WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who leads the investigation of President Donald Trump's impeachment, said on Sunday he did not rule out further testimony or public hearings in the investigation.
He also said his team would continue the investigation, as his report was prepared after two weeks of plenary sessions and testimony from current and former officials.
The Democrat-led council is investigating whether Trump has used his powers to press his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelinsky to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, as well as an unfounded theory that Ukraine, not Russia, intervened in the 2016 US presidential election.
"We do not rule out the possibility of further testimony and further hearings. We are in the process of getting more documents all the time to complete the investigation," Schiff told CNN.
"What we are not going to do is wait months and months while the administration is exhausting us in an effort to slow down. We are not prepared to go down this path."
The Trump administration has refused to provide Democrats' request for an investigation and has prevented witnesses, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvani, from testifying. Other witnesses violated White House directives and testified after being called.
Attacks against witnesses
Investigations into the charges surrounding Trump have caused an embarrassing and unprecedented impasse. Diplomats and national security officials must continue their work after being attacked by Trump.
The White House expert on Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Fendman, was attacked online by the same employer, while the president's allies doubted in a hostile manner that the acting ambassador to Kiev, Bill Taylor, could be trusted live.
After all, these two key witnesses in the investigation linked to the removal of Trump and others returned to work.
In turn, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sundland returned to Brussels hours after saying that Trump ordered the postponement of a summit with the Ukrainian president to pressure him to announce the investigation.
The diplomats who were attacked received the silent solidarity of their foreign colleagues. Many shared on their media pages the testimony of the ambassador in Ukraine, Mary Jovanovich, who Trump sacked and described in a conversation with Zelinsky as "bad news."
At the end of her testimony, Jovanovic received warm applause from those attending the public hearing.