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3 Witnesses Kick Off First Week of Historic Impeachment Hearings

Masood Farivar

   CAPITOL HILL - The U.S. House of Representatives holds its first public
   hearings this week on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald
   Trump with testimony by three top diplomats on Wednesday and Friday.

   William Taylor, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and
   George Kent, a senior State Department official in charge of U.S.
   policy toward Ukraine, are set to testify on Wednesday, followed by
   Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, on
   Friday.

   All three diplomats have previously testified behind closed doors about
   Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice
   President Joe Biden, and probe a discredited conspiracy theory
   regarding the 2016 president election.

   Democrats say the open hearings will allow the public to assess the
   credibility of the witnesses and their testimonies. Republicans are
   likely to attempt to discredit the impeachment proceedings and poke
   holes in the witnesses' testimony.

   Here is what you need to know about the three witnesses and their role
   in the Ukraine affair.

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