国际英语新闻:U.S. Republicans disrupt Democrats-led impeachment inquiry deposition

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- A group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday stormed a closed-door congressional hearing scheduled for a Pentagon official as part of a Democrats-led impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Republicans disrupted a deposition for Laura Cooper, the U.S. defense official who oversees Ukraine and Russia matters.

Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, who led the action, claimed on Twitter that the impeachment inquiry "has been marked by secret interviews, selective leaks, weird theatrical performances of transcripts that never happened, and lies about contact with a whistleblower."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the public face of the impeachment proceedings, reportedly left the hearing room with Cooper, postponing the interview indefinitely.

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu told reporters that those Republican lawmakers "violated House rules by trying to crash committees which they don't sit on."

The incident comes a day after acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor testified behind closed doors in Congress that Trump linked a military aid to Ukraine to a pledge by Kiev to investigate Joe Biden, former U.S. vice president and front-running Democratic presidential contender.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he doesn't know Taylor and that "there was no quid pro quo."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the initiation of the impeachment inquiry in late September following an anonymous whistleblower complaint about Trump's interactions with Ukraine.

The whistleblower and the Democrats pushing for the impeachment believe that Trump abused power and sought help from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his re-election campaign.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has urged more efforts from Republicans to challenge the impeachment inquiry.