As impeachment public hearings enter second week, witness testimonies will continue. Here are the nine witnesses for this week.
Tuesday: Jennifer Williams and Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman; Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison
Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, is the National Security Council’s Ukraine expert. He will testify alongside Jennifer Williams, a national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, Tuesday morning.
According to abcNews, “[the] two White House national security aides who expressed concerns about a July phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s leader…. [will be the] first current White House officials to testify publicly in the Democrats’ impeachment investigation.”
Later on Tuesday afternoon Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison will be testifying.
“Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine, and Morrison, the top Russia adviser on the White House National Security Council, will take the stand on Tuesday afternoon”, The Hill noted.
As far as Tim Morrison is concerned, Washington Post noted that “Morrison was the top Russia staffer on the White House’s National Security Council until he resigned on the eve of his private testimony last month.” The Washington Post takes a look at why his testimony matters, arguing that:
“he could help confirm that people in Trump’s orbit were orchestrating a quid pro quo for Ukraine at President Trump’s specific request. Morrison listened to the July call between Trump and Ukraine’s president, and he says he heard directly from U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland that Sondland told Ukrainians about how to get their military assistance.”
Wednesday: Gordon Sondland; Laura Cooper and David Hale
According to The Hill, “the most-anticipated testimony will come in the morning from the ambassador to the European Union, who has a lot of explaining to do. Sondland this month had to revise his previous closed-door testimony to say that he “presumed” that held-up military aid was conditioned upon the Ukrainian government announcing the investigations pursued by TrumpLater on Wednesday, Laura Cooper and David Hale will be testifying.
According to Newsy, Cooper is responsible for overseeing U.S. military assistance to Ukraine. She’s scheduled to appear despite the Defense Department telling Congress it would not comply with a House subpoena to provide documents related to the freezing of U.S. security aid to Ukraine.
As for Ambassador David Hale, “the undersecretary of state for political affairs, testified before Congress in the ongoing impeachment inquiry on Nov. 6.” CNN reported that “the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry have released the transcript of the closed-door deposition of State Department official David Hale”. Here is a copy.
Thursday: Fiona Hill and David Holmes
According to The Hill, Fiona Hill who is “former National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia is expected to provide insight into then-National Security Advisor John Bolton’s actions as Giuliani pushed for the Ukrainian government to open investigations into the Bidens and the 2016 election.
Regarding David Holmes, an embassy staffer in Kyiv, Ukraine, The Hill recalled that he “testified behind closed doors late last week that he overheard Sondland telling Trump over the phone at a restaurant that Zelensky “loves your ass.””
The Hill has a live coverage of the hearings.
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