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***LIVE UPDATES*** William Taylor, George Kent Testify in First Public Impeachment Hearing

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The House Intelligence Committee is holding its inaugural public hearing of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Congressional investigators will hear testimony from Acting Ambassador William Taylor, Chargé d’affairs at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, and George Kent, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the European and Eurasian Bureau at the State Department.

**Follow live updates on this event from Breitbart News. All times in eastern.**

12:22 P.M. — Eric Trump mocks the impeachment hearings as a “clown show”  that is “horribly boring.”

12:20 P.M. — KENT: “I am not aware of any Ukrainian connection to [CrowdStrike].”

12:18 P.M. — Taylor’s aide who was present during Sondland’s phone call with President Trump is David Holmes, who is slated to testify behind closed-doors on Friday, reports CBS News.

12:15 P.M. — Posted without comment: 

12:13 P.M. —  Important point from Rep. Mark Meadows: 

12:11 P.M. — Goldman asks Taylor about Bolton’s “drug deal” remark concerning Sondland and Mulvaney.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what Ambassador Bolton had in mind,” Taylor replies.
12:05 P.M. — 

12:02 P.M. — 

12:01 P.M. — White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham blasts today’s hearings, tweeting: “This sham hearing is not only boring, it is a colossal waste of taxpayer time & money.” 

11:58 A.M — Taylor to Schiff: “I got several questions from Ukrainians asking about the security assistance. It was very important to Ukraine. They had begun to hear from Ambassador Sondland that the security assistance was not going to come until the investigations were pursued.”

11:57 A.M. —

11:53 A.M. —

11:50 A.M. — House intel committee schedules two new depositions on Friday and Saturday: David Holmes and Mark Sandy, reports CNN. Holmes is an aide to Taylor.

11:46 A.M. — Taylor is asked if he ever saw U.S. military assistance conditioned on political help:

GOLDMAN: “Have you ever seen another example of foreign aid conditioned on the personal or political interests of the president of the United States?”

TAYLOR: “No, Mr. Goldman, I’ve not.”

11:43 A.M. — 

11:42 A.M. — Rep. Andy Biggs blasts the impeachment hearing: 

11:38 A.M. — House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) weighs in on the impeachment hearing: 

11:38 A.M. —

11:35 A.M. — Schiff questions Taylor about new information on his aide who heard President Trump over the phone inquiring about the “investigations.”

SCHIFF: “You understood that to mean Burisma and the Bidens?”

TAYLOR: “That is correct.”

11:32 A.M. — 

11:28 A.M. — 

11:25 A.M. —

11:24 A.M. —

11:19 A.M. —

11:17 A.M. —

11:15 A.M. — Republican National Committee Rapid Response Director Steve Guest flags key points about Taylor’s testimony: 

Reminder: Chargé d’affaires for Ukraine, Bill Taylor, is not a fact witness to the Trump Ukraine call.

Taylor was not on the July 25th call and he did not read the transcript until it was publically released for the world to see.

Furthermore, Taylor doesn’t have relationships with any of the players involved. He has previously testified that he did not have direct communication with President Trump, Rudy Giuliani or Mick Mulvaney. [Pages 107-108]

Yet even worse for Democrats’, Taylor’s closed-door testimony has undermined their phony narrative.

Taylor testified that at the time of President Trump’s call with Ukraine, the Ukrainians were unaware of the hold on the U.S. aid. [Page 119]

Taylor also testified that combatting corruption in Ukraine is a “constant theme” of U.S. foreign policy. [Pages 86-88]

11:14 A.M. — Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) weighs in on Taylor’s testimony: 

11:11 A.M. — Important note from Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) regarding Taylor’s testimony:

11:08 A.M. —

11:04 A.M. — Taylor describes what he claimed were two channels of U.S. policymaking with Ukraine, stating “one regular and one irregular.”

11:02 A.M. —

10:59 A.M. — Trump 2020 campaign is raising funds during the impeachment inquiry. The probe has been a boon for his re-election bid.  

10:56 A.M. — Taylor says: “The security assistance we provide is crucial to Ukraine…it is clearly in OUR national interest to deter further Russian aggression.”

“I believe that withholding security assistance for help with a political campaign would be crazy,” he adds. 

10:54 A.M. —

10:53 A.M. — Republican National Committee Rapid Response Director Steve Guest flags key points about Kent’s testimony: 

Kent is not a first-hand witness and much of his testimony is based off of second-hand knowledge. [Page 206-207]

Kevin Bacon has fewer degrees of separation to the Trump Zelensky call than George Kent.

That being said, his closed-door testimony revealed far more devastating pushback on the Democrat narrative than anything else.

Kent testified that it is appropriate for the State Department to look at the level of corruption in a country when evaluating foreign aid. [Page 103]

(Reminder: The Trump administration sent Ukraine lethal aid.)

Kent also testified that Hunter Biden being on the board of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma while Joe Biden was VP was a conflict of interest. [Page 226-227]

And according to his testimony, when he raised corruption concerns with the Obama White House, he was rebuffed and was told “There was no further bandwidth to deal” with Hunter. [Page 226-227]

10:53 A.M. —

10:49 A.M. —

10:45 A.M. —Kent states that Ukraine is “on a path” to becoming a vital NATO partner. 

10:42 A.M. — More remarks from Kent on Ukraine: 

10:39 A.M. — Kent delivers his opening statement, stating: “For the past 5 years, we have focused our united efforts across the Atlantic to support Ukraine in its fight for the cause of freedom and the rebirth of a country free from Russian dominion and the warped legacy of Soviet institutions and post-Soviet behavior.”

Kent adds: “It was unexpected and most unfortunate…to watch some Americans, including those who allied themselves with corrupt Ukrainians in pursuit of private agendas, launch attacks on dedicated public servants. Those attacks undermined U.S. and Ukrainian national interests.”

10:35 A.M. — Schiff tells Jordan he does not know the name of the so-called “whistleblower.” Recall the so-called “whistleblower” contacted a House intel panel staffer prior to filing a complaint with the intelligence community inspector general. In early October, a panel official was forced to clarify Schiff’s Sept. 17th remarks in which he claimed: “[w]e have not spoken directly with the whistleblower.”

10:34 A.M. — Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) requests Schiff to allow for the so-called whistleblower to testify behind closed doors. 

10:29 A.M. — Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) asks Schiff when he will respond to the Republicans’ request to interview witnesses. 

10:29 A.M. — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a recent addition to the House intel panel, is seated next to Schiff. 

10:27 A.M. —  Nunes slams impeachment hearings as a “televised theatrical performance,” mockingly congratulates Taylor and Kent for passing the Democrats’ “star audition process.” He then calls the hearing a “low-rent Ukrainian sequel” to the Russia hoax. 

10:25 A.M. — Nunes says the name of DNC contractor Alexandra Chalupa was redacted from transcripts thus far.

10:23 A.M. — Nunes cites Schiff falling for a prank in which he expressed interest in nude photos of President Trump, saying: “We should forget about Democrats attempting to get nude Trump pics from Russian pranksters.”

10:21 A.M. — Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) calls the impeachment inquiry a continuation of the “spectacular implosion of their Russian hoax.”

10:19 A.M. — Schiff asks: “If this is not impeachable conduct, what is?”

10:18 A.M. — Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is far from a fan of Schiff’s opening statement:

10:17 A.M. — Schiff falsely claims: “The facts in the present inquiry are not seriously contested.”

10:11 A.M. — Schiff claims President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, led a smear campaign of U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch in a bid to help his plan to pressure Ukraine to aide the president’s re-election.

“Neither of these investigations were in the US national interest, and neither was part of the official preparatory material for the call. Both, however, were in Donald Trump’s personal interest,” says the California Democrat.

10:08 A.M. —

Ratcliffe interrupts Schiff’s opening statement to expose that there are no clear “rules of engagement.”

Read the exchange below:

SCHIFF: The committee will come to order. Good morning everyone. This is the first in a series of public hearings the committee will be holding as part of the House’s impeachment inquiry. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time there is a quorum present.Here’s how the committee will proceed for this hearing. I will make an opening statement, and then Ranking Member Nunes will have the opportunity to make a statement. Then we will get to witness statements and then to questions. For audience members, we welcome you, and we respect your interest in being here; in turn we ask for your respect as we proceed with today’s hearing.

RATCLIFFE: Mr. Chairman?

SCHIFF: It is the intention of the committee to proceed without disruptions.

RATCLIFFE: Mr. Chairman, bef–may I make a parliamentary in–inquiry?

SCHIFF: The gentleman will state the inquiry.

RATCLIFFE: Mr. Chairman, this is our first hearing under these new set of rules. House Resolution 660 gives you the discretion to allow yourself and the Ranking Member periods of extended questions of up to 45 minutes each before other members are allowed to ask questions. If possible we would like to know the rules of engagement before we get started. Have you made a decision yet as to how many 45 minute rounds you will allow yourself and the Ranking Member?

SCHIFF: I have not. As we informed the minority yesterday we will see how the first period goes and how much material we are able to get through. At that point the chair will announce the period. If there is a period of the second round, which may be up to 45 minutes or we will go straight to five-minute questions by members.

10:00 A.M. — Breitbart News senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak is out with the definitive op-ed on the case against impeaching President Donald Trump.

Key points below:

The President’s Phone Call with the Ukrainian President Was Legal, Necessary, and Also Praiseworthy

The Claim that the President Was Soliciting a Bribe Fails to Meet Any of the Elements of Bribery 

There Was No ‘Quid Pro Quo,’ But It There Were, It Would Have Been Perfectly Legal

The President Has Not Committed Abuse of Power, Which Is Not Sufficient Cause for Impeachment Anyway

Impeachment Should Involve the Actual Commission of a Crime, Not Disputes over Policy and Opinion

The Impeachment Effort is the Result of an Attempted Coup, and the Evidence Is Fruit of a Poisoned Tree

9:57 A.M. — As always, Schiff is basking in the establishment media spotlight ahead of today’s first public impeachment hearing.

9:45 A.M. — The New York Post’s Wednesday edition mocks the House Democrats’ impeachment probe, featuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) in clown outfits and features the all-caps headline: “GUILTY! NOW FOR THE TRIAL.”

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