Biggest story from the hearing: Republicans offered no evidence that Trump's extortion was based on anything but self-interest.
In fact, they added to the mountain of incriminating facts against him. bit.ly/2OfLP9n
In fact, they added to the mountain of incriminating facts against him. bit.ly/2OfLP9n
One test of sincerity is whether you demand investigations of "corruption" everywhere, or only in Ukraine. "Republicans failed to name any other country in which Trump has applied such pressure." bit.ly/2OfLP9n
"Republicans didn’t even try to present a charitable explanation" for Trump's removal of Yovanovitch. They just pleaded that it wasn’t an abuse of power “to remove an ambassador for political reasons because you don’t like what they’re doing.” bit.ly/2OfLP9n
Rep. Chris Stewart said Trump was authorized to suspend the aid because under NDAA, Ukraine's anticorruption compliance "has to be certified." But Kent pointed out that DOD had already certified it. bit.ly/2OfLP9n
Jordan told a fantastic story about Trump deciding to "check out" Zelensky and deciding "He's a reformer." The story was a complete fabrication. Mulvaney had already confessed that the aid was released "for reasons that had nothing to do with corruption." bit.ly/2OfLP9n
Kent explained why there was a case for investigating Burisma or Zlochevsky, but not for investigating the Bidens. But Trump, in his phone call with Zelensky, "never mentioned Burisma or Zlochevsky." He specifically insisted on investigating the Bidens. bit.ly/2OfLP9n
Yermak asked the US to "submit an official request" to investigate Burisma, "if that is what the United States desired.” That would have been the logical course if Trump were sincere about investigating corruption. But Trump never pursued it. bit.ly/2OfLP9n
Nunes supplied more evidence that Trump squeezed Ukraine for personal revenge. Once you understand how Ukrainians “mocked and disparaged" Trump on Twitter, he said, "It’s easy to understand the president’s desire to get to the bottom of this corruption." bit.ly/2OfLP9n
The question of whether to impeach Trump boils down to motive. "Four layers of evidence—transcript, texts, depositions, and public testimony—have settled this question. Trump didn’t care about corruption. He betrayed his oath and his country." bit.ly/2OfLP9n
