was appointed to the Burisma board. Kent says he doesn’t know. Castor appears to be suggesting that, while officials note there were concerns about a conflict of interest, not much was known about Hunter Biden’s dealings in the country.Share153 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter50mPer Fox News’ Nick Givas: After House Democrats kicked off their impeachment hearings against President Trump on Wednesday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., claimed he has no knowledge of the Ukraine whistleblower’s identity, despite reports of his staff meeting with the person in secret. https://www.foxnews.com/media/impeachment-hearings-adam-schiff-whistleblower-identityAdam Schiff to Jim Jordan: ‘I don’t know the identity of the whistleblower’After House Democrats kicked off their impeachment hearings against President Trump on Wednesday, House…FOXNEWS.COMShare46 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hRepublicans are furious that Schiff interrupted Republican questioning of Taylor to remind Taylor of what he does and does not have to answer. “Parliamentary inquiry: are you seriously interrupting our time here?” Nunes laughs. Schiff goes on to say that Taylor should be “cautious” about answering questions that assumes facts not in evidence before him. Rep. John Ratcliffe then objects angrily: “I sat here through the first 45 minutes and literally had an objection to almost the foundation of every question that Mr. Goldman asked regarding facts not in evidence/leading, but House resolution 660 does not say we are under the federal rules of evidence.” “If it is your position that I should be asserting objections to questions that violate the federal rules of evidence, let me know now because this hearing is going to change significantly.” “As I said, Mr. Ratcliffe, I will allow the question,” Schiff says. But Nunes asks again about the rules. Schiff says only that the witness should “not to presume questions from the majority or the minority that may represents facts not in evidence are correct.”Share337 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hFormer independent counsel Ken Starr, a key figure in the Clinton impeachment probe, says that Taylor’s testimony was hearsay and would not be admissible in a court of law. https://video.foxnews.com/v/6103471369001/#sp=show-clipsKen Starr: Taylor testimony hearsay & inadmissibleKen Starr says Bill Taylor’s "impressive" testimony was hearsay and not admissible in a court…VIDEO.FOXNEWS.COMShare226 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hEditedNunes now turns to questioning Taylor. As he does so, the White House is pushing back against Taylor’s claim that one of his staffers overheard Sondland’s call with Trump in which Trump is said to have asked about investigations. The White House accuses Taylor of offering “hearsay of hearsay” and House Democrats of basing “this entire sham on what amounts to a game of telephone.”Share325 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hNunes repeats a common Republican talking point that the aid was eventually provided to Ukraine even though no investigations ever took place. “So we are supposed to believe that President Trump committed a terrible crime that never actually occurred and which the supposed victim denied ever happened,” he said.Share536 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hAs Nunes speaks, here are his earlier remarks in which he talked about the “immense damage” done by what he called a politicized bureaucracy. https://video.foxnews.com/v/6103436056001/#sp=show-clipsDevin Nunes: Politicized bureaucracy done ‘immense damage’"Democrats have a long habit of accusing republicans of offensives they themselves are committing,"…VIDEO.FOXNEWS.COMShare135 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hRep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., calls the call “routine” and notes that Zelensky said he didn’t feel pressured into launching investigations on his political opponents. “The Democrats are not trying to find the facts, they are trying to invent a narrative.”Share435 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hSchiff gavels back in, and now it’s the Republicans turn.Share45 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hFrom earlier, here is William Taylor’s opening statement https://video.foxnews.com/v/6103441334001/Amb. William Taylor delivers opening statement in public impeachment hearingActing U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor stresses that he is nonpartisan and states his sole…VIDEO.FOXNEWS.COMShare16 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hRep. Sean Maloney, D-N.Y., is tweeting from the hearing room, calling it a “somber day.” https://twitter.com/RepSeanMaloney/status/1194670315911229440Share17 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hRep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., is downplaying the new info from Taylor calling it a “miraculous intervention from one of his staffers.” “I think when we start to look at the facts, everyone has an impression of what truth is and the ultimate judge is the American people…and what I see in the room is people who are yawning because this is a policy difference between the President of the United States and a few officials at the State Department.”Share346 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hPresident Trump is putting out a defiant message on Twitter, repeating his assertion that he is fighting to drain the swamp. https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1194660405907464194Share281 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hWe are now breaking for a five minute recess.Share15 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hGoldman is now asking Kent about the transcript of the call, and asks him how he thinks a new Ukrainian president would respond to a request from Trump for a “favor.” Kent says he wouldn’t try and interpret what Zelensky would have been feeling.Share54 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hPer Fox News’ Chad Pergram: Questioning continues of State Department official George Kent and acting Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor. House Intelligence Counsel counsel Daniel Goldman leading the questions. This 45 minute round started at 11:34 am ET. That means Democrats would hand things over to the GOP for their 45 minute around at 12:19 pm ET. There have been no holdups or delays. If they keep on this schedule, the two 45 minute rounds of questioning should end at approximately 1 p.m. Expect the GOP to use counsel Steve Castor to lead their questioning. It is unclear if they will take a break at that point or if there will be additional 45 minute rounds. Or, they could go immediately to the five-minute rounds for the individual 23 members of the Intelligence CommitteeShare13 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter1hCounsel Goldman is asking Taylor in depth questions about his testimony, including having him read verbatim his texts to various officials. He asks Taylor why Zelensky had concerns about being involved in US politics. Taylor says it was known that Giuliani was going after investigations into the Bidens, and the Ukrainians were aware this was a problem for them.Share34 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter2hOutside the hearing, White House Press Secretary is playing down the hearing, calling the hearing “boring” and a waste of time. https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1194659763965038592Share253 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter2hDemocratic Counsel Daniel Goldman asks Taylor why he was so troubled by what was going on in terms of the withholding of aid. “It’s one thing to try and leverage another meeting in the White House, it’s another thing I thought to leverage security assistance to a country at war dependent on both the security assistance and demonstration of support,” he said.Share65 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter2hDemocrats are seizing on the end of that testimony from Taylor. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., noting remarks that Sondland told Taylor that Trump cares more about the investigations into Biden than Ukraine itself. https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1194656667645992960Share47 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter2hTaylor asked if he has ever seen aid conditioned on the personal political interests of the United States. Taylor says he has not.Share110 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter2hRep. Mark Meadows is sniping at Schiff over his claim not to know the identity of the whistleblower. https://twitter.com/RepMarkMeadows/status/1194645264776257537Share165 Likes
  • FoxLiveBlogTeamReporter2hRep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., pushes back on the impeachment inquiry in a series of tweets, arguing that both admitted no first-hand knowledge of any quid-pro-quo. https://twitter.com/RepJimBanks/status/1194648152999178242Share199 Likes

Adam Shaw is a reporter covering U.S. and European politics for Fox News.

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