Two more witnesses are scheduled to testify publicly Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council adviser, and David Holmes, a U.S. diplomat, will appear before the panel.
Click here to listen to the complete, uninterrupted impeachment inquiry.
Check back to this page for updates throughout the day from the KCBS Radio newsroom as Stan Bunger and Doug Sovern monitor the developments in Washington.
MEETING ADJOURNED
1:25 p.m.
Wow: @RepAdamSchiff "This president believes he is above the law. Beyond accountability!...I would just say...in the words of my great colleague, we are better than that." He angrily slams down the gavel and barks "Adjourned!" officially closing the #ImpeachmentHearings.
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 'WORSE THAN NIXON'
1:19 p.m.
.@RepAdamSchiff says what Trump did is "worse than Nixon." The difference isn't the crimes...it's this Congress. "Where is Howard Baker?" he laments, wondering why no Republicans will step up and "do their duty" instead of putting party first, as Baker did during Watergate.
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 SCHIFF GETS ANGRY
1:02 p.m.
Flashing rare anger, @RepAdamSchiff mocks the "righteous indignation" his GOP colleagues show about the #ImpeachmentHearings, and wonders where that indignation was when Trump denied Russian election interference & refers to it as the #RussiaHoax
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 THE END IS NEAR
12:59 p.m.
Testimony is complete, after 5 days of #ImpeachmentHearings. @DevinNunes is giving a closing statement on what he calls "this farce" and "this travesty." Now @RepAdamSchiff with some final words. Unless he tells us otherwise, we don't anticipate any more hearings or witnesses.
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 'MANSPLAINING' APOLOGY
12:33 p.m.
Fact check: As he disparaged @SpeakerPelosi for referring to Trump as an "impostor," #JimJordan just claimed that Trump was elected in an "Electoral College landslide."Actually, Trump's EC winning percentage ranks 46th out of 58 elections.
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 NO QUESTIONS FROM REP. STEWART, HILL RESPONDS
11:45 a.m.
Republican Representative Chris Stewart of Utah has also forgone asking questions of the two witnesses, Fiona Hill and David Holmes. Hill responded to the speeches by Reps. Turner and Wenstrup by defending her credibility as a witness and thanking them for their "eloquent" comments, however both had left the room after their time was up and did not hear her response.
A rare moment of naked honesty from a member of Congress (please forgive my cynicism): Utah's @RepChrisStewart says he has no questions to ask or any points to make that haven't already been made.And yet...he proceeds to decry the #ImpeachmentHearings & welcome their conclusion
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 NO QUESTIONS FROM TWO REPUBLICANS
11:35 a.m.
Reps. Mike Turner and Brad Wenstrup of Ohio did not ask Hill or Holmes any questions. Turner used his time to criticize Fiona Hill for debunking the theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election, while Wenstrup spoke about the opposition President Trump has faced since his election. Wenstrup says his opponents need to move past "political hatred", reminding the committee of the shooting of a congressional baseball practice, which he survived. Wenstrup has also implied the impeachment inquiry is a "coup".
Ohio's @RepMikeTurner lays into #FionaHill, accusing her of misrepresenting members' beliefs on Russian election interference and dismissing her as another hearsay witness. He never asks her a question and uses his entire time before witnesses can respond #ImpeachmentHearings
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 POLITICS VS. NATIONAL SECURITY
10:45 a.m.Hill testifies that she was angry with E.U. Ambassador Sondland for not co-ordinating with her until she realized that a separate political mission was emerging.
"He was being involved in a domestic political errand, and WE were being involved in national security foreign policy," and those two goals had diverged, #FionaHill testifies about #GordonSondland's role in #Ukraine at #ImpeachmentHearings
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 Hill says she was angry with Sondland because, while National Security Council staff was working on "national security foreign policy," he was "being involved in a domestic political errand" https://t.co/cPja558vhl pic.twitter.com/mnzuW7hrcx
— CBS News (@CBSNews)
November 21, 2019 Hill also praised Lt. Col. Vindman's judgment and expertise on national security. In response to some of the criticisms that have been leveled against him, she says her only concern was that he may not have had the tenor and experience to manage what was turning into a delicate political issue.
STEELE DOSSIER
10:28 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
After a two-hour break, the #ImpeachmentHearings are resuming. @DevinNunes and his counsel will get 45 minutes of questions, followed by the members of the committee
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 AN EXTENDED BREAK
9:28 a.m.
Still no resumption of the #ImpeachmentHearings. This break to allow members to go cast votes is approaching 90 minutes now. There's still about 3 hours of Q&A of today's witnesses, #FionaHill & #DavidHolmes, to go, which will push this hearing well into the afternoon.
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 Meanwhile, President Trump is having lunch with eight Republican Senators, who will soon have to weigh in on the hearings when the impeachment inquiry reaches the Senate.
Another way to put this: the defendant is lunching with 8 of his future jurors #ImpeachmentHearings https://t.co/ussEYsX2mB
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 BREAK TIME
7:35 a.m.
THE ACCENT
7:15 a.m.
Fiona Hill spoke directly about her distinctive accent, and like other witnesses in these hearings (Lt. Col Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch), paid homage to the opportunities afforded her by the United States. "I grew up poor with a very distinctive working-class accent. In England in the 1980s and 1990s, this would have impeded my professional advancement. This background never set me back in America."
7:03 a.m.
"I have been watching people make phone calls my entire life."He clearly never witnessed a phone call with my late, beloved mother. People could hear her across a crowded room, bellowing into my ear. https://t.co/3PqbuxJpc3
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 PHONE CALL VOLUME
6:55 a.m.
I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great. Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
November 21, 2019 COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION
6:48 a.m.
For what it's worth, a week of televised hearings does not appear to have moved the polling needle in favor of impeaching President Trump. As FiveThirtyEight.com reports, self-described Democrats and Republicans remain deeply entrenched in their positions, while independents have actually moved a few percentage points AWAY from support for impeachment in the last week.
—Stan Bunger
HOLMES' STATEMENT
6:41 a.m.
6:35 a.m.
Although Adam Schiff and Devin Nunes differ on almost everything, they have this in common.
Reps Devin Nunes and Adam Schiff lead all other House members when it comes to cash on hand.They sit atop the House Intelligence Committee, home of today's #ImpeachmentHearing featuring Fiona Hill and David Holmeshttps://t.co/R12Pm7VaWb
— OpenSecrets.org (@OpenSecretsDC)
November 21, 2019 MINORITY HEARING
6:28 a.m.
.@DevinNunes requests a "minority day of hearings," so that witnesses the GOP is demanding can be heard. Democratic obstructionism has been a consistent theme for Nunes & the GOP during these hearings. #ImpeachmentHearings
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 WHAT TO EXPECT FROM DAVID HOLMES
6:18 a.m.
In his opening, #DavidHolmes will testify that US policy in #Ukraine became "overshadowed by a political agenda being promoted by Rudy Giuliani and a cadre of officials operating with a direct channel to the White House." #ImpeachmentHearings
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 HEARING GETS STARTED
6:10 a.m.
And we're underway.#FionaHill will also tell the #ImpeachmentHearings "Russia's security services & their proxies have geared up to repeat their interference in the #2020 election. We are running out of time to stop them."
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation)
November 21, 2019 VIEW FROM KCBS' STUDIO A
FIONA HILL'S BACKSTORY
5:59 a.m.
When Fiona Hill sits down before the House Intelligence Committee in a few minutes, she plans to take aim on one argument we've been hearing from Republican members. From her prepared opening remarks: "Based on questions and statements I have heard, some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country—and that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did. This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves."
Read her opening statement here.
—Stan Bunger
