Nov. 13 (UPI) — The House Intelligence Committee announced a series of public impeachment inquiry hearings to be held next week, including senior State Department, Nation Security and Pentagon officials.
Eight witnesses are scheduled to testify between Nov. 19-21 concerning Trump’s alleged threat to pull military aid promised to Ukraine unless it investigates Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff announced via Twitter on Tuesday.
Intelligence Committee Democrats announced that on Nov. 19, four people are scheduled to testify. In the morning, the committee will hear from Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, director for European Affairs at the National Security Council. In the afternoon, Kurt Volker, a former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, a White House aide at the National Security Council, are scheduled to testify.
On the morning of Nov. 20, the committee will hear from Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union. Then that afternoon, Democrats have scheduled Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs; and David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs.
Then on Thursday, Nov. 21, Fiona Hill, former National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia, will give the day’s sole testimony.
Volker, Morrison and Hale had also been requested by the committee’s Republican minority.
In a statement, Democrats on the Intelligence Committee said that they had accepted all of the Republicans’ requests that were “within the scope of the impeachment inquiry.”
“Additional details will be released in the coming days,” they said.
All of the witnesses have testified behind closed doors.
The public phase of the impeachment inquiry is to begin Wednesday when U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent are scheduled to speak before the House Intelligence Committee.
Last week, Schiff, D-Calif., told reporters that the hearings will allow the public to come to their own opinions over Trump’s conduct.
“Those open hearings will be an opportunity for the American people to evaluate the witnesses for themselves, to make their own determinations about the credibility of the witnesses, but also to learn first-hand about the facts of the president’s misconduct,” he said.
