Impeachment hearing: Diplomat says Trump felt 'wronged' by Ukraine and that they 'owed' him

WASHINGTON –The impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump moved into public view Wednesday as the House Intelligence Committee heard from two witnesses, Ambassador Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, deputy assistant secretary at the State Department.

Taylor revealed that one of his aides overheard a July 26 phone call between President Donald Trump and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in which they discussed investigations Trump wanted Ukraine to pursue.

Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that had been under investigation, as well as alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Taylor's aide asked Sondland after the phone call what Trump thought about Ukraine. Sondland said, "President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden," than U.S. policies on Ukraine, according to Taylor.

Taylor said Sondland had described Trump as a "businessman” in his dealings with Ukraine, in an indication that the president took a transactional view of the relationship.

“He used – he used that analogy very clearly to indicate that this would be – this would require something. If that person owed him something that before he signed the check, he wanted to get that – get whatever is owed paid back to them,” Taylor said.

When asked what Trump thought he was owed, Taylor replied, Trump “had a feeling of having been wronged by the Ukrainians. And so this was something that he thought they owed him to fix that wrong.”

During the hearing, Republicans sought to elicit the name of a whistleblower in the intelligence community, who raised concerns about Trump's July 25 call with Zelensky. Their efforts were rebuffed by Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.

GOP lawmakers argued Kent and Taylor had no firsthand knowledge of the president's motives in withholding security aid from Ukraine. They also suggested Trump's actions were driven by concerns about corruption in Ukraine.

Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, read a series of quotes from interviews that Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky gave after his July 25 phone call with Trump that mentioned no pressure from the U.S. president to pursue investigations.

“Where was the impeachable offense in that call?” Ratfcliffe said.

Trump: 'I know nothing about that'

President Donald Trump, speaking during a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, denied that he had a phone conversation with Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in which he allegedly asked the ambassador about whether Ukraine would proceed with "investigations."

"I know nothing about that," Trump said. "First time I've heard it...I don’t recall. Not at all. Not even a little bit."

Trump said he hadn't watched the impeaching inquiry hearing. "This is a sham, and shouldn’t be allowed."

Giuliani weighs in

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has been accused of running a shadow policy on Ukraine, said Taylor and Kent didn't have "any facts, only opinion."

"The testimony should be stricken from the record," Giuliani tweeted.

Schiff’s two star witnesses don’t have any facts, only opinion.



No first hand knowledge, only second, third.



The testimony should be stricken from the record.



Neither could identify a crime or wrongdoing, not even an opinion about that. This is falling apart on the 1st day. — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) November 13, 2019

What's next?

Marie Yovanovitch, a former ambassador to Ukraine, is scheduled to deliver public testimony on Friday.

Eight witnesses are scheduled to testify in public hearings next week. They are:

Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence who was on the July 25 Trump-Zelensky call

Alexander Vindman, National Security Council aide who listened to the July 25 call and told lawmakers behind closed doors that he notified superiors twice about his concerns about it

Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine who has told lawmakers Giuliani pushed ‘debunked’ claims about Biden and Ukraine

Tim Morrison, a National Security Council aide

Gordon Sondland, European Union Ambassador and a close Trump ally who other witnesses have described as playing a large role in the White House conversations about Ukraine

Laura Cooper, a Defense Department official

David Hale, State Department official who testified behind closed doors about the ouster of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch

Fiona Hill, former White House aide who testified on national security adviser John Bolton’s concerns about Trump’s Ukraine policy

Also, State Department official David Holmes is scheduled to deliver closed-door testimony to House investigators Friday.

A closed-door deposition was scheduled for Saturday for Mark Sandy, an official in the White House Office of Management and Budget who failed to show up for a deposition last week.

Giuliani was trying to 'dig up dirt,’ diplomats say

Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., questioned George Kent and Bill Taylor about the agenda of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giulani. She asked whose interests Giuliani was pursuing in his conversations with Ukrainian officials.

“I believe he was looking to dig up political dirt against a potential rival in the next election cycle,” replied Kent.

“I agree with Mr. Kent,” said Taylor.

Democrats reject call for whistleblower testimony

After George Kent and Bill Taylor concluded their testimony, the House Intelligence Committee voted down a motion calling the whistleblower to testify.

They voted along party lines, with 13 Democrats voting against the motion, and 9 Republicans voting for it.

Mike Conaway, R-Texas, had introduced a motion to force the whistleblower to testify – a goal among Republicans who want to hear directly from the still-unnamed official.

Democratic 2020 contenders weigh in

Democratic presidential candidates have been watching the hearings and weighing in on Twitter.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said Trump's actions amount to "extortion," tweeting an excerpt of Bill Taylor's opening testimony that revealed Ambassador Gordon Sondland told his aide that the president cared more about the investigation into the Bidens than Ukraine.

It's extortion. It's an impeachable offense. And it's been out in the open the whole time. pic.twitter.com/SbMeLAMsr1 — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 13, 2019

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Corey Booker, Amy Klobuchar as well as Tom Steyer and Julian Castro also chimed in.

"It's time to show Trump that no one is above the law – not even the president of the United States," Warren said.

The American people deserve to know the truth. And it's time to show Trump that no one is above the law—not even the president of the United States. — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 13, 2019

GOP: Testimony based on '2nd, 3rd and 4th-hand accounts'

Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee hammered the point that Bill Taylor and George Kent lack firsthand knowledge that President Donald Trump wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open investigations into his political rivals in exchange for releasing frozen U.S. military aid.

But the White House has blocked senior Trump officials who could have direct knowledge from testifying as part of their refusal to cooperate with the impeachment investigation. Mick Mulvaney, Trump's chief of staff, and former national security adviser John Bolton are among several senior officials who have declined to testify in the inquiry, citing White House orders.

Don't rely on second, third, and fourth-hand accounts. Read the transcript for yourself. https://t.co/wfHIQ0aO76 — The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 13, 2019

Republicans have pushed the message of "no firsthand knowledge" on Twitter, referring to Taylor and Kent as "star witnesses" who "never spoke" to the president.

"Don't rely on second, third, and fourth-hand accounts," a tweet from the White House on Wednesday read.

Jordan: 'Unfair' not to have whistleblower testify

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, complained that the committee wouldn’t hear testimony from the whistleblower who reported Trump’s July 25 call to the inspector general, sparking the House investigation into the Ukraine matter. Jordan said lawmakers and the American public will never get the chance to see the whistleblower raise his hand and swear to tell the truth, to gauge his credibility and motivation and bias.

“The American people see through all this,” Jordan said. They understand this is unfair.”

But Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said the committee would welcome testimony from the person who prompted the investigation.

“President Trump is welcome to come in and take a seat,” Welch said to laughter in the hearing room.

Witnesses say they are not “Never Trumpers”

Both Bill Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine, and State Department official George Kent rejected any suggestions that their testimony was driven by politics.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calf., asked Taylor and Kent about a tweet from President Donald Trump earlier in the day that dismissed both witnesses as "Never Trumpers."

“I am a career professional who serves whichever president is in office,” Kent said. “I’ve done that for 27 years.”

Responding to Swalwell's question about whether he was a "Never Trumper, Taylor responded: “No, sir.”

'Where was the impeachable offense?'

Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, read a series of quotes from interviews that Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky gave after his July 25 phone call with Trump that mentioned no pressure from the U.S. president to pursue investigations.

“Where was the impeachable offense in that call?” Ratfcliffe said.

Taylor said he had no dispute with what Zelensky said, but that there was some uncertainty about when Ukraine learned that military aid was being withheld.

“I have no reason to doubt what the president said,” Taylor said. “I’m not here to do anything to decide about impeachment.”

Ratcliffe said Democrats have made up their minds to impeach Trump, but that if they do, they will be calling Zelensky a liar.

“They have to call Zelensky a liar,” Ratcliffe said.

Ratcliffe argued that Zelensky's comments saying he didn't feel pressured by Trump showed that there was no quid pro quo.

Zelensky, while seated next to Trump during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September, told reporters that "nobody pushed me" to open the investigations requested by the U.S. president.

"It's not hearsay, it's not what someone overheard what Sondland said, that was his direct testimony," Ratcliffe said of Zelensky.

Ratcliffe emphasized that Zelensky did nothing and the military aid was still released, undercutting a central argument to the Democrats claim of a quid pro quo.

"He didn't open the investigations, he didn't call Attorney General Bill Barr," he continued. "He didn't do anything because he didn't have to."

Impeachment hearing: Sondland sends Taylor 'call me' text over Ukraine Ambassador William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, read off a text message he sent to both Gordon Sondland and Kurt Volker.

State Department aide says Burisma owner should be investigated

In response to Republican questioning, State Department aide George Kent said the Ukrainian oligarch owner of gas company Burisma should be investigated for paying a bribe to kill an investigation into the company.

“To summarize, we thought that Mykola Zlochevsky had stolen money,” Kent said of the head of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company at the center of the controversy. “We thought a prosecutor had taken a bribe to shut the case, those were our main concerns."

“Are you in favor of that matter being fully investigated and prosecuted?” asked Steve Castor, House Intelligence Committee Counsel for the minority.

“I think since U.S. taxpayer dollars were wasted, I would love to see the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office who the corrupt prosecutor was and who took the bribe, and how much was paid, and that’s what I told the deputy prosecutor general in February 2015,” Kent replied.

Republicans have claimed investigations into Zlochevsky were ended to benefit Hunter Biden, who was a member of the Burisma board.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked Bill Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine, about his understanding that security aid for Ukraine was withheld in a July 18 call and the aid was released Sept. 11. Taylor met three times with Zelensky during that period, on July 26, Aug. 27 and Sept. 5, where the linkage between aid and investigations never came up, Jordan said.

“Three meetings with the president of Ukraine and no linkage,” Jordan said. “Your clear understanding was wrong because it didn’t happen.”

Taylor said he didn’t listen to a July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and never met with Trump.

GOP lawmakers focus on debunked Ukraine meddling claim

Republicans on the House panel focused their questioning on a debunked claim that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election, pushing the argument that a desire to root out corruption drove President Donald Trump's actions.

Although Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have suggested Ukraine meddled in the election, the U.S. intelligence community has found no evidence of that. Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia was behind the 2016 election interference. His team indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers in 2018 on charges of hacking Democrats and using social media to try to sway the U.S. election.

New revelation: Diplomat says he was told Trump 'cares more' about Biden investigation than Ukraine

Fiona Hill and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, two top National Security Council officials who served under Trump, testified to House impeachment investigators behind closed doors earlier this month that they have not seen any evidence that the Ukrainian government interfered in the election.

Vindman told lawmakers there was "no factual basis" behind the claim while Hill said "it is a fiction that the Ukrainian government was launching an effort to upend our election."

Impeachment hearing: Rep. Nunes tells Ambassador Kent 'I'll skip you' Nunes told Kent he "didn't seem too concerned about" a former DNC staffer working with Ukrainian Embassy officials to dig up dirt on Trump's campaign.

GOP, Democratic lawmakers spar over scope of questioning

Rep. Devin Nunes of California began Republican questioning of the two diplomats by listing allegations about Ukraine interference in the 2016 election.

“Once you know that, it’s easy to understand the president’s desire to get the bottom of this,” Nunes said.

Lawmakers clashed briefly as Republican questioning began after a short break.

Lawmakers to watch: Key players in impeachment hearing

Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said he wouldn’t block a question, but warned witnesses that questions might include facts that are not yet in evidence.

Rep. John Ratfliffe, R-Texas, then said that he could have raised objections to the foundation of nearly every question that Democratic committee staffer Daniel Goldman asked.

“This hearing is going to change,” Ratcliffe said, if objections to questions are allowed.

Nunes asked about the rules of evidence.

Schiff repeated that he wouldn’t block a question, but he warned the witnesses that questions might contain facts that are not yet in evidence.

Diplomat: Trump sought to leverage aid, felt 'wronged' by Ukraine

Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, read his Sept. 1 text message out loud, asking Sondland whether security assistance for Ukraine was conditioned on investigations. Taylor said he had thought only a White House meeting depended on announcing investigations, but that the diplomat thought the requirement for security assistance to a country at war against Russia was more alarming.

“It’s one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It’s another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance,” Taylor said. “The White House meeting was one thing, the security assistance was much more alarming.”

Under questioning from Daniel Goldman, the attorney for the Democrats on the Intelligence Committee, Taylor explained that Trump felt “wronged” by the Ukrainians and felt they “owed” him to open investigations into Biden and the 2016 election.

“He had a feeling of having been wronged by the Ukrainians, this was something he felt they owed him to fix,” Taylor said, when asked if Trump felt the Ukrainians owed him something personally.

Trump spokeswoman calls impeachment hearing a 'sham' and 'boring'

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham denounced the impeachment inquiry hearing on Twitter, calling it a "sham," "boring" and a "colossal waste" of time and taxpayer money.

This sham hearing is not only boring, it is a colossal waste of taxpayer time & money. Congress should be working on passing USMCA, funding our govt & military, working on reduced drug pricing & so much more. @realDonaldTrump is working right now-the dems should follow his lead! — Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 13, 2019

CIA director sought release of Ukraine aid

Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, revealed that CIA Director Gina Haspel was among senior administration officials who tried to persuade Trump to lift the hold on Ukraine's military aid.

"My understanding was that the Secretaries of Defense and State, the CIA Director, and the National Security Advisor sought a joint meeting with the President to convince him to release the hold, but such a meeting was hard to schedule and the hold lasted well into September."

Taylor: Aide overheard Trump asking about investigations

A new revelation from Taylor's public testimony was that one of his aides overheard a July 26 phone call between Trump and the U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland, in which the president inquired about "the investigations."

He said his staffer asked Sondland what the president thought about Ukraine. Sondland said that "President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani was pressing for" than the other Ukraine policies.

Taylor said he was not privy to the conversation when he first testified in closed-door hearings with impeachment investigators on Oct. 22, which is why he added it to his statement now.

Here is how Republicans are responding to Taylor’s new testimony about his staffer overhearing a conversation with the president, where Trump asked about investigations in Ukraine. Here is Rep. Mark Meadows: pic.twitter.com/4yAbvh8toO — Christal Hayes (@Journo_Christal) November 13, 2019

Diplomat: Holding back aid for Ukraine was 'crazy'

Taylor delivered an opening statement that largely echoed his closed-door testimony. He said he arrived in Kyiv on July 17 and discovered two diplomatic tracks that provided “a weird combination of encouraging, confusing and ultimately alarming circumstances,” and that the channels of the official State Department and a back-channel guided by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani quickly began diverging.

Taylor learned after a May 23 White House meeting that Trump wasn’t eager to meet with Zelensky. On June 27, Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, told Taylor that Zelensky had to make clear to Trump he wasn’t standing in the way of “investigations.” By Sept. 8, Sondland told Taylor during a call that Zelensky had to announce investigations “in public,” but he said Sondland insisted there was no quid pro quo. On Sept. 9, Taylor told Sondland and special envoy Kurt Volker that he thought the policy was crazy. “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor said.

White House: Trump is not watching

While all eyes are on the opening day of the public phase of the impeachment inquiry, the one person its outcome effects the most is tuning out.

“He’s not watching - he’s working,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said of President Donald Trump.

Trump is in fact in the Oval Office, which is not outfitted with TVs. The president is due to welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Wednesday and will likely face questions from reporters about the testimony today.

Meanwhile, TVs are on throughout the West Wing, including in the offices of communication aides who figure to be responding to today’s events.

Stewards are setting up the Cabinet Room for a luncheon in connection with Erdogan’s visit.

Protesters huddle outside hearing room

Protesters wearing “arrest Trump” T-shirts, a drag queen and dozens of people anxious to witness history crowded outside the hearing room where the first public impeachment inquiry is underway.

“I feel like this is a turning point in our history,” Cathy Benjamin, a retiree who traveled with two friends from Long Island, New York, to watch the first hearing. “This is a moment that could change everything and it’s important that people don’t ignore what’s going on.”

Benjamin got in line about 9 a.m. and was still waiting an hour and half later. “We could watch this on TV, sure. But it’s history. Who doesn’t want to witness history?” she said as her two friends nodded.

Law enforcement officers made the rounds, making sure protesters weren’t blocking the halls or causing a disturbance. They stopped one woman, wearing a black “ARREST TRUMP” T-shirt, who walked up and down the long line of people waiting to enter the hearing. The woman repeatedly read aloud the portion of the Constitution that outlines how Congress can remove a president from office.

The large crowd huddled outside the hearing included members of the press from as far as Australia and Japan.

Kent: Giuliani part of smear campaign

Deputy assistant secretary of State George Kent, in the text his opening statement, described a shadow campaign in Ukraine that was part of Rudy Giulani’s influence “infecting” American policymaking in Ukraine.

According to Kent, Ukraine was pushed to pursue politically motivated investigations, though he acknowledged that “There are and always have been conditionality placed on our sovereign loan guarantees for Ukraine.”

Additionally, Kent said Giuliani, who is Trump's personal lawyer, had been part of an effort to “smear” U.S. officials as part of an effort working with Ukrainians who sought to peddle “false information in order to exact revenge against those who had exposed their misconduct, including U.S. diplomats, Ukrainian anti-corruption officials, and reform-minded civil society groups in Ukraine.”

Anticipating Republicans’ questions about the alleged conditioning of security assistance on the opening of investigations into Trump’s political enemies, he said, “As a general principle I do not believe the United States should ask other countries to engage in selective, politically associated investigations or prosecutions against opponents of those in power.”

Kent made several points in his opening statement of interest to both sides in the impeachment debate.

Kent said he raised concerns about Hunter Biden serving on the board of Burisma and reported it during a February 2015 call. But Kent said he didn’t witness any efforts to shield Burisma from scrutiny.

George Kent's opening statement: Read the full text of George Kent's opening statement in public impeachment hearing

Trump's Ukraine phone call: U.S. and Ukraine relationship, explained U.S. and Ukraine relations go further back than the now infamous phone call between Trump and Zelensky. We explain their relationship.

Schiff: 'future of the presidency' at stake

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., opened the hearing saying that lawmakers are looking for answers to whether Trump sought to exploit the vulnerability of Ukraine to a Russian invasion, by withholding a White House meeting or military aid from the newly elected Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in exchange for investigations into his political rival.

“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.”

Drawing attention to the gravity of the situation, Schiff added, “Our answer to these questions will affect not only the future of this presidency, but the future of the presidency itself, and what kind of conduct or misconduct the American people may come to expect from their Commander-in-Chief."

Schiff said there are still missing pieces to the investigation because the White House directed the State Department and other agencies not to cooperate with congressional subpoenas. Trump has suggested that aides who cooperate are traitors and spies, Schiff said. But the lack of cooperation could lead to an article of impeachment for obstruction of Congress, Schiff said.

“These actions will force Congress to consider, as it did with President Nixon, whether Trump’s obstruction of the constitutional duties of Congress constitute additional grounds for impeachment,” Schiff said. “If the president can simply refuse all oversight, particularly in the context of an impeachment proceeding, the balance of power between our two branches of government will be irrevocably altered. That is not what the Founders intended.”

Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, responded by attempting to paint Schiff as an unreliable leader of the Committee, saying Democrats have a “scorched earth campaign against President Trump,” and attacking the “corrupt media.”

Nunes said Democrats auditioned witnesses during closed-door depositions in the Capitol basement. He said the GOP has three primary questions for the hearings:

What is the full extent of Democratic coordination with the whistleblower?

What is the extent of Ukrainian meddling in Trump’s 2016 campaign?

Why did the Ukrainian energy company Burisma hire Hunter Biden, the son of the former Vice President Joe Biden?

“What we will witness today is a televised theatrical performance,” Nunes said. “This spectacle is doing great damage to our country.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., asked whether Schiff would block witnesses from asking questions from lawmakers.

Schiff replied that he only prohibited questions during closed-door depositions when lawmakers were asking questions about the anonymous whistleblower who complained to the inspector general for the intelligence community about Trump’s call July 25 with Zelensky.

“We will do everything necessary to protect the whistleblower’s identity,” Schiff said.

What Taylor, Kent said in closed-door testimony

In closed-door testimony, Taylor told members of Congress and staff that security aid and a White House meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be conditioned on investigations into Democrats.

Kent, the State Department official overseeing European and Eurasian policy, said he raised red flags within the department about the influence of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine policy-making and the ways in which Giuliani pushed a narrative about Ukraine and Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company where former vice president Joe Biden's son, Hunter, sat on the board.

Impeachment witnesses: Who are the 15 witnesses in the Trump impeachment inquiry and what have they said?

The transcript of his closed-door testimony discussed Giuliani's "campaign of slander" against former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who had been ousted by the Trump administration in May.

Kent also said he had raised concerns with a member of Joe Biden's staff about "the perception of a conflict of interest" with Hunter Biden's Burisma board seat, but he was told there was "no further bandwidth to deal with family-related issues at that time" since Joe Biden's other son Beau was dying of cancer at the time.

Based on the transcripts of the closed-door depositions, the public hearings are likely to be full of drama as House Republicans attempt to defend the president against what they see as a "partisan" and "illegitimate" process. The president has called the inquiry a "witch hunt."

In preparation for the hearings, Republicans moved Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a staunch ally of the president, to the House Intelligence Committee. Jordan has repeatedly denounced the inquiry and has been a vocal defender of the president in his role as the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee.

Republicans released their own list of proposed witnesses for public testimony on Saturday. Their roster included Hunter Biden and the whistleblower. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Democrats were "evaluating" Republicans' requests and would give "due consideration to witnesses within the scope of the impeachment inquiry."

The list indicates how Republicans might try to direct lines of questioning during the inquiry, as it includes witnesses related to theories about the Steele dossier and Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election. Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee asked about the Steele dossier during the committees' interview with U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, according to the transcript of his testimony.

The list of future public hearings has not yet been released, but on Friday, the Democrats plan to hold another public impeachment inquiry hearing with Yovanovitch.

The transcripts: Read all the transcripts from the closed-door testimony in the Trump impeachment inquiry

Contributing: Nicholas Wu, Courtney Subramanian and David Jackson, USA TODAY.