Public Hearings

Televised testimony started today and perhaps the biggest news is the claim that Dear Leader "care[d] more about the investigations of Biden" than any policy regarding Ukraine.

And why was the president's personal lawyer involved at all? Republican counsel offers this defense:

[T]his irregular channel of diplomacy, it’s not as outlandish as it could be.

Update (November 14):  Eric Boehlert says the media don't make it clear just how radical Republicans have become in their defense of Dear Leader.

Most casual news consumers don’t know that Republicans have become detached from reality as they watch the hearings unfold. (I mean, Republicans sound convincing when they spout convoluted claims about Ukraine working to elect Hillary Clinton.) And that’s why it’s important that journalists do their jobs and spell out what’s truly going on, and not depend on the lazy both-sides crutch in order to avoid necessary truth-telling about the state of today’s GOP.

Update (November 15):  Marie Yovanovitch gave her public testimony during which Chair Schiff allowed her to respond to a tweet Schiff called "witness intimidation in real time by the president of the United States".

It’s very intimidating. I can’t speak to what the president is trying to do, but the effect is to be intimidating.

Add it the growing list of articles of impeachment. Amanda Marcotte notes that Dear Leader "hated her because he saw her as a woman who wanted to prevent crimes".

The issue here is that [Fuckface] is a corrupt criminal, not that he's an asshole. While he no doubt took pleasure in harming a woman, the bigger problem is why he was doing it, which was in service of a larger campaign to recruit corrupt Ukrainians to help him cheat in the 2020 election.

Update (November 20):  Lt. Col. Vindman says the investigations were to be regarded as an order, not just a request. And Gordon Sondland says members of the Administration knew about Fuckface's demands.

Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.