(Newser)
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The first public presidential impeachment hearings this century begin at 10am Wednesday—and the White House is preparing for battle. President Trump has engagements including a Wednesday meeting with Turkey's President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan that will keep him from live-tweeting the House Intelligence Committee proceedings, but his campaign plans to have around 20 staffers monitoring proceedings and releasing talking points, NBC reports. The three witnesses who will appear this week have all testified in closed-door proceedings that Trump tried to tie military aid to Ukraine to a promise to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. More:
- The first witnesses. William Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, will testify Wednesday, NPR reports. Both men have spoken of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani's efforts to push a "shadow" foreign police in Ukraine. Former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch will testify Friday.
