Thread by @atrupar

My thread on the House GOP's first impeachment hearing begins here. Follow along for notable moments and commentary.

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oddly, CNN is taking Comer's opening statement live but Fox News (and MSNBC) are not

Raskin: "So let's get it straight. We're 62 hours away from shutting down the government of the USA, and Republicans are launching an impeachment drive based on a long debunked and discredited lie."

Raskin then displays signs of Republicans denouncing the impeachment inquiry.

Raskin: "Speaker McCarthy's invertebrate appeasement of the most fanatical elements of his conference now threatens the well-being of every American ... the Constitution is irrelevant to them. What counts is what Donald Trump wants."

Raskin: "It's scandalous to use impeachment to establish a counterfeit moral equivalence between President Biden, an honorable public servant ... and Donald Trump, a twice impeached president who's recently been found in court to have sexually abused and defamed a woman"

Raskin calls for Giulian and Lev Parnas to testify -- "the insiders who know the origins of the lie upon which this sham impeachment is based." He points out that Parnas has already agreed to do so. An increasingly agitated Comer moves to table the motion.

I don't think Turley has integrity or credibility but even he stopped short of fully endorsing the House GOP's impeachment push

https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1707406570391220545

"A fishing expedition is not a legitimate purpose" -- Prof. Gerhardt uses his opening statement to take apart the GOP impeachment inquiry

Comer's questioning reveals that he's still working with nothing more than innuendo and sleight of hand. Not ready for prime time at all.

Raskin: "I'm struck by the fact that of the 4 expert witnesses brought together today, not a single one of them argued that a sufficient quantum of evidence exists to justify the impeachment of President Biden."

Gerhardt: "I heard the phrase 'Biden family' many many times. But I don't know the 'Biden family' is."

RASKIN: What do make of the idea of impeaching a president for something his son did when the president wasn't in office?

GERHARDT: Just imagine if the names were switched. Just imagine if this was Jared Kushner.

Turley just dropped a truth bomb on Jared Kushner. Oh wait

Rep. Lynch just demolished one of the GOP witnesses

Lynch: "When I walked into this hearing room, my first question was, 'where's Rudy?'"

all 3 of the big cable networks have now ceased broadcasting the impeachment hearing. Newsmax is still taking it.

Republicans block Goldman's attempt to introduce into the record part of Devon Archer's testimony that cuts against their narrative

Connolly: "Shouldn't we concerned about all those Biden towers all over the world where foreign partnerships were formed and influence was used here in the US? I've seen these towers in Indonesia, in the Philippines, in Turkey. I've even seen one in Chicago."

Brilliant stuff here from Connolly

it's very weird that Comer is flat out refusing to let Goldman introduce Archer's testimony in the evidence

our long national nightmare is over

Krishnamoorthi points out that one of the GOP witnesses recently accused incendiary, conspiratorial right-wing content on her professional LinkedIn account, and displays the posts

"You've been crusading to legalize polygamy for years" -- i wasn't aware that Turley is a big anti-anti-polygamy guy. big yikes!

BIGGS: When a member of the committee impugns the integrity of a witness, is it against the rules to allow those witnesses to respond to those malicious statements?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm quoting

Noticing some typos in previous posts in this thread. Bear with me as I'm typing quickly and trying to listen to the testimony at the same time!

wut

We're 2 hours deep into this hearing so let me plug my newsletter. If you appreciate me watching an unhealthy amount of politics so you don't have to, please support my work by signing up for PN. You'll like it and paid subs make these threads possible. publicnotice.co/subscribe

Comer has lost control of the hearing

Mfume holds up a "Where is Rudy?" sign

COMER: I'd like to enter a press release about Lev Parnas being sentenced to 20 months in prison for campaign finance, wire fraud, and false statement offenses

RASKIN: Yeah, he worked with Rudy Giuliani

AOC uses her questioning time to highlight that none of the "witnesses" are actually, you know, witnesses of anything. Meanwhile, Republicans block the testimony of actual witnesses like Giuliani and Parnas.

AOC points out that House Republicans are using manipulated images as evidence today, which they can do because they're not under oath

AOC: "We are wasting our time ... this is an embarrassment"

Rep. Shontel Brown: "The DOJ and FBI under former President Trump spent 5 long years looking into these Republican conspiracy theories, and debunked them. Repeatedly."

Turley circles back on his work on behalf of polygamists. He portrays himself as a victim.

Stansbury: "Thank you to Mr Donald Trump for calling this hearing today"

Stansbury uses her questioning time to highlight how Trump is directing House Republican through his social media posts and also behind the scenes

Rep. Garcia uses his time to highlight the brazen corruption embodied by the presence of Jared Kushner and Ivanka in the Trump White House

Jordan jumped in immediately after Garcia's questioning time to defend Kushner's honor

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1707444475771928934

GOLDMAN: I've like to enter a press release entitled, "Devon Archer sentenced to a year and a day in prison for the fraudulent issuance and sale of more than $60m in bonds"

COMER: Archer, Hunter Biden's biz partner and best friend?

GOLDMAN: That's correct. Your star witness.

Rep. Gomez points out that while Republicans are making a big stink about Hunter Biden's 20 shell companies, Trump had over 500 of them!

Goldman is killing it with these documents he's submitting for the record

Frost uses his questioning time to highlight the timeline, specifically how McCarthy went from saying a vote was needed for impeachment to changing his mind about that in under 2 weeks

He also says "Mr Turley is stopping here on the way to his next Fox News hit" 🔥

amazing

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1707450519801798726

James Comer is a real charmer, isn't he?

Summer Lee uses her questioning time to highlight how many constituents of Republican members of Congress will lose their paychecks because of the looming shutdown

🔥 from Summer Lee

The impeachment hearing is in a short break. So let me remind you that if you appreciate this thread, it'd mean a lot for you to support my work by signing up for my newsletter. Paid subscribers make my work possible, including these threads. publicnotice.co/subscribe

LOL

https://twitter.com/MZanona/status/1707434463674671558

Crockett: "If they would continue to say 'if' for Hunter and we were playing a drinking game, I would be drunk by now."

Crockett on Joe Biden and his son Hunter: "Honestly, I hope and pray that my parents love me half as much."

"You bring in the fact witnesses, and your case goes down the drain" -- Goldman points out that Republicans are now trying to distance themselves from Devon Archer, maybe because he testified that Hunter and Joe never discussed business as far as he was aware

Goldman highlights that the GOP's timeline of alleged Biden misdeeds is a complete mess and includes stuff that happened when Joe was a private citizen

I completely missed Crockett's "in the shitter" line. Classic.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1707464799209070665

Raskin on Marjorie Taylor Greene: "I would like the member to be instructed to not introduce any pornography today"

Moskowitz: "What a day we are having. As a former director of emergency management, I know a disaster when I see one."

omg these graphics Moskowitz put together have me in stitches

hilarious and insightful stuff from Moskowitz. The whole clip is worth watching

Moskowitz: "What are you scared of? Call the vote ... impeach him right now, I dare you!"

Porter uses McCarthy's own words from a handful of years ago about the importance of a floor vote before impeachment inquires against him

"ogliogarch"

Raskin: "Online, everyone is making fun of this Seinfeld impeachment -- an impeachment hearing about nothing."

Raskin: "It's not Turley's fault. He's a constitutional law prof. I don't know if they looked across the country for other ones. I don't think you could find one who would say there's a sufficient quantum of evidence. Maybe John Eastman, but I think he may be detained these days"

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@SnapStream Comer seems to think that raising questions he doesn't have the answers to is a form of evidence, which honestly explains a lot. And note how Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto immediately undercuts some of Comer's insinuations after his press gaggle wraps up.