The impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump will reach a critical juncture on Wednesday when lawmakers launch their first televised public hearings, marking a new, high-stakes phase of a tumultuous presidency.
Democrats leading the U.S. House of Representatives probe have summoned three U.S. diplomats – all of whom have previously expressed alarm in closed-door testimony about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine – to detail their concerns under the glare of wall-to-wall news coverage.
Trump’s fellow Republicans, who will also be able to question the witnesses, have crafted a defense strategy that will argue he did nothing wrong when he asked Ukraine’s new president to investigate Joe Biden, a former vice president and key 2020 re-election rival.
Both sides will be playing to a sharply polarized electorate as they move deeper into a six-week-old investigation that has shadowed Trump’s presidency with the threat of being removed from office even as he campaigns for a second term.
It has been two decades since Americans last witnessed impeachment proceedings against a president, and these will be the first of the social media era. Republicans, who then controlled the House, brought impeachment charges against Democratic President Bill Clinton in a scandal involving his sexual relationship with a White House intern. The Senate ultimately voted to keep Clinton in office.
For a graphic version of the impeachment inquiry, click: here
