The parade of witnesses going before the House committees weighing impeachment of President Trump has come overwhelmingly from one government agency: the State Department. That would be the same State Department that Trump has dismissed and disdained; whose budget Trump has repeatedly slashed; whose foreign-service corps Trump has hollowed out, in the opinion of many career diplomats. “The irregular policy channel was running contrary to the goals of long-standing U.S. policy.”Yovanovitch and Taylor were not the only State Department witnesses. “We asked the White House to arrange a working phone call from President Trump and a working Oval Office visit” for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Sondland told congressional investigators. Philip Reeker, acting assistant secretary for European affairs, and Suriya Jayanti, a State Department officer stationed in Kyiv handling energy, will appear in coming days.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 23, 2019 17:37 UTC