The historic first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry into
President Trump is about to begin. The House Intelligence Committee is set to hold this first hearing Wednesday nearly two months after House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. EST, with the witnesses being William Taylor, the U.S. charge d'affaires in Ukraine, and Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State George Kent.The House is examining whether Trump improperly pressured
Ukraine into opening investigations that he thought might help him in the 2020 presidential
election, including involving former Vice President Joe Biden. One of Wednesday's witnesses, Taylor, previously testified that it was his "clear understanding" that Trump was conditioning the release of aid to Ukraine on the country committing to the investigations Trump sought.Witnesses have testified that Trump was specifically looking for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a public announcement that these investigations were being pursued, and Kent previously told
Congress that Trump "wanted nothing less than President Zelensky to go to microphone and say investigations, Biden, and Clinton."The impeachment hearing can be streamed at 10 a.m. on
YouTube via CBS, with coverage beginning an hour earlier.