Republicans believed they could win today by making the impeachment hearing a circus—but they didn’t seem to know which acts ought to be in the ring
era has become a familiar affair. Democrats bemoan the lack of decency and corruption they argue has beset the Oval Office, while Republicans perform for an audience of one. Ultimately, everything devolves into a partisan spectacle, with no real winners. The first public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry on Wednesday deviated little from this script, well-worn throughout the Mueller investigation.
It was clear early in the more than five-hour-long hearing on Wednesday why Democrats picked Taylor and Kent as their first two witnesses in the public phase of the inquiry. The two diplomats operated as a stoic tag team , often tapping the other when a line of questioning ran into a gap in their recollections. The Republican counsel,who was forced by their professional demeanor into relentless politeness, had an impossible time isolating one or the other and drilling down.
The Republicans believed they could win by making the hearing a circus—but they didn’t seem to know which acts ought to be in the ring. Congressmanset the tone for the GOP with a typically freewheeling opening statement in which he darted between a number of convoluted conspiracy theories, shots at Democrats, and a startling mention of “” of Trump. Castor, the Republican counsel, also frequently went far afield in search of ammunition, but Taylor and Kent easily resisted these efforts.
Of course, there is a reason the GOP has largely dodged engaging on substance. Their best hope was to complicate the Democrats’ case and muddle their arguments. But Taylor and Kent, while passionate about the Ukraine, neatly jiujitsued some of the GOP’s most prized talking points. Yes, Kent was concerned that’s Burisma board seat would raise conflict-of-interest questions. Yes, Taylor advocated for the Obama administration to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, which it did not do, but Trump did.
The one real bombshell of the day was delivered by Taylor, who told lawmakers that one of his aides recalled a phone conversation between Trump and Sondland in which the aide could hear Trump ask about “the investigations.” After hours, it remained unclear what, exactly, the GOP defense of Trump was. They don’t have much longer to get it right.
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