A senior diplomat described the US president as more interested in opening an investigation into Joe Biden than the fate of Ukraine.
Donald Trump's indictment proceedings became public Wednesday, November 13, with the auditions of two career diplomats, relayed to millions of viewers, which supported the claim of abuse of power by the US president.
The chair of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, solemnly opened the hearing: "The questions asked by this impeachment inquiry are to know (…) if President Trump sought to condition official acts, such as a reception at the White House or US military assistance, with Ukraine's cooperation in two political inquiries that would help him in the campaign for his re-election, and if so, whether such an abuse of power is compatible with its functions. "
The Democrats hesitated before embarking on such a procedure. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi summed up in March her opposition to an indictment of Donald Trump, who was then defended by a party of his party's elected officials as part of the Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election. "It is such a source of contention for the country that unless there is something very convincing, overwhelming and bipartisan, I do not think we should go that route," had estimated the California woman, during an interview with Washington Post.
No bipartisan consensus
By its simplicity, the Ukrainian business has fulfilled the first condition. There is talk of a possible abuse of power for the President of the United States' personal purposes, backed by the report, published on September 25, of a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. The latter is invited to open investigations against Donald Trump's political opponents, including Democratic nominee Joe Biden, via his son Hunter, who is on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.
The second condition mentioned by Nancy Pelosi, a consensus between Democrats and Republicans on the reality of these facts, remains however for the moment not found. The first public hearings concerning witnesses who agreed to testify before the Chamber confirmed this state of affairs. The two camps have set themselves diametrically opposed missions to two career diplomats – the charge d'affaires in Kiev, William Taylor, and the head of the Europe-Eurasia zone of the State Department, George Kent, one like the other as serious as it is precise.
