In the first day of open public testimony in impeachment hearings regarding Donald Trump, the statements provided by charge d’affaires for Ukraine William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent was much as expected—in line with the statements they made in closed-door hearings and the transcripts that have already been released. There was one genuinely new piece of information, in the form of an aide to Taylor who overheard a call between Donald Trump and Gordon Sondland. Other than that, the public got to see two things: the clear testimony that Trump and his associates had solicited investigations meant to generate ammunition that Trump could use against Joe Biden and Democrats in general, and the Republican strategy of claiming that Trump’s actions weren’t just okay—they were perfect.
There’s little doubt that both Taylor and Kent made compelling witnesses who were genuinely concerned by the actions that were being taken toward Ukraine. They made it clear just how important the U.S. relationship with Ukraine is, not just in terms of protecting Ukraine from further Russian encroachment, but as a factor in U.S. national security. Taylor in particular testified to his concerns about the “irregular channel” of Trump appointees assigned to act at the direction of Rudy Giuliani, and how that group acted against official policy. Under questioning, Kent stated that he believed the entire purpose of this channel was to “dig up dirt on President Trump’s political opponents,” a statement with which Taylor agreed.
But over the course of the day, Republicans made it clear that they had taken Trump’s Twitter demands to heart: Rather than admit that Trump might have made missteps and claim that they fell short of deserving impeachment, Republican representatives from Jim Jordan to Devin Nunes upheld Trump’s demands of Ukraine as a good thing. In addition to Nunes’ opening statement, Republicans frequently spent their time either attacking the whistleblower or throwing out names familiar only to those who are neck-deep in the far reaches of right-wing conspiracy theories.
Over and over again, Republicans ran to the point of claiming that the aid was released, without Ukraine actually announcing investigations, so … no harm, no foul. They ignored the fact that the aid was released only two days after the current inquiry was announced, and at a point where a televised announcement from Ukraine was less than a day away.
Republicans also repeatedly returned to the idea that Trump had actually sent Ukraine aid that had not come from the Obama administration—without ever pointing out that, for much of the time Obama was in office, Ukraine was under the control of a pro-Russian government helped into position by Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort.
Many Republicans insisted on simply making statements about obscure officials and claiming that Ukraine had acted to help Hillary Clinton, but Jim Jordan went above and beyond, actively attacking Ambassador William Taylor and attempting to impugn his motivations—a sequence that did not go well for Jordan.
When not wandering into conspiracy theories or attempting to paint Trump’s demands of Ukraine as coming from selfless concern over corruption, they also engaged in a series of process attacks. In particular, Republicans who had been present at the closed-door hearings repeatedly referred to them as “secret.” And over, and over, and over again, Republicans voiced the word “hearsay,” even when describing conversations the two witnesses had had, and while continuing to support the idea that the White House can block fact witnesses and documents from ever being released.
Jordan also spent a large portion of his time attacking the whistleblower, calling him not only “biased against the president” but claiming that “he worked with Joe Biden”—which certainly made it seem as if Jordan knew who the whistleblower was, even as he was claiming that he didn’t know. Jordan also repeatedly made claims that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff knew the identity of the whistleblower, even after Schiff informed Jordan that he was making “a false statement.”
Overall, it was a good first day in terms of laying out initial facts in the case. Schiff maintained decorum, ignored Republican attacks directed his way, and spent the day getting out facts in a steady, nondemonstrative way. Taylor and Kent were effective witnesses who repeatedly made it clear that they were there to deliver nonpartisan facts in areas that they had direct knowledge about, and nothing else. And Republicans spent the day speaking not just to other Republicans, but to a fringe group of Republicans who were enmeshed in conspiracy theories.