Trump impeachment hearing kicks off

The US House has begun public hearings of Donald Trump’s impeachment investigation.

Kicking things off, Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, immediately outlines the question at the core of the impeachment inquiry — whether the president used his office to pressure Ukraine officials for personal political gain.

“The matter is as simple and as terrible as that,” Schiff said. “Our answer to these questions will affect not only the future of this presidency but the future of the presidency itself, and what kind of conduct or misconduct the American people may come to expect from their commander in chief.”

The hearing is the first chance for America, and the rest of the world, to see and hear for themselves about Trump’s actions toward Ukraine and consider whether they are, in fact, impeachable offenses.

California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, says Democrats’ impeachment inquiry is “a carefully orchestrated media smear campaign.”

— AP