Public hearings in US House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump got under way last week, marking a new phase in the probe.
The impeachment inquiry is centred on a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which the US president asked the Ukrainian leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is also a frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential race and his son, Hunter, who had served on the border of a Ukrainian gas company. The request came as Trump withheld nearly $400m in military aid to Ukraine, prompting speculation that the US president was using the money as leverage for the investigation.
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There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens. Trump maintains there was no quid pro quo (Latin for “favour for a favour”) and has labelled the impeachment inquiry a “witch-hunt”.
During the public hearings, lawyers for the committees involved in the investigation will conduct questioning for extended periods of time.
Here’s the schedule* for this week’s public hearings:
Tuesday, November 19
Morning
- Jennifer Williams, the special adviser to Vice President Mike Pence for Europe and Russia
- Alexander Vindman, a US Army officer assigned to the National Security Council. Read more about Vindman’s closed-door testimony here.
Afternoon
- Kurt Volker, a former US special envoy to Ukraine. Read more about Volker’s closed-door testimony here.
- Timothy Morrison, a White House aide with the National Security Council
Wednesday, November 20
Morning
- Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union. Read more about Sondland’s closed-door testimony here.
Afternoon
- Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defence for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasian affairs
- David Hale, undersecretary of state for political affairs at the State Department
Thursday, November 21
- Fiona Hill, former National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia
- David Holmes, State Department
Here’s who spoke last week:
Wednesday, November 13
- William Taylor, a US career diplomat who serves as the charge d’affaires in the US embassy in Ukraine.
- George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state for Eastern Europe
- Read about their public testimony here.

Friday, November 15
- Marie Yovanovitch, former US ambassador to Ukraine. Read more about Yovanovitch’s testimony here.
*Schedule will be updated as hearings are announced