Probe moves closer to vote

The US House judiciary committee is set to take over the impeachment probe of US President Donald Trump, with Democrats scheduling a hearing for next week as they push closer to a possible vote on charges of high crimes and misdemeanours.

The committee yesterday scheduled the hearing as the separate intelligence committee released two last transcripts from its depositions, including from a White House budget official who detailed concerns among colleagues as Trump ordered them, through intermediaries, to put a hold on military aid to Ukraine.

Trump ordered the hold as he was pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate Democrats – the issue at the heart of the impeachment probe.

Multiple government witnesses have testified in impeachment hearings held by the intelligence panel this month that Trump directed his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to take the lead on Ukraine policy and that Giuliani used an ‘‘irregular’’ diplomatic channel.

Democrats are aiming

for a final House vote by Christmas, which would set the stage for a likely Senate trial in January.

Trump, meanwhile, tried to put distance between himself and Giuliani in a radio interview yesterday. Asked by host Bill O’Reilly what Giuliani was doing on his behalf in Ukraine, Trump said: ‘‘I don’t even know.’’ Asked directly if he had directed Giuliani to go to Ukraine on his behalf, he said no.

Trump and his lawyers are invited to attend the judiciary committee hearing and make a request to question witnesses.

White House aides could be forced to testify about their activities inside Trump’s administration, after a US federal judge ruled that ‘‘presidents are not kings’’ and cannot block anyone from giving evidence.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled that Donald McGahn, a former White House counsel, could not defy a summons to appear. The US Justice Department said it would appeal.

McGahn was a star witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into interference by Russia in the 2016 election, and Democrats want to question him about possible obstruction of justice by Trump. – AP, Telegraph Group