Republicans, Democrats prepare for public impeachment hearings

WASHINGTON — Republicans rallied around President Donald Trump on Tuesday as Democrats prepared for public impeachment hearings over claims he abused his office by requesting Ukraine investigate a political rival while his administration withheld military aid.

Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee will argue there was no pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, to act on Trump’s request for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

Democrats will open two days of public testimony this week, only the fourth time in history that the House has held impeachment hearings on a sitting president, a process that theoretically could lead to Trump’s removal from office.

“We intend to conduct these hearings with the seriousness and professionalism the public deserves,” Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said.

Three witnesses called to testify this week are diplomats and career civil servants whose earlier depositions corroborated a whistleblower’s claim that Trump attempted to coerce Zelensky to investigate the Bidens in exchange for military aid.

Ambassador Bill Taylor and Foreign Service officer George Kent will testify Wednesday.

Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch who was removed from that role by Trump appointees will testify on Friday.

Trump says its a ‘scam’

Trump seethed about the impeachment hearings on social media, railing against Democrats for being unfair and denying him due process.

“A total impeachment Scam by the Do Nothing Democrats!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Schiff, in a memo to colleagues, said the process will be fair to the president, committee members and witnesses.

“Above all, these hearings are intended to bring the facts to light for the American people,” Schiff said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., launched an impeachment inquiry following the disclosure of the whistleblower complaint and the White House release of a transcript of a July 25 telephone call between Trump and Zelenskiy where the U.S. president asked for a “favor.”

Part of that favor was an investigation by Ukraine into the Bidens, specifically Hunter Biden and his seat on the board of directors of the Burisma gas company, where he earned $50,000 per month while his father was vice president.

Republicans preparing for the hearing issued talking points to surrogates, emphasizing that the call transcript shows no conditions or evidence of pressure.

GOP lawmakers on the intelligence panel also will point out that both Trump and Zelenskiy have denied pressure was applied, and that the Ukrainian government knew about the hold on military aid before the telephone call.

That aid, roughly $400 million, was released in September without an investigation into the Bidens. Trump also met with Zelenskiy that month.

The Trump defense memo was issued by GOP staff to Republican lawmakers on three committees — Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs — who have taken part closed-door hearings.

Foreign interference feared

A unified GOP front comes as Democrats plan to offer testimony from more than a dozen current and former intelligence and State Department officials who were concerned about the president’s alleged attempt to get a foreign government involved U.S. domestic politics.

Witnesses were also concerned about the involvement of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who they said was pressuring the Ukrainians to launch a political investigation and running shadow U.S. policy in Ukraine — counter to that being carried out by career diplomats.

Republicans have attacked the Democratic hearing process but so far have offered a tepid defense of Trump in his dealings with Ukraine.

Several GOP lawmakers admit the telephone call and a request for a foreign investigation into a political rival was troublesome, but said even if found illegal it would not rise to an impeachable offense.

Democrats are alarmed at the testimony and the implicit request by the president for information that could constitute foreign intervention into a U.S. presidential election.

Titus favors impeachment now

After sitting through closed-door hearings, Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said there is enough evidence now to hold an impeachment vote against the president.

Titus, though, backs Democratic leaders in their strategy to lay out the evidence for the public and the Senate, which will ultimately have to hold a trial if the House votes to approve impeachment.

With public opinion polls showing the voters largely divided along partisan lines on impeachment, the burden is on Democrats to make their case that the Senate should remove the president from office.

Republicans hold the majority in the Senate.

The impeachment process Democrats have launched is the fourth in U.S. history. None have resulted in the removal of a president. Two presidents, Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, were acquitted by the Senate after the House approved articles of impeachment.

President Richard Nixon resigned before the House voted on articles approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.