House investigators planned to hear testimony Thursday from Jennifer Williams, the first person from Vice President Pence’s staff to appear for a closed-door deposition in an accelerating presidential impeachment inquiry that will shift to public hearings next week.

Williams, a special adviser on Europe and Russia, is appearing as House Democrats prepare to release more transcripts from previous depositions ahead of public testimony next week from William B. Taylor Jr., the acting ambassador to Ukraine.

In closed-door testimony released Wednesday, Taylor said associates of President Trump tried to pressure Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as a conspiracy theory about Ukraine’s role in the 2016 U.S. election.

Trump, meanwhile, lashed out at the media early Thursday morning following a Washington Post report that he wanted Attorney General William P. Barr to hold a news conference declaring that Trump broke no laws during a July phone call in which he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the investigations.

●Trump wanted Barr to hold news conference saying the president broke no laws in call with Ukrainian leader.

●President Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani hires his own lawyers as investigations mount.

7:30 a.m.: Trump pushes back on reports he sought a Barr news conference

Trump dismissed as “FAKE NEWS” reports that he wanted Barr to hold a news conference declaring that Trump broke no laws during a phone call in which he pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the Bidens.

According to a story first reported by The Washington Post, Barr ultimately declined to do so, and Trump has mentioned Barr’s demurral to associates in recent weeks, saying he wished Barr would have held the news conference.

Other outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, later matched the Post report.

“Bill Barr did not decline my request to talk about Ukraine,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “The story was a Fake Washington Post con job with an ‘anonymous’ source that doesn’t exist.”

“Just read the Transcript,” Trump continued, referring to the rough transcript released by the White House of his July call with Zelensky. “The Justice Department already ruled that the call was good. We don’t have freedom of the press!”

His comments echoed other tweets sent after midnight in which he called the Post report “totally untrue and just another FAKE NEWS story.”

“The LameStream Media, which is The Enemy of the People, is working overtime with made up stories in order to drive dissension and distrust!” Trump contended.

His tweets came early Thursday morning after returning from a Wednesday night campaign rally in Monroe, La.

At that event, Trump accused Democrats of “trying to overthrow American democracy to impose their socialist agenda” and attacked one of the lawyers representing the whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry.

7 a.m.: Pence staffer expected to appear for closed-door deposition

House investigators expect to hear Thursday from the first person from Vice President Pence’s staff to give testimony in the impeachment probe.

Williams is Pence’s special adviser on Europe and Russia, and could offer important insights into the vice president’s interactions with Ukrainian leaders and any contact that he might have had with Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

Williams’s attorney confirmed Wednesday night that his client intends to appear.

“Jennifer is a longtime dedicated State Department employee,” her attorney, Justin Shur, said in a statement. “If required to appear, she will answer the Committees’ questions. We expect her testimony will largely reflect what is already in the public record.”

Williams is among the last witnesses scheduled to provide a closed-door deposition before public hearings begin next week.

6:30 a.m.: Bolton expected to be a no-show for deposition

Former national security adviser John Bolton has been summoned to the Capitol for a deposition on Thursday but is not expected to appear.

Bolton, who left the White House amid acrimony with Trump in September, could offer direct testimony about the president’s alleged efforts to pressure Zelensky for information on the Bidens in exchange for U.S. military aid and a meeting with the president.

Top State Department and national security officials have already testified that Bolton was deeply concerned about those efforts.