Televised impeachment hearings against President Trump are scheduled to begin on Wednesday. The leading witness will be William Taylor, the top American diplomat in Ukraine. He has previously testified to House investigators that there was a quid pro quo making the release of U.S. military aid to Ukraine conditional on Ukraine investigating Trump’s political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. On Wednesday, House investigators released the transcript from Taylor’s closed-door testimony. One of the key takeaways: Taylor said it was Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s idea to have Ukraine’s president commit to the investigations into the Bidens.

The Washington Post is reporting that President Trump wanted Attorney General William Barr to hold a news conference declaring Trump broke no laws during his July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president, which is at the center of the impeachment inquiry. Attorney General Barr reportedly refused to do so. On Wednesday, President Trump lashed out at Democrats over the impeachment inquiry during a rally in Monroe, Louisiana.

President Donald Trump: “But Democrats must be accountable for their hoaxes and for their crimes. Now corrupt politicians, Nancy Pelosi and shifty Adam Schiff, and the crooked media have launched the deranged, delusional, destructive and hyperpartisan impeachment witch hunt. Now we go again.”