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Harriet Brewis

Donald Trump impeachment hearing time: Could the US President be removed from office? Can I watch the inquiry live?

Donald Trump has repeatedly denounced the inquiry as a 'witch hunt' (Picture: REUTERS)

Today marks an historic moment in American politics, with a hearing in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump to be broadcast around the world.

It is the first time in more than 20 years a presidential impeachment hearing will be made public, as part of a process which could end in Mr Trump’s removal from office.

The US president has repeatedly denounced the inquiry as a “witch hunt” and a “phony showtrial”.

But his Democratic challengers believe Wednesday’s hearing will bring to life allegations that he has abused his power of office.

As the veil is lifted from this hotly debated inquiry, here’s everything you need to know about today’s landmark event.

The Capitol building in Washington, home of the US Congress (AP)

What time does the hearing air and how do I watch it?

The hearing is set to begin at 3pm UK time (10am local time) on Wednesday, and is expected to last between four and six hours.

All major American news channels, from NBC to Fox News, will stream the proceedings live on television and online.

The BBC and other international broadcasters will also be providing live coverage.

Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden (REUTERS)

What is President Trump accused of doing?

The US president is accused of pressuring Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky into digging up damaging information on his Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Hunter Biden worked for a Ukrainian company while his father was serving as vice-president to Barack Obama.

Critics say Mr Trump tried to coerce the Ukrainian president into investigating discredited allegations against the pair during a phone call on July 25.

An anonymous whistleblower raised a complaint about the telephone conversation, saying Mr Trump used his office to push a foreign government to help him politically.

The call came shortly after Mr Trump had blocked the release of millions of dollars in US military aid to Ukraine. A senior official said the president made clear the aid would not be released unless Mr Zelensky complied with his requests, but the White House denies this.

Asking foreign entities for help in winning a US election is illegal.

In light of the accusations, the US House of Representatives launched a formal impeachment inquiry against the president in September.

The Speaker of the Democrat-controlled house Nancy Pelosy said Mr Trump’s alleged actions represented “betrayal of his oath of office, a betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.”

http://players.brightcove.net/1348423965/default_default/index.html?videoId=6089258648001

What will today’s hearing involve?

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, who is leading the impeachment inquiry, will begin proceedings with an opening statement.

This will be followed by an opening statement from senior Republican committee member Devin Nunes, and then from two witnesses who have been selected by the Democrats.

These witnesses, who have previously testified against Mr Trump in closed-door hearings, are US Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor and deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs George Kent.

Mr Schiff and Mr Nunes will each have 45 minutes to question the witnesses. They can also delegate the questioning to a staff lawyer instead.

Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers will then get five minutes each to pose their own questions to Mr Taylor and Mr Kent.

There will also be exhibits of evidence, with Democrats expected to display excerpts from transcripts, text messages, relevant news articles and social media posts.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is often referred to by Mr Trump as 'shifty Schiff' (AP)

Who are the two witnesses?

Mr Taylor and Mr Kent, along with former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, have already become important figures in the inquiry.

All three have previously testified against Mr Trump behind closed doors, and transcripts of their depositions have been released.

Mr Taylor earlier revealed that he threatened to quit after he was told Mr Trump was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine because he wanted "investigations."

“I discovered a weird combination of encouraging, confusing and ultimately alarming circumstances," he said in an October 22 statement.

In his depositions, Mr Kent told investigators he'd raised concerns that Mr Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani was poisoning foreign policy with Ukraine via "a campaign of lies".

He testified on October 15 that there were three words the president wanted to hear from the Mr Zelensky: "Investigations, Biden and Clinton."

Ambassador Bill Taylor will testify today alongside George Kent (AP)

What to expect from each side

During Wednesday’s hearing, the public will "hear immensely patriotic, beautifully articulate people telling the story of a president who... extorted a vulnerable country by holding up military aid,” Democratic house committee member Jim Himes told NBC.

Meanwhile, Republicans are expected to insist that the president did not pressure Ukraine into to smearing his political rivals.

According to a memo circulating on Capitol Hill, they are expected to say that US military assistance had only been withheld because Mr Trump had legitimate concerns about Ukrainian corruption.

They will emphasise that ultimately the aid was released without the investigations taking place anyway.

They are also expected to stress the witnesses' lack of direct interaction with the president, flagging that much of the two witnesses’ information about Mr Trump’s actions came from other sources.

The core of the Republican argument is that the impeachment effort is unfair and sparked because "unelected and anonymous bureaucrats disagreed" with Mr Trump's decisions on Ukraine.

The president himself will not be present for the hearing and is instead expected to watch the televised proceedings from the White House.

He fired his first round of Twitter comments in the hours before the event, quoting Fox News host Sean Hannity who he describes as an “amazing warrior”.

His tweet thread reads: “This is a phony showtrial. There is zero due process, none. It is yet another fraudulent hoax conspiracy theory. It is another Witch Hunt.

“This is what the Socialist Democrat Party has become. There’s not one thing the Democrats have done in the past 3 years except try to hurt Donald Trump and we, the people that support him.

“The Left has never accepted the results of the 2016 Election. They never saw this coming. This is not just about President Trump. They hate everyone he is representing.”

Will President Trump be removed from office if he is impeached?

If the House votes against Mr Trump, it will make him the third American president in history to be impeached.

It's only the fourth time in American history that Congress has launched impeachment proceedings against a sitting president.

Two of those - against Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton 130 years later- resulted in their impeachments, but both were later acquitted by the Senate.

President Bill Clinton was impeached following his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky(Getty Images)

Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974 before the House could vote to impeach him.

In Mr Trump’s case, if the House approves articles of impeachment against him, a trial would then take place in the Senate, which could then vote to remove him.

However, even if this takes place few expect the Republican-controlled Senate to remove him from office.

"If Republicans stick together, Trump will not just survive this, he will defeat the impeachment hoax and be re-elected,” said Jason Miller, senior adviser to Mr Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

“It's merely the latest episode in a pattern of Democrats and unelected bureaucrats trying to undermine the presidency.”

Are more hearings scheduled?

The Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch is scheduled to testify before the same committee on Friday.

Mr Schiff wrote in a letter to his colleagues on Tuesday that additional witnesses will be announced by the end of the week.

Listen to today's episode of The Leader here:

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