Washington, November 7 (RHC)-- Televised impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump are scheduled to begin on Wednesday next week.  The leading witness will be William Taylor, the top American diplomat in Ukraine.  He has previously testified to House investigators that there was a quid pro quo making the release of U.S. military aid to Ukraine conditional on Ukraine investigating Trump’s political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. 

Earlier this week, House investigators released the transcript from Taylor’s closed-door testimony.  One of the key takeaways: Taylor said it was Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s idea to have Ukraine’s president commit to the investigations into the Bidens.

The Washington Post is reporting that Trump wanted Attorney General William Barr to hold a news conference declaring Trump broke no laws during his July 25th phone call with the Ukrainian president, which is at the center of the impeachment inquiry.  Attorney General Barr reportedly refused to do so.  

On Wednesday, President Trump lashed out at Democrats over the impeachment inquiry during a rally in Monroe, Louisiana.  Trump said: "Democrats must be accountable for their hoaxes and for their crimes.  Now corrupt politicians, Nancy Pelosi and shifty Adam Schiff, and the crooked media have launched the deranged, delusional, destructive and hyperpartisan impeachment witch hunt.  Now we go again.”