The GOP’s Hand-Picked Witnesses Just Sealed Trump’s Impeachment

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:53 am

Two witnesses hand-picked by Republicans flopped in a big way on Tuesday, and it may have sealed Donald Trump’s impeachment in the House of Representatives.

Former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and National Security Council official Timothy Morrison testified before the House Intelligence Committee, and MSNBC’s Garrett Haake reported that the GOP’s impeachment defense is in big trouble if these are their star witnesses.

“It’s the only hearing in which both witnesses are Republican-called witnesses,” Haake reported. “If these are the best witnesses the Republicans can put forward, it’s not really going to get the job done.”

The MSNBC reported that Volker, in particular, didn’t only praise Joe Biden but he confirmed at least one Trump-Ukraine quid pro quo.

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Haake reported:

I think you have to pull back a little bit here. Of all the public hearings we’ll see, every single one, this one should be the best for Republicans. It’s the only hearing in which both witnesses are Republican-called witnesses. If these are the best witnesses the Republicans can put forward, it’s not really going to get the job done. I look at Volker specifically here as somebody who Republicans have been talking up nonstop since the minute his deposition was completed. You had Republicans saying it needed to be released right away, he needed to be called right away. This was, to the degree that there is a Republican star witness appearing in any of these hearings, that’s Kurt Volker and he’s not giving them what they want. In fact, I’m struck by how essentially everyone involved at every stage in this admits to the statement for White House meeting tradeoff. There is a quid pro quo that nobody really disputes, that they were writing this statement to get a White House meeting. Is it then that much of a stretch to assume there might be this bigger quid pro quo later? Volker just gives them the small quid pro quo in a very diplomatic, sort of professional-sounding way, but if you can have this one little thing over here, it makes the Democrats’ job so much easier to connect it to the bigger picture of the aid money for dirt quid pro quo.

Another disastrous day for the Trump-GOP impeachment defense

Tuesday’s witnesses – from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams to Kurt Volker and Timonthy Morrison – delivered testimony that was disastrous for Donald Trump and the GOP’s shifting impeachment defenses.

Not only did they confirm Trump’s shakedown of Ukraine and just how inappropriate those around the president thought it was at the time, but they debunked the Trump-GOP conspiracy theories about former Vice President Joe Biden.

Volker and Morrison were supposed to provide Republicans the most positive spin on the president’s extortion scheme. Instead, they likely sealed Donald Trump’s impeachment.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.

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