WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new round of witness hearings begins next week in the US House of Representatives as part of an investigation that could lead to the trial and removal of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power.
The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday that it will hold its first hearing next Wednesday as part of the ongoing House of Representatives investigation, which is centered around accusing Trump of pressuring Ukraine with a military aid card to open an investigation against the son of Joe Biden, a potential Democratic presidential candidate next year. .
The hearings of a number of witnesses, including White House employees and diplomats, took place in the past two weeks on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which is dominated by Democrats.
The Judiciary Committee, chaired by Democratic Rep. Gerold Nadler, addressed Trump, inviting him and his lawyer to attend Wednesday's hearing, and gave him until December 1 to clarify his position on participation in the hearings.
A week ago, the US president said in a tweet on Twitter that he seriously intends to testify in Congress, and is likely to be a written testimony.
Under the established rules of procedure, the President's counsel may question any witnesses summoned for future hearings in the Judicial Committee of the Chamber of Deputies.
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff said yesterday in a letter that the file prepared by his committee after the last hearings will be sent to the judicial committee shortly after the return of Congress from the Thanksgiving holiday beginning next Tuesday.
Schiff said the evidence of the president's wrongdoing, collected so far, was clear and almost compelling.
In conjunction with the announcement of new hearings in the US House of Representatives, Federal Judge Kitangi Brown issued a decision saying that senior officials and former officials in the White House must comply with the summons issued by Congress as part of the investigation targeting Trump in the so-called "Ukraine Gate" scandal. .
But the judge stressed that these witnesses are free to make no statement when they come to Congress to testify. The Justice Department said it would appeal the decision.
If Trump is sacked in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, the issue will go to the Senate, where Republicans have a slight majority. Trump had previously ruled out the Senate backing his trial or removal.