WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings over his pressure on Ukraine to investigate rival Joe Biden enter a crucial phase next week when a committee in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives holds its first public hearing on the issue.
In a risky move ahead of the presidential election year, Democrats said on Wednesday the House Intelligence Committee would begin its meetings with three US diplomats who had expressed concerns about Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
William Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state, and former US ambassador to Ukraine, Mary Jovanovich, will testify publicly.
Democratic Commission Chairman Adam Schiff said they would testify on November 13 and 15. "More is coming," he wrote on Twitter.
Others, including diplomats, have already testified before lawmakers from both parties, but behind closed doors.
The three diplomats sounded the alarm that the release of US security assistance to Ukraine would be conditional on Kiev's announcement that it would conduct an investigation demanded by Trump, a Republican.
Public hearings, in which US officials testify in Congress, may overwhelm Trump's irregularities on other issues such as the economy and immigration as voters turn their sights toward the November 2020 elections.
That could hurt Trump, but some supporters say the quest for accountability may actually boost his chances of winning a second term by showing him at odds with political opponents in Washington.
The investigation focuses on a July 25 phone call in which Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelinsky to open an investigation into former US Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Joe Biden is one of the main contenders for the Democratic nomination for the presidency against Trump in November 2020.
Hunter Biden was a member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian energy company Borisma, which was investigated in a corruption case.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, calling his conversation with the Ukrainian president "exemplary" and accusing Democrats of unfairly targeting him to win the election.
The minister rejects the president's request
US President Donald Trump has asked Justice Secretary William Barr to hold a press conference confirming that Trump's controversial telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart was not illegal, the Washington Post reported, citing an informed source. .
The commissions of inquiry with the US president for trial by parliament have published the text of the testimony of William Taylor, Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Ukraine.
In his testimony, Taylor said he had learned from US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sundland that Trump had told him he would not allow the planned aid to be delivered to Ukraine unless it began an investigation with Joe Biden's son.
Taylor said he believed US aid to Ukraine had been cut off for political reasons.