inquiry into Donald Trump.

They have put a public face on US diplomacy in Ukraine

and shed new light on the Trump administration's activities

there.

On Wednesday, Gordon Sondland, Trump's ambassador to the EU,

said everyone was in the loop and confirmed

in no uncertain terms that there was a quid pro quo, with the US

president demanding investigations

into Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and debunked claims

of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

Ambassador Volker and I worked with Mr Rudy Giuliani

on Ukraine matters at the express direction

of the president of the United States.

Was there a quid pro quo?

As I testified previously, with regard

to the requested White House call and the White House

meeting, the answer is yes.

But the Republicans have stuck to their strategy

and keep saying it's a witch-hunt.

By undermining the president, who

they are supposed to be serving, the elements

of the FBI, the Department of Justice,

and now the State Department have

lost the confidence of millions of Americans

who believe that their vote should count for something.

It's also too early to tell whether the televised hearings

have changed public opinion.

The latest polls show that Americans are split over

whether Trump should be impeached and removed

from office.

For now, it's up to Adam Schiff and the Democrats

on the House intelligence committee

to decide whether or not they want to call any more

public witnesses.

When they've wrapped up their investigation,

the inquiry will be sent to the House judiciary committee, who

will draw up Articles of Impeachment,

to ultimately be voted on by the full House.

The Democrats are keen to wrap things up

by the end of the year.

But we have Thanksgiving holiday next week and just

two more full weeks after that before the Christmas recess.

They are running out of time.

On Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

said the party wouldn't rush.

But she also said they would not wait on the courts, where there

are many outstanding cases of White House officials

who have refused to comply with congressional subpoenas.

No.

We're not going to wait till the courts decide.

That might be information that's available to the Senate

in terms of how far we go, and when we go.

But we can't wait for that, because again it's a technique.

It's obstruction of justice, obstruction of Congress.

So we cannot let their further obstruction of Congress be

an impediment to our honouring our oath of office.

Thank you all.

Whatever the timeline it's widely

expected that the democratically controlled House will

vote to impeach the president.

But this remains a fiercely partisan process.

And it's unlikely that more than 20 GOP senators

will be willing to vote to remove him from office

in an eventual Senate trial.

John Barrasso, a senior Senate Republican,

told the FT that testimony did not move the needle

for him and his colleagues.

He said the case against the president was,

quote, "very flimsy", and he saw no sign

at all of Republicans abandoning Trump.