U.S. House holds first public hearing in Trump impeachment inquiry

Charge d'Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine William Taylor (R) and deputy assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs George Kent swear before the U.S. House Committee on Intelligence during the impeachment hearings on President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. the United States, Nov. 13, 2019. The U.S. House Committee on Intelligence held the first public hearing Wednesday since House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump in September to determine whether he abused his office in his interactions with Ukraine. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House Committee on Intelligence held the first public hearing Wednesday since House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump in September to determine whether he abused his office in his interactions with Ukraine.

Appearing for the inaugural public hearing are William Taylor, Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Taylor and Kent both attended closed-door depositions with House lawmakers in October, during which they voiced concerns about the president's dealings with Kiev.

In his prepared opening statement, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and Trump's frequent target of attacks since the impeachment proceedings began, said impeachment investigators are seeking answers from witnesses whether Trump leveraged a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and millions of U.S. dollars in military aid to the country to pressure the Ukrainian leader to investigate Trump's political rivals.

"And if President Trump did either, whether such an abuse of his power is compatible with the office of the presidency?" Schiff said. "The matter is as simple, and as terrible as that."

Devin Nunes, ranking member of the Intelligence Committee and the top Republican on the panel, in his opening remarks slammed the Democrats' impeachment effort as an orchestrated smear campaign against Trump.

"We're supposed to take these people at face value when they trot out a new batch of allegations, but anyone familiar with the Democrat's scorched Earth war against President Trump would not be surprised to see all the typical signs that this is a carefully orchestrated media smear campaign," Nunes said.