The moment was awaited by the Americans and relayed by all the news channels. The first public hearings in the framework of the investigation prior to a possible procedure for the dismissal of Donald Trump began at
Washington Wednesday, November 13th.
Combining and claiming his innocence, the billionaire has sworn to wash the "affront" of this investigation to the polls by winning a second term in the presidential election of November 2020.
A veteran soldier, gray-haired and severely facialed, William Taylor was chosen by the Democrats to open the ball of televised auditions alongside another career diplomat, George Kent, senior official of the State Department's specialist Ukraine wearing her traditional bowtie.
Democrats suspect the Republican billionaire has abused his presidential powers by asking Kiev to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, well placed to face it in the upcoming presidential election.
With their majority in the House of Representatives, they opened at the end of September an investigation to constitute an impeachment file, in English. After six weeks of hearings in the discretion of the closed session, they hope to have a decisive impact on the public opinion with the public hearings.
During his testimony broadcast live on major US news channels, the de facto US ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, reported that Donald Trump was "more interested" in opening an investigation into Joe Biden's Ukraine only to the situation in this country.
Under oath, he surprised by stating that he had learned in recent days that the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, made this statement on July 26, just after talking with President Trump.
Donald Trump "too busy" to watch
Taylor and Kent were careful to point out that they had no political bias, having served under both Republican and Democrat presidents. But, sign of the deep division tearing the country around this exceptional procedure, the Republicans have tried to question their credibility.
Denouncing a "witch hunt", Donald Trump said he was "too busy" to watch the congressional hearings as he received his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Before him, only three US presidents were targeted by impeachment proceedings. None have been removed from office.
This procedure is a "campaign of slander", insurgent the number two republican of the commission of the Intelligence, in charge of investigations, Devin Nunes. He accused the Democrats of wanting to "cancel" Donald Trump's surprise victory in 2016.
"Contaminated" diplomatic relations
Wednesday's two witnesses had already delivered their in-camera versions to parliamentarians in October.
During his public address, WilliamTaylor claimed that an "irregular" diplomatic channel had been set up with Ukraine to pursue interests "contrary to the long-term objectives of US policy". This parallel diplomatic channel was led by Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, he added.
"In mid-August, it became clear to me that Giuliani's efforts to concoct political investigations now contaminated the relations between Kiev and Washington," said Kent.
William Taylor also said he was "crazy" that military aid destined for Ukraine might have been frozen "in exchange" for investigating Donald Trump's rivals.
In an article published by the Wall Street Journal, Rudy Giuliani ruled that the "behavior of Biden deserved to be closely examined".
A dozen other hearings are planned by November 20 at the Congress. With this rapid tempo, the opposition reports that it does not want to waste time in view of a possible vote on the "impeachment" of the American president in the House.
Given the Republican majority in the Senate, it is unlikely that Donald Trump is then dismissed, because the upper house, which would be responsible for judging, would have the last word.
With AFP