Several key witnesses in the House’s impeachment inquiry will be the fist to appear in public hearings next week.
The move toward public hearings, rather than the behind-closed-doors testimonies that have so far taken place in sealed rooms, marks a new phase in the impeachment inquiry.
The current acting ambassador to Ukraine, the former ambassador, and the deputy assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs will testify.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who’s largely led the inquiry’s closed-door depositions, announced the news on Twitter Wednesday.
“More to come,” he said.
Next week, the House Intelligence Committee will hold its first open hearings as part of the impeachment inquiry.
On Wednesday, November 13, 2019, we will hear from William Taylor and George Kent.
On Friday, November 15, 2019, we will hear from Marie Yovanovitch.
More to come.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 6, 2019
The three witnesses scheduled for public testimony have already testified privately for the inquiry. A transcript of Yovanovitch’s closed-door testimony was released publicly on Tuesday, and Schiff said Taylor’s transcript would be released Wednesday.
“These will be the first of the open hearings. And I think you will see throughout the course of the testimony — not only their testimony but many others — the most important facts are largely not contested,” Schiff said in a brief statement to reporters after tweeting the news.
“We are getting an increasing appreciation for just what took place during the course of the last year and the degree to which the President enlisted the whole departments of government in the illicit aim of trying to get Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political opponent, as well as further a conspiracy theory of the 2016 election that he believed would be beneficial to his re-election campaign,” he added.
