USA: Republicans defend Trump at impeachment hearings

W/S House Judiciary Committee room used for impeachment hearings, Washington DC
W/S Reporters and members of public
SOT, Ken Buck, Republican Congressman: "How frustrating it must be to be President Trump and have your son spend over a million dollars on attorney's fees when the special counsel is investigating something that never happened. There was no collusion. There was no conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign. But there was, there is clear evidence of wrongdoing between Hunter Biden, the former vice president Joe Biden."
Jerrold Nadler, Chair of House Judiciary Committee: "Will the gentleman yield?"
Ken Buck, Republican Congressman: "No, I will not. And, and the Ukraine and the corporation Burisma."
M/S Reporters on sidelines
W/S House Judiciary Committee room
W/S Photographers taking photos of committee members
M/S Congressmen and congresswomen sat at desks
SOT, Matt Gaetz, Republican Congressman: "[Andriy] Yermak uses his interview with Time Magazine and he says, and I quote, 'Gordon and I were never alone together. We bumped into each other in the hallway next to the escalator as I was walking out. And I remember everything. It's fine with my memory. We talked about how well the meeting went. That is all we talked about.' So here they are, with no crime, with no victim, with no witnesses, with no knowledge of any shakedown and yet they proceed. To accept the Democrats' theory of the case, you've got to believe the Ukrainians are lying to us."
M/S Police watching
W/S House Judiciary Committee room
W/S House Judiciary Committee members
SCRIPT
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee used their timed interviewing witnesses to defend US President Donald Trump for articles of impeachment on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
Congressman Matt Gaetz said the Democrats theory of the case relied on "Ukrainians lying to us".
Trump is accused of pressuring Ukraine to launch a corruption investigation into political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic contender for the White House next year.
The impeachment proceedings were sparked by an official whistleblower complaint over a now-infamous phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden's son Hunter.
Republican Ken Buck repeated allegations that Hunter was guilty of wrongdoing when he served as a board member of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
The hearings are the last step before proceedings could advance to the House floor for a vote on impeachment.