WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced on Wednesday that the panel's first open hearings as part of an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump will begin next week.
Schiff, in a tweet, said they will hear from William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, an expert on Ukraine and Russia who serves as a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department, on Nov. 13.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch will testify on Nov. 15, Schiff added.
The announcement comes after several weeks of closed-door depositions by former and current Trump administration officials with House panels leading the impeachment inquiry and amid escalating partisan battles.
Speaking to reporters at Capitol Hill, Schiff said "those open hearings will be an opportunity for the American people to evaluate the witnesses for themselves, to make their own determinations about the credibility of the witnesses."
The impeachment inquiry, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated late September over a complaint by an anonymous whistleblower, is looking into White House's alleged efforts to withhold a military aid to have Ukraine investigate a political rival of Trump's.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing or a "quid pro quo." The White House has called the impeachment inquiry unfair and illegitimate.