The first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump took place in Washington
The main headline centred on a new claim levelled against Trump over his dealings with Ukraine
Top diplomat Bill Taylor said a staff member was told Trump cared more about investigations of Joe Biden than about Ukraine
Trump said he had no knowledge of that. He also denies trying to press Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Biden
Another US diplomat, George Kent, says Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani tried to "smear" US officials in Ukraine
Image source, Caroline Brehman/Getty ImagesTherapy dogs talk to a reporter on Capitol Hill on Wednesday
While the impeachment inquiry rolls on in the hearing room, some extra, four-legged support has been sent to Capitol Hill to comfort some stressed-out government staff.
Pet Partners, a therapy animal organisation, and the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council sent teams of therapy dogs to offer support to lawmakers.
Image source, The Hollywood ReporterA politically conservative street artist has struck Hollywood, the district represented by Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The artist, "Sabo", hung posters at bus stops which mockingly places the faces of Democrats and Trump critics over the faces of actors on the Showtime series Shameless.
The posters went up on Wednesday morning, clearly timed to be seen during the impeachment hearing.
The faux advert shows images of New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, California Senator Kamala Harris, porn actress Stormy Daniels, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and CNN's Chris Cuomo among others.
Image source, Win McNamee/Getty ImagesPressed by Stewart, the diplomats concede that Ukraine has corruption issues.
Stewart then questions why, as vice-president, Biden called for the firing of Ukraine's prosecutor, out of all the corrupt places and prosecutors in the world.
"Are you surprised that there would be questions about corruption in Ukraine?" Stewart adds, noting that the White House can rightfully withhold aid over corruption issues.
"We were fully supportive of that conditionality," Kent says.
Republican Chris Stewart says it all comes down to "one phone call" - between Presidents Trump and Zelensky on 25 July.
"That is what this entire impeachment proceeding is based on."
"If your impeachment case is so weak that you have to lie and exaggerate about it to convince the American people to remove this president... you've got a problem."
Stewart goes on to assert that there is "zero " evidence of obstruction.
"We appreciate your insight," he tells Taylor and Kent. "But all you can do is give your opinion of this one phone call."
Image source, Alexis C. Glenn-Pool/Getty ImagesBarack Obama, Joe Biden and Hunter Biden in 2010
While Joe Biden served as US vice-president, his son was working with a Ukrainian energy company from 2014.
Trump and his supporters allege Biden abused his power to pressure Ukraine to back away from a criminal investigation into that company that could implicate Hunter Biden.
The president claims Joe Biden called for the firing of Ukraine’s top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, over the inquiry into the energy company.
But these allegations have been widely discredited.
Biden has bragged about removing the Ukrainian prosecutor, but he was not alone in calling for Shokin’s removal - many lawmakers in the US and EU also wanted Shokin ousted.
A Democratic congressman asks diplomat George Kent why some Ukrainian politicians wanted Marie Yovanovitch - the US ambassador who was recalled by the US government in May - to be removed.
"You can't promote principled anti-corruption action without pissing off corrupt people," Kent said.
Image source, Getty ImagesSpeaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed the impeachment hearing as "noise".
"There’s a lot of noise...There’ll be noise for the rest of this week," said the top US diplomat.
"I’ve told the team to stay focused. There’s all this chatter, but then there’s challenges and opportunities for America around the world."
Image source, Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesSchiff asks whether Taylor was still worried Ukraine's President Zelensky was "going to feel it necessary to announce investigations" even after military aid was released.
"Yes, I thought that would be a bad idea," says Taylor, adding he "wanted to be sure [a public announcement] didn't happen so I addressed it with Zelensky's staff."
The BBC's Tara McKelvey has been speaking with people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Most tell her they're not interested in today's hearing. They're more interested in Trump's take on other hot button political issues.
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Image source, SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet on 25 September
Texas Republican John Ratcliffe ask Taylor to confirm that at the time of Trump's call with Zelensky, nobody in the Ukrainian government was aware of the hold on US aid to Ukraine.
Taylor says that is correct. He also says Zelensky is not a liar.
Ratcliffe goes on to say that there is no possibility of a "quid pro quo" if the Ukrainians were unaware that military aid was being withheld.
Zelensky, he says, told a number of global media outlets that he did not feel pressured or blackmailed to investigate the Bidens.
Republican Devin Nunes has insisted that there was meddling in the 2016 election by Ukraine - something that has been widely debunked, the BBC's Anthony Zurcher says.
Witness George Kent himself said there was no factual basis for any Ukrainian interference, when asked about this today.
Many on Twitter have been accusing the Republican of peddling "conspiracy theories" during the hearing.
But in return, Republicans are tweeting about what they are calling the #ImpeachmentHoax.
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Conservative media also weighed in, with Breitbart calling the Democrat lawyer Daniel Goldman a "Russia hoaxster" who had "eagerly embraced the 'Russia collusion' conspiracy theory" over the 2016 election.
The website Red State said Nunes had "hit the nail on the head", external with his opening statement (in which he went into detail with claims of Democratic cooperation with "Ukrainian election meddling").
The claims - and counterclaims - continue to fly back and forth as the hearings take place.
Republican Jim Jordan says the conversation chains between aides, ambassadors and officials are too complicated.
"I've seen church prayer chains that are easier to understand than this," Jordan says.
"My understanding is only coming from people that I talk to," Taylor replies.
Image source, Jabin Botsford/Getty ImagesA CNN reporter has just interviewed Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who is accused of pressuring the Ukrainians to open an investigation into the Bidens.
"I didn’t do anything wrong," Giuliani laughed when questioned outside his New York City home.
He added: "I was asked to look into an alternative explanation in November 2018, and I investigated and found evidence. If they just wait and are patient for all the facts to come out, they will see what the truth is."
It shouldn't be too long before today's political drama makes it to the big screen. Twitter is divided on who will play who in Hollywood's version of the impeachment inquiry.
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Republican lawyer Steve Castor says about Giuliani's backchannel in Ukraine: "This irregular channel of diplomacy, it’s not as outlandish as it could be, is that correct?"
Taylor smiles and says: "It’s not as outlandish as it could be."
Taylor points out it was "a little unusual" for Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, to play a role in policy for Ukraine, which is not part of the EU.
Castor says: "It might be irregular, but it's certainly not outlandish."
Lost for words, Taylor smiles.
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As Democrats and Republicans clash on impeachment, Google Trends shows a different type of battle: by 1:30 local time (18:30 GMT) google searches of Bill Taylor had overtaken that of global popstar Taylor Swift.
The president's second eldest son, Eric Trump, is taking to Twitter to condemn today's hearing.
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Image source, Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty ImagesSteve Castor questions Bill Taylor and George Kent on Capitol Hill today
The man asking questions on behalf of Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee is Steve Castor.
Castor is a congressional staff lawyer who played a key role in several significant Obama-era investigations - including into 2012 attack against the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.