A dozen witnesses have now testified in the impeachment
inquiry into Donald Trump.
They have put a public face on US diplomacy in Ukraine
and shed new light on the Trump administration's activities
there.
On Wednesday, Gordon Sondland, Trump's ambassador to the EU,
said everyone was in the loop and confirmed
in no uncertain terms that there was a quid pro quo, with the US
president demanding investigations
into Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and debunked claims
of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Ambassador Volker and I worked with Mr Rudy Giuliani
on Ukraine matters at the express direction
of the president of the United States.
Was there a quid pro quo?
As I testified previously, with regard
to the requested White House call and the White House
meeting, the answer is yes.
But the Republicans have stuck to their strategy
and keep saying it's a witch-hunt.
By undermining the president, who
they are supposed to be serving, the elements
of the FBI, the Department of Justice,
and now the State Department have
lost the confidence of millions of Americans
who believe that their vote should count for something.
It's also too early to tell whether the televised hearings
have changed public opinion.
The latest polls show that Americans are split over
whether Trump should be impeached and removed
from office.
For now, it's up to Adam Schiff and the Democrats
on the House intelligence committee
to decide whether or not they want to call any more
public witnesses.
When they've wrapped up their investigation,
the inquiry will be sent to the House judiciary committee, who
will draw up Articles of Impeachment,
to ultimately be voted on by the full House.
The Democrats are keen to wrap things up
by the end of the year.
But we have Thanksgiving holiday next week and just
two more full weeks after that before the Christmas recess.
They are running out of time.
On Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
said the party wouldn't rush.
But she also said they would not wait on the courts, where there
are many outstanding cases of White House officials
who have refused to comply with congressional subpoenas.
No.
We're not going to wait till the courts decide.
That might be information that's available to the Senate
in terms of how far we go, and when we go.
But we can't wait for that, because again it's a technique.
It's obstruction of justice, obstruction of Congress.
So we cannot let their further obstruction of Congress be
an impediment to our honouring our oath of office.
Thank you all.
Whatever the timeline it's widely
expected that the democratically controlled House will
vote to impeach the president.
But this remains a fiercely partisan process.
And it's unlikely that more than 20 GOP senators
will be willing to vote to remove him from office
in an eventual Senate trial.
John Barrasso, a senior Senate Republican,
told the FT that testimony did not move the needle
for him and his colleagues.
He said the case against the president was,
quote, "very flimsy", and he saw no sign
at all of Republicans abandoning Trump.