The impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump rolls on Saturday with testimony from Phil Reeker, acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe.

Phil Reeker will testify as to whether he saw evidence of a quid pro quo, whether President Donald Trump demanded Ukraine investigate his political rivals in return for US aid.

CGTN’s Toby Muse has more.

Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee told reporters, “The idea that vital military assistance would be withheld for such a patently political reason, for the reason of serving the president’s re-election campaign is a phenomenal breach of the president’s duty to defend our national security.

The State Department had instructed Reeker not to testify, but he will nonetheless. Former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman has been ordered to testify Monday. But he is asking a judge to weigh his responsibility: to the congress which is demanding his testimony or to the White House which has ordered he not cooperate.

Republicans have objected to how the impeachment investigation has been carried out, claiming that too much has been carried out behind closed doors, keeping the president and the American people in the dark.

Senator Lindsey Graham held a press conference, where he said “Instead of the judiciary looking at a potentially impeachable offense, they’ve created a process in the intel committee that’s behind closed doors, doesn’t provide access to the president’s accuser, shuts Republicans out for all practical purposes and is an unworthy substitute for the way you need to do it, is at its core un-American.”

Trump tweeted his thoughts on the matter:

“The Ukraine investigation is just as Corrupt and Fake as all of the other garbage that went on before it.”

However, there are signs that the White House might be finally understanding the gravity of the situation. The Washington Post reported that Trump has rehired a pair of criminal defense attorneys, the same who worked with him during the investigation in to whether the Trump campaign had received aid from Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign.

If the House votes to impeach the president, the Senate will hold a trial of Trump.