FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., before their departure to Alabama and New York, November 9, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Reuters

Bill Taylor and George Kent, two of the most significant witnesses against President Donald Trump, testified in the first public impeachment hearings on Wednesday.

Taylor is Trump’s chief envoy in Ukraine, and Kent is the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

Both men gave vivid testimony that blew up Trump’s main talking points and detailed his efforts to strong-arm Ukraine into delivering political dirt while holding up military aid and a White House meeting.

Scroll down to read our coverage of the hearing.

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The House of Representatives launched public hearings Wednesday into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.

At the center of the impeachment inquiry are Trump’s communications with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his repeated efforts to pressure Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son for corruption ahead of the 2020 election.

Trump also asked Zelensky to investigate a bogus conspiracy theory suggesting it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 election and that it did so to benefit Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

The first two witnesses who testified this week were Bill Taylor and George Kent. Taylor is Trump’s chief envoy in Ukraine, and Kent is the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

You can watch the hearing below:

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Bill Taylor and George Kent’s vivid testimony in the first open impeachment hearing blew up Trump’s defense in the Ukraine scandal

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