Public impeachment hearings in the inquiry into US President Donald Trump began Wednesday.

Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff opened the first day of hearings by establishing the stakes of the investigation. Schiff began by calling Trump’s actions—seeking inquiries into political rival Joe Biden through the Ukrainian government—into question, stating, “If this is not impeachable conduct, what is?”

Among those to testify Wednesday were William Taylor Jr., US diplomat in Ukraine. Taylor’s testimony was centered around conversations his staff member had heard between Trump and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland. Taylor indicated that Trump “cares more about the investigations of Biden” than about Ukraine.

George Kent, a senior State Department official, also testified. Kent commented he was aware of the allegations made about the conflict of interest between Biden and Biden’s son, who was serving on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while Joe Biden was managing Ukrainian policy as vice president. However, Kent testified that there was no factual basis to support the allegations. Kent also testified that Trumps lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was “looking to dig up political dirt”—a statement that Taylor agreed with.

Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) was the first to speak in defense of Trump. Nunes questioned the motives of the Democratic party and called the impeachment inquiry a “televised theatrical performance.”  The party relied on two major arguments against the statements made by the first day statements. First, the GOP argued that Taylor and Kent were poor witnesses, as they received information secondhand.  Second, the GOP argued that Trump never committed an impeachable offense, as he did not actually begin investigating Biden.

The Democratic party pushed back against the arguments purported by the GOP, arguing that Ukraine was being corrupted by pressure from Trump.