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Republicans Defend Trump in Public Impeachment Hearings

VOA News

   Republicans contended Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump did
   not improperly pressure Ukraine to investigate political rivals for
   political advantage, with Representative Devin Nunes declaring the
   accusations were based on "zero evidence" and that Democrats "made it
   up."
   At the urging of Trump, Republican lawmakers mounted a vigorous defense
   of the president's actions in dealing with Ukraine over several months,
   and they asserted that the Democrats' case for impeachment against
   Trump was nonexistent. Trump's political supporters on the House
   Intelligence Committee focused on the fact that the president released
   military aid that Ukraine wanted, without opening investigations of
   former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, which Trump had urged Ukrainian
   President VolodymyrZelenskiyto undertake.
   The Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against Trump entered a new
   phase Wednesday as witnesses began testifying publicly after weeks of
   closed-door testimony.