--- title: Read Opening Statements in Impeachment Hearings description: George Kent and Bill Taylor are testifying in public impeachment hearings today. Read their full opening statements. canonical: https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/ author: Sanya Mansoor article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-11-13T16:15:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T11:15:19.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: George Kent and William Taylor Deliver Opening Statement in Trump Impeachment Inquiry og:description: This is the first public hearing of the Trump impeachment inquiry og:url: https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f8ce8f639d6fab2/698a05eeb3fce3bf4b0c5da8/george-kent.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Impeachment Hearing George Kent and William Taylor og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George Kent and William Taylor Deliver Opening Statement in Trump Impeachment Inquiry twitter:description: This is the first public hearing of the Trump impeachment inquiry twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f8ce8f639d6fab2/698a05eeb3fce3bf4b0c5da8/george-kent.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read George Kent and William Taylor's Full Opening Statements at the First Public Hearing in Trump’s Impeachment Inquiry > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: William Taylor's Opening Statement During Open Hearings In Donald Trump Impeachment Inquiry [Watch (HLS stream): William Taylor's Opening Statement During Open Hearings In Donald Trump Impeachment Inquiry](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lrpGIhYV.m3u8) (0:45)  _Published 2019-11-13. William Taylor's Opening Statement During Open Hearings In Donald Trump Impeachment Inquiry_  by [Sanya Mansoor](https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:15 AM UTCPublished: Nov 13, 2019 4:15 PM UTC  George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs and Bill Taylor, the top diplomat in the US embassy in Ukraine arrive to testify before the House Intelligence Committee for the first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC on Nov. 13, 2019. George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs and Bill Taylor, the top diplomat in the US embassy in Ukraine arrive to testify before the House Intelligence Committee for the first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC on Nov. 13, 2019.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds—AFP/Getty Images  by [Sanya Mansoor](https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:15 AM UTCPublished: Nov 13, 2019 4:15 PM UTC Two career diplomats — [William Taylor ](https://time.com/5707686/bill-taylor-testimony-donald-trump/)and George Kent — are set to be the first [witnesses](https://time.com/5691369/trump-impeachment-inquiry-key-players/) to [publicly testify](https://time.com/5725628/impeachment-hearings/) Wednesday as part of the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump after weeks of closed-door investigations. Taylor, who serves the U.S. charges d’affaires in Kyiv, and George Kent, a top U.S. State Department official with decades of experience in Ukraine policy, appeared Wednesday morning before the House Intelligence Committee. Both officials have expressed alarm in previous closed-door testimonies about Trump’s conduct with regards to Ukraine — highlighting allegations that he pressured Zelensky to investigate his political rival, Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and used his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to subvert normal diplomatic channels in this pursuit. In these earlier hearings, they tried to help lawmakers decipher Trump’s message to Zelensky at the July 25 phone call at the center of the official whistleblower complaint, in which he said, “I would like you to do us a favor.” ## Here’s the full transcript of Kent’s statement on the investigation: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- In this sense, they are the 21st century heirs of two giants of 20th century U.S. national security policy who were born abroad: my former professor Zbigniew Brzezinski; and his fellow immigrant Henry Kissinger. Like the Brzezinskis and Kissingers, the Yovanovitches and Vindmans fled Nazi and communist oppression to contribute to a stronger, more secure America. That honorable transatlantic tradition goes back to the very founding of our republic: our 18th century independence would not have been secured without the choice of European officers — the French-born Lafayette and Rochambeau, the German-born von Steuben, and the Poles Pulaski and Kosciuszko — to come to the New World and fight for our cause of freedom, and the birth of a new country free from imperial dominion. It is my privilege to sit next to Ambassador Taylor today, and it is my honor to serve with all of these patriotic Americans. Thank you. ## Here’s the full transcript of Taylor’s statement on the investigation: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/"},"headline":"Read George Kent and William Taylor's Full Opening Statements at the First Public Hearing in Trump’s Impeachment Inquiry","datePublished":"2019-11-13T16:15:05.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T11:15:19.000Z","description":"Taylor, who serves the U.S. charges d'affaires in Kyiv, and George Kent, a top U.S. State Department official with decades of experience in Ukraine policy, appeared Wednesday morning before the House Intelligence Committee.","url":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/","keywords":["Impeachment","Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f8ce8f639d6fab2/698a05eeb3fce3bf4b0c5da8/george-kent.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sanya Mansoor","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f8ce8f639d6fab2/698a05eeb3fce3bf4b0c5da8/george-kent.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Impeachment Hearing George Kent and William Taylor","caption":"Impeachment Hearing George Kent and William Taylor","creditText":"Andrew Caballero-Reynolds—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/impeachment/","name":"Impeachment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/","name":"Read George Kent and William Taylor's Full Opening Statements at the First Public Hearing in Trump’s Impeachment Inquiry"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Opening Statement of George Kent during the First Public Hearing in Trump’s Impeachment Inquiry","description":"Two career diplomats — William Taylor and George Kent — are set to be the first witnesses to publicly testify Wednesday as part of the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump after weeks of closed-door investigations.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/W4QQUdR9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-11-13T17:08:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/W4QQUdR9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/","duration":"PT1M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"William Taylor's Opening Statement During Open Hearings In Donald Trump Impeachment Inquiry","description":"William Taylor's Opening Statement During Open Hearings In Donald Trump Impeachment Inquiry","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lrpGIhYV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-11-13T18:01:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lrpGIhYV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/","duration":"PT45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5726753/impeachment-hearings-opening-statement-george-kent-bill-taylor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```