First hearing of Trump impeachment

At the first public impeachment hearing against Donald Trump the
acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine said the President "cared more"
about his political rival Joe Biden than the welfare of Ukraine.

Bill Taylor also claimed withholding aid to America's ally Ukraine was "crazy".

President Trump faces the prospect of becoming only the third
president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of
Representatives, which would move proceedings to a vote in the Senate.

US correspondent Nick Harper reports.

IN: "For the first..."
OUT: SOC
DUR: 2 mins 15 seconds

ALL: http://fsnradionews.com/feeds/1113impeachment-nh-gen.mp3

TAKE VO
For the first time the impeachment inquiry entered the public arena,
with the hearing on Capitol Hill broadcast live.
House Intelligence Committee chair, Democrat Adam Schiff, said it was
a critical moment in the history of the United States.

SCHIFF - SOT - "Our answers to these questions will affect not only
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.

TAKE VO
For the past 7 weeks officials have testified behind closed doors.
Now they're returning to do it all again. But this time with the
American public watching.
Democrats hope this will help sway opinion, proving their claim that
when President Trump asked Ukraine's president for "a favor", he was
using his office for political and personal gain.
He wanted Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, at a
time when the US was withholding $400 million in aid to the country.
Acting ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor testified about that.

SOT - TAYLOR

TAKE VO
Taylor said Trump "cared more" about Biden than he did the welfare of Ukraine.
The second official to testify - top State Dept official on Ukraine,
George Kent - detailed how Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani
created a "highly irregular" diplomatic backchannel to push for a
Biden investigation.

SOT - KENT

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The top Republican at the hearing, Devin Nunes, led the charge to
defend the President.

SOT - NUNES

TAKE VO
President Trump though didn't tune in.

SOT - TRUMP - "I did not watch it, I'm too busy to watch it. It's a
witch hunt, it's a hoax. I'm too busy to watch it."

TAKE VO
But he did find time to tweet about - posting or retweeting at least
29 times before the hearings ended.
On Friday the ousted former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yavanovitch
gives her public testimony.
I'm NH in New York