The House is holding the first public hearings of the impeachment probe, with two key diplomatic officials testifying before the Intelligence Committee.
- Diplomat says aide heard Trump ask about "investigations" day after Ukraine call.
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Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, told the committee he recently learned a member of his staff overheard President Trump asking about "the investigations" the day after his July 25 call with the president of Ukraine.
Washington DC, Nov.13.– The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine revealed new information about the events at the center of the House impeachment inquiry as the first open hearings before the House Intelligence Committee got underway Wednesday.
Bill Taylor, the chargé d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Kiev, said in his opening statement that he recently learned about a conversation a member of his staff overheard between President Trump and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the E.U. The conversation supposedly took place on July 26, the day after the president's call with the Ukrainian president.
Taylor said the aide overheard the president ask Sondland about "the investigations." He also said Sondland told the aide that the president "cares more about the investigations of Biden" than U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
The staffer who overheard the conversation is David Holmes, a political officer in the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. Holmes is now expected to appear for a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill on Friday.
Taylor is appearing alongside George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs.
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Congressman John Ratcliffe used his five minutes of questioning to ask Taylor about Zelensky's repeated assertions that he felt no pressure from Mr. Trump to open investigations. Ratcliffe asked if Taylor had any reason to believe that Zelensky was lying. Taylor said there was no evidence that Zelensky was lying ...
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