• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
No Result
View All Result
1
Home World

Key witnesses appear at third public Trump impeachment hearing

19 November 2019, 4:59 PM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Testifying alongside Vindman in a morning session is Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence.

Testifying alongside Vindman in a morning session is Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence.

Image: Reuters

Testifying alongside Vindman in a morning session is Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence.

Four more witnesses were set to appear on Tuesday in the third public hearing of the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump including two, Alexander Vindman and Kurt Volker, who previously have offered contrasting testimony behind closed doors.

Vindman, an Army lieutenant colonel and the White House National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert and Volker, the former United States (US) special envoy to Ukraine, are scheduled to testify before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in the impeachment probe focusing on Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

Testifying alongside Vindman in a morning session is Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence. Testifying alongside Volker in an afternoon session is former National Security Council Russia expert Tim Morrison.

The inquiry focuses on a July 25 phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to carry out two investigations that would benefit him politically including one targeting Democratic political rival Joe Biden. The other involved a debunked conspiracy theory embraced by some Trump allies that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 US election.

In her prepared statement to the committee, Williams said Trump’s July 25 call was “unusual” because it “it involved discussion of what appeared to be a domestic political matter.” Williams said the White House Budget office had said Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, had directed that $391 million in security aid to Ukraine be put on hold and that she never learned why the assistance was later released in September.

Williams, who was attacked by Trump on Twitter just days before her public appearance, also told lawmakers that she was committed to serving America’s interests, adding “it was with great pride and conviction that I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.”

Williams was among the U.S. officials who monitored the Trump-Zelenskiy call. She previously testified behind closed doors this month that some of Trump’s comments were “inappropriate.”

Trump assailed her on Twitter on Sunday as a “Never Trumper” who should “work out a better presidential attack.” He has used the term “Never Trumper” to describe Republicans who oppose him. Trump has called them “human scum.”

Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, won praise from Republicans after he testified privately last month but can expect a cooler reception from Democrats during Tuesday’s hearing.

Volker told lawmakers in October he did not know of any effort by Trump to press Ukraine to investigate Biden, a leading Democratic contender opposing Trump’s bid for re-election next year, and Biden’s son Hunter, who had served on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm called Burisma.

“Vice President Biden was never a topic of discussion,” Volker said in his October 3 closed-door testimony.

‘THREE AMIGOS’

But other witnesses have identified Volker as one of the “Three Amigos,” along with Energy Secretary Rick Perry and US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, who were tasked by Trump to obtain Zelenskiy’s commitment to probing the Bidens. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani also was a central figure in trying to get Ukraine to carry out those investigations.

Among those whose previous testimony was at odds with Volker’s deposition was Vindman.

Vindman and Volker have clashed, for example, over what occurred at a July 10 White House meeting. Volker testified that US and Ukrainian officials in the meeting did not discuss any investigations. Vindman said Sondland raised the need for Ukraine to open “specific investigations” if Zelenskiy wanted to have a coveted meeting with Trump.

At a follow-up meeting that both also attended, Vindman said: “Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens and Burisma.”

A congressional official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Volker’s statements were “definitely being closely reviewed” by Democrats.

Volker and Morrison are the first two witnesses sought by Republicans to testify in the televised public hearings.

Ahead of his request that Zelenskiy carry out the two investigations, Trump had frozen $391 million in US security aid approved by Congress to help Ukraine combat Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.

Democrats have accused Trump of using the frozen aid and Zelenskiy’s desire for an Oval Office meeting as leverage to pressure a vulnerable US ally to dig up dirt on political adversaries. Trump is seeking re-election next year.

Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and raged on Twitter against what he calls “a witch hunt” and a “hoax.” He said on Monday he might testify before the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the inquiry. Democrats responded with skepticism.

The investigation could lead the House to approve formal charges against Trump, known as articles of impeachment, that would be sent to the Republican-controlled Senate for a trial on whether to remove him from office. Few Republican senators have broken with Trump.

Only two US presidents, Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, have been impeached, but neither was removed from office. President Richard Nixon faced impeachment and resigned in 1974 over the Watergate scandal.

Share article
Tags: House of RepresentativesPresident Donald Trumpimpeachment inquiryAlexander Vindman
Previous Post

Mosimane praises Wits’ Confed Cup qualification

Next Post

Mcebisi Jonas never attended Hawks consultation: Matakata

Related Posts

Palestinians throw objects next to an Israeli military vehicle during a raid near Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank

Israeli military hits Gaza Strip as protests continue

22 September 2023, 6:48 PM
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2023.

China committed to opening itself wider to the world: vice president

22 September 2023, 11:30 AM

President Ramaphosa wraps up US visit

21 September 2023, 7:30 PM
A banner with the image of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple, site of his June 2023 killing, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, September 20, 2023.

Canada gathers allies as tensions rise with India over Sikh leader’s murder

21 September 2023, 10:27 AM
President Cyril Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa urges developed nations to support financial system reform

20 September 2023, 9:52 PM
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, September 19, 2023.

Poor nations have ‘every right to be angry’ about climate crisis: UN chief

20 September 2023, 9:30 PM
Next Post
Former Deputy Minister of Finance, Mcebisi Jonas

Mcebisi Jonas never attended Hawks consultation: Matakata

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • High waves and rough water conditions force beach closures in the Western Cape
  • UPDATE: Public warned not to go to W Cape beaches as another spring tide expected
  • Spring high tide leaves trail of destruction along Garden Route
  • ‘Buthelezi was a good man who did a bad man’s job’
  • A Celebration of a Legacy: Amabutho, IFP pay final tribute to Prince Buthelezi
  • High waves and rough water conditions force beach closures in the Western Cape
  • Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to rest in the town he built and nurtured
  • NSPCA files criminal case against Julius Malema for alleged animal cruelty
  • Snow, heavy rainfall expected in parts of KZN: SAWS
  • Cold-front sweeps across SA bringing snow and chilly temperatures
  • Concern over exclusion of foreign nationals from Road Accident Fund
  • Cashless taxi service launched in Cape Town
  • Mbeki expresses confidence in resolving current electricity challenges in SA
  • Legal professionals raise concerns over proposed amendments to RAF 
  • Limpopo multi-million rand water treatment, sewage project abandoned

LATEST

South Africa's Faf de Klerk in action with Romania's Adrian Motoc.
  • Sport

Ireland unfazed by Springboks ‘7-1 bench split’


Palestinians throw objects next to an Israeli military vehicle during a raid near Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
  • World

Israeli military hits Gaza Strip as protests continue


The high tide left a trail of distraction in some Western Cape coastal towns like George.
  • South Africa

George Municipality urges public to heed weekend weather warnings


FILE PHOTO: A Somali police officer looks from the broken windows of the Pearl Beach Restaurant following an attack by Al Shabaab militants
  • Africa

Somalia asks UN to delay peacekeeper drawdown after ‘significant setbacks’


  • South Africa

UFS investigates alleged racism incident on Campus


Eskom Megawatt Park offices in Sunninghill, north of Johannesburg.
  • South Africa

Load shedding suspended for the long weekend: Eskom


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2023

Previous Mosimane praises Wits’ Confed Cup qualification
Next Mcebisi Jonas never attended Hawks consultation: Matakata