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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Donald Trump says US military presence in Syria 'only for the oil' – as it happened

Live political reporting continues on Thursday’s blog:

Evening summary

That’s a wrap for today. Here’s a recap:

  • On the first day of public impeachment hearings, Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, testified that one of his aides heard from EU ambassador Gordon Sondland that Trump cared more about investigations into Joe Biden and his son than other US-Ukrainian policies.
  • David Holmes, Taylor’s aide who reportedly also overheard a conversation between Trump and Sondland, during which they discussed ‘the investigations.’ has been asked to appear for a closed-door deposition with impeachment investigators on Friday.
  • Republican allies of Trump tried to paint the testimony of Taylor and George Kent as hearsay
  • Trump and his allies have also said the hearing was dull and irrelevant, with the president claiming he didn’t watch a minute of it.
  • Judges ruled for the third time that Congress can move forward with a subpoena to obtain Trump’s tax returns. The president’s lawyers had said they’ll appeal to the Supreme Court.
  • The Department of Defense watchdog declined Republican senators’ request to separately investigate the holdup of aid to Ukraine.
  • Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has reportedly decided to enter the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.
  • Ruth Bader Ginsberg missed oral arguments today for the second time in her career as a supreme court justice. She was reportedly suffering from a stomach bug.

Tune in tomorrow for more developments on the impeachment hearings, and the 2020 presidential race.

Congress can access 8 years of Trump tax returns, court rules

A federal appeals court ruled today that House Democrats can have access to Trump’s tax returns, and subpoena his longtime accounting firm.

The House Oversight committee had subpoenaed Mazars, Trump’s accounting firm, earlier this year. The president sued the House panel in response, arguing that they were stretching Congress’ investigative powers.

A lower court ruled against Trump in May, and a three-judge panel of DC circuit judges upheld the decision in October. Trump’s lawyers asked the circuit court to rehear the argument once again, and today for a third time, judges stood by Congress’ right to subpoena.

Trump’s lawyers now plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Updated

A historic opening prayer at the House

Some non-impeachment news courtesy of The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani:

Isleta Pueblo Chief Judge Verna Teller has become the first Native American to deliver the opening prayer on the floor of the House of Representatives - 240 years after the tradition began.

“Oh Creator and Great Mother. Having asked and received your permission to invoke your blessings today to all directions: East, North, West, South and the Center. We thank you for the life you give to all your children: the two-legged ones, the four-legged, those who live in the waters, and those who watch over us from the skies above. Sacred Pollen, sacred Earth Mother, sacred Water that manifest your desires, oh Creator and Great Mother, we thank them for the nourishment they give us equally with no regard to race, color or creed. Creator and Great Mother bless those standing before you, who carry a sacred trust to all of us who inhabit Turtle Island, our homeland, and I pray today that you will give them the wisdom and the courage to carry out their sacred trust with the same equality that we receive from the Sun and Rain.

Hurrd kem. (Thank you)”

Chief Judge Teller from New Mexico was invited by Congresswoman Deb Haaland, who is a member of the Laguna Pueblo people, as part of events to mark Native American heritage month.

“[This] is a time to reflect on the contributions that our Native communities have made to this country and the tragedies that they endured. Having Verna Teller on the House Floor does both – it reminds us that in the 200-plus years of our country’s history, the first people of this continent were excluded, but also that through resilience and perseverance we are still here and working to make our country a better place,” said Congresswoman Deb Haalan.

In 2018, New Mexico Rep Haaland and Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation who represents Kansas, became the first Native American woman elected to Congress.

The current house chaplain is Father Patrick Conroy, the first Jesuit and second Catholic to hold the position of spiritual advisor to US lawmakers.

Updated

Trump claims he hasn't watched a minute of the hearings

Trump gave a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.
Trump gave a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

The Guardian’s Washington correspondent David Smith:

The White House and its allies sought to dismiss the hearing as dull and irrelevant. Press secretary Stephanie Grisham and Trump’s son, Eric, both dismissed it as “boring”, with Eric adding “#Snoozefest” in a tweet.

The president himself seemed to have found the historic day soporific, judging by his low energy, croaky voiced performance at a joint press conference with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan which started an hour late.

He was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, five Republican senators and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, wearing a broad smile as he took his seat.

Trump, a former reality TV star who follows cable news very closely, claimed he had not watched a minute of the session that poses an existential threat to his presidency. That would be a blow to Republican congressmen who strained to impress him with their questions and speeches.

“Are you talking about the witch hunt?” Trump asked a reporter in the White House east room who sought his first impression. “Is that what you mean? Is that what you’re talking about? I hear it’s a joke. I haven’t watched, I haven’t watched for one minute because I’ve been with the president, which is much more important as far as I’m concerned.”

He added: “This is a sham and shouldn’t be allowed. It was a situation that was caused by people that shouldn’t have allowed it to happen. I want to find out who was the whistleblower because the whistleblower gave a lot of very incorrect information including my call with the president of Ukraine, which was a perfect call and highly appropriate.”

Trump will release details of an earlier call he had with Zelinskiy on Thursday, he continued.

He said he regretted the country was being put through the hearings and that Erdogan’s time was being wasted. “I’d much rather focus on peace in the Middle East and I hear that it’s a hoax and it’s being played as a hoax. That’s what I hear but you’ll have to tell me.”

Perhaps determined to avoid a tough confrontation, Trump gave his two questions to the One America News Network and Fox News, both notorious for backing him. The latter focused on witness Bill Taylor’s disclosure that a staffer overheard Trump saying “the investigations” mattered more to him than Ukraine’s fate.

The president replied: “I know nothing about that. First time I’ve heard it… In any event, it’s more secondhand information, but I’ve never heard it.”

Pressed on whether he recalled the conversation in question, he added: “Not at all, not even a little bit.”

On a day that his supporters attempted to portray as anticlimactic, Trump himself lacked the fire and fury he has displayed on previous occasions. He ignored a barrage of shouted questions as he left the east room, the scene of Richard Nixon’s raw, emotional farewell following his 1974 resignation.

Department of defense watchdog declined Democratic senators' request to investigate Ukraine funds holdup

Responding to a request by a group of Democratic senators, including Dick Durbin of Illinois, acting inspector general Glenn Fine said he wouldn’t open an investigation that duplicates work being done by members of Congress leading the impeachment inquiry.

“We seek not to duplicate or interfere with the efforts of other oversight entities, even if there is not a criminal proceeding, before initiating our own investigation,” Fine said in a letter to Durbin.

After the impeachment inquiry closes, “we would again consider investigating such DoD matters that have not been sufficiently addressed”, Fine said.

Updated

Ruth Bader Ginsberg is absent from the Supreme Court due to illness

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg missed oral arguments today for the second time since she took office in 1993.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg missed oral arguments today for the second time since she took office in 1993. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Ginsberg missed oral arguments today due to a stomach bug, the high court announced.

“She is indisposed due to illness, but she will participate in the consideration and decision of the cases on the basis of the briefs and the transcripts or recordings of the oral arguments,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.

At 86, Ginsberg is the court’s oldest member. She leads the liberal wing of the court. In January, she missed oral arguments for the first time since taking office, as she was recovering from surgery.

The Supreme Court was hearing arguments today regarding two cases: Comcast Corporation v. National Association of African American-Owned Media and Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC.

Ginsberg will still be able to weigh in on those cases, though she missed the chance to question attorneys today.

Trump "doesn't remember" newly-divulged call with Sondland

The president just said during his press conference with Turkey’s Erdogan that he can’t recall the reported phone call with European Union ambassador Gordon Sondland on July 26 that caused such a splash at the impeachment inquiry because it portrayed Trump as prioritizing efforts by Ukraine to investigate his political rivals over any other aspect of US-Ukraine relations.

Earlier today, witness and acting US ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, said one of his aides had heard Sondland talking to Trump on the phone on July 26, and could also overhear the president on the other end conversing loudly.

Taylor told the hearing: “Following the phone call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland responded that Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which [Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy] Giuliani was pressing for.”

All of this has apparently slipped Trump’s mind.

Here’s the full story.

The handshake

Trump and Erdogan have wrapped up their unsettling press conference at the White House with a hearty handshake that leaves many watching deeply uneasy.

Trump-Erdogan presser calls on “friendly reporter”

Trump on Syria: “There for the oil”

Donald Trump has insisted that the US military presence in Syria is “only for the oil”, contradicting his own officials who have insisted that the remaining forces were there to fight Isis, Guardian US world affairs editor Julian Borger writes.

Trump made his remarks while hosting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just over a month after the Turkish president launched an offensive into northeastern Syria, which has been formally condemned as destabilising by state department officials.

Sitting alongside Erdogan, Trump contradicted his own officials and the Republican leadership on a range of issues, most importantly on the US military mission in Syria.

Following Trump’s earlier insistence that his administration was solely interested in “keeping” Syrian oil, the US military deployed mechanised military units to oil fields in the east of the country.

However, seizing or benefiting from oil on a foreign territory, without permission from the sovereign authority, would be a violation of international law. Several US officials had sought to interpret the president’s remarks as the US meant to meaning that the denying Isis access to the oil.

The US special envoy on Syria, James Jeffrey, said on Monday: “US forces in northeastern Syria are there under an authorisation to fight terrorism specifically to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. That is their overall mission.”

Julian’s story is here and it will be updated shortly as a result of the presser.

Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a news conference in the East Room of the White House
Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a news conference in the East Room of the White House Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

Updated

Trump and Erdogan presser at White House

Donald Trump and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan are holding a press conference in the White House now.

Updated

That’s it from me on this historic day. My Guardian colleagues will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands after the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry:

  • Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, testified that one of his aides overheard a conversation between Trump and Gordon Sondland where the president asked the US ambassador to the EU about “the investigations” in Ukraine. According to Taylor, Sondland told the aide that Trump cared more about investigations into Joe Biden and his son than other US-Ukrainian policies.
  • David Holmes, the aide who reportedly overheard the conversation between Trump and Sondland, has been asked to appear for a closed-door deposition with impeachment investigators on Friday.
  • Republican allies of Trump tried to paint the testimony of Taylor and George Kent as the result of hearsay, noting that neither official had spoken with the president. (But Trump has tried to block his closest aides from testifying in the inquiry.)
  • On a non-impeachment note: Deval Patrick has reportedly decided to launch a 2020 bid. However, the former Democratic governor of Massachusetts faces long odds given his late entry and need to fundraise.

The blog will have much more coming up, so stay tuned.

First public impeachment hearing officially concludes

The motion from Republican representative Mike Conaway to subpoena the whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry was defeated on a party-line vote.

With that, the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry has concluded. The next hearing is scheduled for Friday morning, when former US ambassador to Ukraine Maria Yovanovitch will testify publicly.

Three major US newspapers highlighted the new testimony from Bill Taylor in their homepage headlines about the first public impeachment hearing.

  • New York Times: “Impeachment Testimony: ‘Trump Cares More About the Investigations of Biden.’”
  • Washington Post: “New testimony ties Trump more directly to Ukraine pressure.”
  • Wall Street Journal: “Envoy Reveals New Call in Impeachment Testimony as GOP Defends Trump.”

Taylor testified that one of his aides overheard Trump asking about “the investigations” in Ukraine and that Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, said the president cared more about the probes into Joe Biden and his son than other US-Ukrainian policies.

Witnesses conclude testimony in first public impeachment hearing

Bill Taylor and George Kent have now concluded their testimony in the first public hearing of the impeachment inquiry after about five and a half hours.

Republicans on the committee and Trump’s allies tried to paint the hearing as a “boring” waster of time. However, the homepages of major news outlets would beg to differ.

Asked about what interests they believed Rudy Giuliani was promoting in Ukraine, George Kent said of the president’s personal lawyer: “I believe he was looking to dig up political dirt against a potential rival.”

Reports have indicated Giuliani spent months trying to pressure Ukrainian officials to launch an investigation into Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

Democratic representative jokingly suggests Trump testify

Republican representative Jim Jordan once again called on the whistleblower whose complaint initiated the impeachment inquiry to testify publicly.

Adam Schiff has said he remains committed to protecting the anonymity of the whistleblower, and he has already rejected Republicans’ request to have the unnamed official testify.

But Democratic representative Peter Welch offered an alternative to Jordan: “I’ll be glad to have the person who started it all come in and testify. President Trump is welcome to take a seat right there.”

The suggestion prompted chuckles from the Democrats in the room, but Republicans were more reserved in their response.

Updated

Patrick reportedly plans to launch presidential bid

The blog is briefly interrupting its coverage of the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry to provide a key update on the 2020 race: former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has reportedly decided to enter the Democratic presidential primary.

CNN reports:

Patrick is telling friends and allies in phone calls on Wednesday that he has made a decision to run for president, two people familiar with the matter say.

Plans for the timing of his formal announcement are still in flux, with attention on impeachment, but Patrick is likely to reveal his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination by video or social media message on Thursday, with a formal appearance in New Hampshire on Friday to file his papers for the primary there with the secretary of state’s office, one person familiar with the plan says.

The odds could be incredibly steep for a late entrant like Patrick, who is not well known nationally and does not have personal wealth to finance a campaign. Patrick has missed the deadline to appear on the primary ballot in Alabama and Arkansas.

Although Patrick faces many hurdles in the primary race, his entry indicates that some prominent Democrats remain unsure about their 2020 options.

We are (slowly) nearing the end of the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry. Republican representative Will Hurd has concluded his questioning, and six more Democrats on the committee will be allowed five minutes each.

Correction: A previous version of this post included a tweet identifying Hurd as the last Republican questioner, but he was not.

Updated

Taylor and Kent deny they are 'never Trumpers'

Asked by Democratic representative Eric Swalwell, Bill Taylor and George Kent denied they are “never Trumpers,” as the president has alleged.

Kent, a longtime state department official, emphasized he has worked under five presidents -- three Republicans and two Democrats -- and has consistently served as a nonpartisan public servant. Taylor was also first nominated as US ambassador to Ukraine by former Republican president George W. Bush.

In response to comments made by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Taylor emphasized it is “wrong” to hold up security assistance for “no good policy reason.”

Many of the Democratic presidential candidates have been remarking on today’s impeachment hearings. Here’s what they’ve had to say:

Updated

Republican representative Chris Stewart opened his questioning of Bill Taylor and George Kent by welcoming Americans to “year four of the impeachment of President Trump.”

This echoes a common line of argument among Republicans: that Democrats have been determined to impeach Trump since day one and are searching for any reason to justify his removal from office.

However, in reality, many House Democrats only came around to supporting an impeachment inquiry in the immediate weeks before Nancy Pelosi formally launched the investigation at the end of September.

Trump’s press secretary is trumpeting efforts by Republicans on the House intelligence committee to paint Bill Taylor and George Kent’s testimony as the result of hearsay, emphasizing that neither ever spoke with the president.

However, a number of commentators responded to Grisham’s argument by noting that the White House has tried to block the testimony of officials who regularly speak to Trump.

Representative Mike Turner’s combative questioning of Bill Taylor and George Kent represented quite a reversal from a September hearing with the acting director of national intelligence, during which the Republican congressman expressed concern about Trump’s Ukraine call.

Representative Mike Turner, a more moderate Republican on the House intelligence committee, just grilled Bill Taylor and George Kent and dismissed their testimony as the result of hearsay.

The combative performance by one of the more moderate Republicans on the committee demonstrated once again that the likely eventual vote on articles of impeachment against Trump will almost certainly fall along party lines.

Bill Taylor has had to repeatedly emphasize his nonpartisan position while taking questions from the Republican members of the House intelligence committee.

Representative John Ratcliffe, whom Trump previously planned to nominate as director of national intelligence, asked Taylor and George Kent whether they believed anything impeachable had occurred.

“I’m not here to do anything having to do with, to decide about impeachment,” Taylor said. “That is not what either of us are here to do. This is your job.”

Taylor: I'm not a 'star witness for anything'

Jim Jordan belittled the testimony of Bill Taylor and expressed bafflement that his Democratic colleagues consider the longtime diplomat to be their “star witness.”

Taylor responded by again emphasizing he was not testifying to help the political fortunes of either party. “I don’t consider myself a star witness for anything,” Taylor said. “I’m not here to take one side or the other.”

Taylor, who currently serves as the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, was first nominated to the post in Kyiv by former Republican president George W Bush.

Updated

Jim Jordan, a Trump ally, echoed Republican messaging by trying to paint Bill Taylor’s knowledge of a potential quid pro quo as relying on secondhand information.

However, this argument may fall apart next week, when a number of people who do have direct knowledge of the pressure campaign on Ukraine -- namely Gordon Sondland and Alexander Vindman -- testify publicly.

That said, Jordan appears to have succeeded at his short-term goal of creating a clip of Taylor acknowledging he did not listen to Trump’s Ukraine call or discuss a potential announcement of investigations with the Ukrainian president. It seems likely that exchange will play on Fox News tonight.

The Democratic and Republican counsels have concluded their questioning, and the hearing has moved on to five-minute questioning from each member of the committee.

Representative Jim Jordan, one of the president’s closest allies, is now pressing Bill Taylor on his testimony that Ukraine’s military aid was tied to public announcements of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

The Republican counsel appeared to be trying to get Bill Taylor to justify the Trump administration’s odd decision-making structure around Ukraine policy, prompting looks of bafflement of bemusement from the longtime diplomat.

Republican counsel press witnesses on Hunter Biden

The counsel for Republican members of the House intelligence committee, Steve Castor, is pressing Bill Taylor and George Kent on Hunter Biden’s qualifications to join the board of the Ukrainian company Burisma.

Given their decades of experience in public service, Taylor and Kent are unsurprisingly unfamiliar with the resume of Biden, the son of former vice president Joe Biden. Kent and Taylor responded to a number of Castor’s questions about Biden’s qualifications by simply saying, “I don’t know.”

Kent has testified he raised concerns in 2015 about the appearance of a conflict of interest in the younger Biden’s work for Burisma, but he emphasized he had seen no evidence of US officials hesitating to examine the company because of Biden’s role on the board.

As Bill Taylor began his testimony this morning, there was a a stark difference in the coverage on Fox News and elsewhere. A box appeared next to Taylor onscreen, nominally giving background information on the acting US ambassador to Ukraine.

Intriguingly, that background information was sourced from Donald Trump and the GOP’s criticism of Taylor.

“President Trump dismissed Taylor as a ‘never Trumper’,” Fox News informed its viewers. It added: “White House called Taylor’s closed-door testimony ‘triple hearsay’.”

Fox News offered less information on the actual substance of Taylor’s testimony: in which he said he had a “clear understanding” that the release of US aid was tied to Ukraine investigating the Bidens. Specifically, it offered no information.

Other than that, Fox News has so far done its best to present Bill Taylor’s testimony as un-explosive.

As the rest of the media has marveled at Bill Taylor’s statement that Trump “cared more about investigations of Biden” than Ukraine policy, and that a Taylor staffer overheard a Trump phone call where the president asked about “the investigations”, much of Fox News’ coverage has adopted a “nothing to see here” approach.

Across television news coverage, CNN, ABC and MSNBC have repeatedly changed their chyrons to represent the latest revelations from Taylor and George Kent’s testimony, Fox News has kept its own on-screen text staunchly neutral: “TAYLOR AND KENT TESTIFY IN FIRST IMPEACHMENT HEARING.” It was also the only channel to cut to an adbreak as Adam Schiff began questioning the two officials.

Ari Fleischer, a former press secretary for George W Bush, criticized the questioning of the lawyer speaking for the Republican members of the House intelligence committee.

Updated

Republicans resurrect baseless conspiracy theory about Ukraine

Republicans on the House intelligence committee appear to be using their questioning time to add credibility to the baseless conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election. (The US intelligence community has thoroughly confirmed that Russia interfered in the election.)

But it is worth noting that Republicans have not yet sought to counter Bill Taylor and George Kent’s testimony outlining a months-long campaign by Trump’s allies to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

Trump ally: 'Everybody has their impression of what truth is'

Representative Mark Meadows, one of Trump’s closest congressional allies, spoke to reporters during the recess of the first public impeachment hearing.

Asked about Bill Taylor’s testimony that one of his staffers overheard Trump asking about “investigations” in Ukraine, Meadows said, “Everybody has their impression of what truth is.”

It looks like the White House and its allies may be resuscitating “alternative facts” to push back against the impeachment inquiry.

Hearing resumes with Republican questioning

The first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry has resumed, and the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, Devin Nunes, has started his questioning.

But “questioning” is a pretty loose term here because Nunes is currently using his time to accuse Democrats of misrepresenting Trump’s communications with Ukraine without posing questions to Bill Taylor or George Kent.

During her morning caucus meeting, House speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Democrats need a “common narrative” as they continue with public impeachment hearings.

Pelosi once again emphasized the message around the hearings should be that no president, including Trump, is “above the law.”

Trump slams impeachment hearing as Erdogan arrives

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has arrived at the White House for his visit with Trump, and the pair will have a joint press conference at 3.10pm ET.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan to the White House.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan to the White House. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

When asked by pool reporters about the public impeachment hearing, Trump said, “It’s a witch hunt, it’s a hoax. I’m too busy to watch it. I have not been briefed.” He added, “They’re using lawyers that are television lawyers.”

Updated

One of the biggest new lines to come out today’s impeachment hearing so far comes from Bill Taylor’s testimony that US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, told one of Taylor’s aides in July that Trump cared more about “investigations of Biden” than US policies towards Ukraine.

Here’s the moment in Taylor’s testimony:

And here’s how some political commentators have responded:

Hearing pauses for five-minute recess

The first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry has paused for a five-minute recess. When the hearing resumes, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee and the minority’s lawyer will get the chance to question Bill Taylor and George Kent.

The Republican National Committee is already criticizing the testimony of Bill Taylor, emphasizing the diplomat was told secondhand that Ukraine’s military assistance was held up to demand public announcements of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

However, that argument may not last long considering one of the people who told Taylor this, Gordon Sondland, will testify publicly next week.

Bill Taylor’s testimony that his staffer overheard a phone call between Trump and the US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, in which the president asked about “investigations” in Ukraine casts great doubt on Sondland’s testimony to the House intelligence committee.

Trump slams impeachment inquiry as 'scam' amid hearing

The White House Twitter account just shared a video of Trump slamming the impeachment inquiry as the “single greatest scam in the history of American politics.”

“We’re fighting to drain the swamp, and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Trump said in the video as longtime diplomats simultaneously testified to efforts by the president’s allies to have Ukraine launch an investigation of Joe Biden.

Trump’s press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, similarly sent a tweet calling the public hearing with Bill Taylor and George Kent a “sham” and a “colossal waste of taxpayer time & money.”

Bill Taylor told impeachment investigators that he was particularly alarmed by White House efforts to leverage Ukraine’s military assistance as Trump’s allies sought investigations into Joe Biden and his son.

As Bill Taylor and George Kent publicly testify, House Democrats just announced two more planned closed-door interviews in the impeachment inquiry with David Holmes, an aide to Taylor, and Mark Sandry, an official at the White House office of management and budget who previously refused to testify.

Holmes may well be the aide who overheard Gordon Sondland’s conversation with Trump, in which the president asked the US ambassador to the EU about the “investigations” in Ukraine.

Updated

The White House claimed Trump is not watching the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry. However, the president just retweeted 10 messages from Republican accounts pushing back against the inquiry, including this one with a clip from the hearing.

Key witness heard Trump cared 'more about investigations of Biden'

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, opened his questioning of Bill Taylor by following up on the diplomat’s new testimony that his staffer overheard Trump asking about “investigations” in Ukraine.

Taylor confirmed his staffer told him that Trump was speaking loudly on the phone to Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU. The staffer overheard Trump ask about “investigations,” which Taylor understood to mean Ukrainian investigations into the 2016 election and Joe Biden.

According to Taylor, Sondland then told the staffer that Trump cared more about an investigation into Biden than other US-Ukrainian policies.

Updated

Here is Bill Taylor’s full account of his staffer overhearing Trump asking about “investigations” in Ukraine, which the longtime diplomat just shared with the House intelligence committee:

“Last Friday, a member of my staff told me of events that occurred on July 26. While Ambassador Volker and I visited the front, this member of my staff accompanied Ambassador Sondland. Ambassador Sondland met with [a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mr. Yermak]. Following that meeting, in the presence of my staff at a restaurant, Ambassador Sondland called President Trump and told him of his meetings in Kyiv.

“The member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone, asking Ambassador Sondland about ‘the investigations.’ Ambassador Sondland told President Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.

“Following the call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani was pressing for.

“At the time I gave my deposition on October 22, I was not aware of this information. I am including it here for completeness. As the Committee knows, I reported this information through counsel to the State Department’s Legal Adviser, as well as to counsel for both the Majority and the Minority on the Committee. It is my understanding that the Committee is following up on this matter.”

Taylor says he was told 'everything' was tied to Ukraine's announcement of investigations

Echoing his closed-door testimony, Bill Taylor said in his opening statement that he was told “everything” Ukraine sought, including a White House visit and the frozen military aid, was tied to a public announcement of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

The acting US ambassador to Ukraine said of a conversation he had in early September, “Ambassador Sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling Ukrainian officials that only a White House meeting with President Zelenskyy was dependent on a public announcement of investigations—in fact, Ambassador Sondland said, ‘everything’ was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance.

“He said that President Trump wanted President Zelenskyy ‘in a public box’ by making a public statement about ordering such investigations.”

The opening statements from Democratic chair, Adam Schiff, and the senior Republican on the committee, Devin Nunes, reflected the broader messaging battle that has surrounded the impeachment proceedings since they were announced in late September, with Democrats accusing Trump of corruption and Republicans accusing Democrats of running an unfair process.

Schiff said the public impeachment hearings would explore whether Trump sought to exploit Ukraine’s vulnerability, condition White House acts on Ukraine’s willingness to help his reelection, and “whether such an abuse of his power is compatible with the presidency.”

“The matter is as simple and as terrible as that,” Schiff said. “Our answer to these questions will affect not only the future of this presidency but the future of the presidency itself.

“Is this what Americans should now expect from their president? If this is not impeachable conduct, what is?”

In response, Nunes declared the proceedings “a carefully orchestrated media smear campaign” and a “horrifically one-sided process.”

“It’s nothing more than an impeachment process in search of a crime,” he said.

Three Republicans interrupted the proceedings just as the witnesses, Bill Taylor and George Kent, began testifying with demands that the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint launched the impeachment inquiry be called to testify. Schiff rebuffed the demands, but there are likely to be more later.

The White House claimed Trump is not tuning in to the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry, even though his public schedule is clear until noon.

“He’s in the Oval in meetings. Not watching. He’s working,” said White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

However, Trump just retweeted a White House video with the caption, “New hoax. Same swamp.”

More new information from Bill Taylor: the acting US ambassador to Ukraine said a number of senior administration officials, including CIA director Gina Haspel, tried to convince Trump to lift the freeze on Ukraine’s military aid.

Taylor says staffer overheard Trump asking about investigations

According to Bill Taylor’s prepared remarks, one of his staffers overheard a phone call between Trump and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, in which the president asked about “the investigations.”

Taylor informed impeachment investigators Sondland told the staffer that Trump cared more about an investigation into Joe Biden and his son than other US-Ukrainian policies.

Taylor noted he was not aware of the conversation when he originally testified behind closed doors and was thus adding it to his opening statement now.

Taylor delivers opening statement

Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, is delivering his opening statement and similarly emphasizing his long career working for both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Taylor also recounted recent US-Ukrainian history and described the “encouraging, confusing and ultimately alarming circumstances” he encountered when he arrived in Kyiv.

It seems likely that Trump will be displeased with the testimony of the longtime diplomat and Vietnam War veteran, given the president’s preference for officials who look they came from “central casting.”

George Kent acknowledged that, in 2015, he raised concerns about the appearance of a conflict of interest in Hunter Biden’s work for the Ukrainian company Burisma.

However, the longtime diplomat pushed back against Republicans’ suggestion that there may have been corruption involved in Biden’s work with the company.

“In February 2015, I raised my concern that Hunter Biden’s status as board member could create the perception of a conflict of interest,” Kent said. “Let me be clear; however, I did not witness any efforts by any U.S. official to shield Burisma from scrutiny.”

Kent to say he was 'alarmed' by efforts to oust Yovanovitch

In his opening statement, George Kent emphasized his role as a “non-partisan career Foreign Service officer” and his family’s long history of public service.

“Today I appear before you once again, under subpoena, as a fact witness ready to answer all of your questions about the events and developments examined in this inquiry to the best of my ability and recollection subject to limits placed on me by the law and this process,” Kent said.

According to his prepared remarks, Kent will tell impeachment investigators that he was “alarmed” by efforts to oust former US ambassador to Ukraine Maria Yovanovitch and that the campaign for public announcements of Ukrainian investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election was “infecting US engagement with Ukraine”.

Updated

George Kent, who oversees the state department’s Ukraine policy and previously testified to Trump allies’ efforts to oust the former US ambassador to Ukraine, is now delivering his opening statement.

Before Kent began speaking, a few Republican members of the House intelligence committee pressed chairman Adam Schiff on calling the whistleblower whose complaint initiated the impeachment inquiry to testify.

Schiff replied that he would remain committed to protecting the whistleblower’s anonymity and turned things over to Kent.

Witnesses sworn in at impeachment hearing

Bill Taylor and George Kent have been sworn in and will soon deliver their opening statements before taking questions in the first public impeachment hearing.

But Republicans have already started to interrupt the proceedings by raising points of order about Adam Schiff’s decision to approve only some of the minority’s witness requests.

Nunes slams Democrats' 'scorched-earth campaign' against Trump

Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, is using his opening statement to slam his Democratic colleagues for allegedly running a “horrifically one-sided process.”

Nunes lambasted Democrats’ “scorched-earth war” against Trump and accused them of pursuing a “carefully orchestrated media smear campaign.”

Nunes also criticized Adam Schiff for denying Republicans’ request to interview Hunter Biden, even though the committee chairman did approve three of the minority’s witness requests. Schiff said Biden, as well as the whistleblower whose complaint initiated the impeachment inquiry, were outside the scope of the investigation.

Schiff used his opening statement to preemptively push back against Trump allies’ argument that there was no pressure campaign on Ukraine because the country’s military aid was eventually released.

“A scheme to condition official acts or taxpayer funding to obtain a personal political benefit does not become less odious because it is discovered before it is fully consummated,” Schiff said.

The committee chairman also noted the aid was so delayed that it will require another act of Congress to ensure its dispersal.

Schiff delivers opening statement

Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, is making his opening statement and using it to outline Democrats’ argument that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate a political rival as he held up the country’s military aid.

“The facts in the present inquiry are not seriously contested,” Schiff said. “Beginning in January of this year, the president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, pressed Ukrainian authorities to investigate Burisma, the country’s largest natural gas producer, and the Bidens, since Vice President Joe Biden was seen as a strong potential challenger to Trump.”

Schiff also criticized Trump for refusing to cooperate with the impeachment investigation. “These actions will force Congress to consider, as it did with President Nixon, whether Trump’s obstruction of the constitutional duties of Congress constitute additional grounds for impeachment,” Schiff said.

Hello from Room 1100 of the House Longworth building, where members of the House Intelligence committee are now seated for the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry against Donald J Trump.

The Republicans have decorated the ornate hearing room, one of the grandest in the Capitol, with three large placards that include an out-of-context quote by Democratic congressman Al Green, a longtime proponent of impeachment, a tweet by the anonymous Whistleblower’s lawyer and 93 – which the sign says is the number of days since chairman Adam Schiff learned the identity of the whistleblower who touched off this inquiry.

There are roughly 150 seats for the press and the public. Yours truly is squeezed to the left, with a clear view of the dais. A scrum of photographers encircled the desk where George Kent and Bill Taylor will testify, clicking with abandon.

A few lawmakers, mostly Trump’s allies, have wandered into the front row to sit in on the hearing, including Mark Meadows, Lee Zeldin and Louie Gohmert.

First public impeachment hearing begins

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, has gaveled in the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry.

Schiff and the committee’s ranking member, Devin Nunes, will make opening statements before allowing today’s witnesses, George Kent and Bill Taylor, to make their own statements.

Well, this should make for good television: George Conway, who is married to senior White House adivser Kellyanne Conway, will be on MSNBC commenting on the public impeachment hearing.

George Conway has previously been incredibly critical of Trump’s presidency and has called for his impeachment.

Republican and Democratic members of the House intelligence committee have already set up some of the exhibits they intend to use to make their arguments during this morning’s public hearing.

Republicans had posters printed out blaming Adam Schiff, the committee chairman, for not identifying the whistleblower whose complaint kicked off the Ukraine scandal. The GOP members also highlighted a 2017 tweet from one of the whistleblower’s lawyers predicting Trump’s impeachment.

Meanwhile, the Democrats appeared ready to highlight comments that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney made during a press conference last month. During that press conference, Mulvaney appeared to confirm the existence of a quid pro quo in connection to Ukraine’s frozen military aid, but he later walked back that admission.

Official confirms subpoenas issued to Taylor and Kent

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 ...

Taylor arrives for impeachment testimony

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.

Trump to meet with Turkish president

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.”

Carl Bernstein, one of the reporters who broke the Watergate scandal that led to the impeachment inquiry into President Richard Nixon and his 1974 resignation, has offered his assessment that America is in “the middle of a cold civil war” and the outcome of the impeachment hearings into Donald Trump will be judged in that context.

“Trump has demonstrated remarkable support, especially given the unprecedented nature of his words and actions and attitude as President,” Bernstein told CNN in an email. “The impeachment push by Dems -- given this dynamic of Cold Civil War could conceivably backfire” in the court of public opinion.

“No one knows what is going to happen in the coming weeks or months, except likely impeachment by the House, because of the Democratic majority… As for the results of a Senate trial or the remainder of Trump’s term or the 2020 election, anything is possible.”

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.

Updated

Public impeachment hearings set to begin this morning

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.

Television news crews set up ahead of the first public impeachment hearing.
Television news crews set up ahead of the first public impeachment hearing. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

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.

Updated

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