What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings

A reminder there why Democrats so badly want to talk to Mulvaney. Taylor says someone from the Office of Management and Budget told him military aid was being withheld, and that set off alarm bells to him. Mulvaney is not only the acting White House chief of staff but still technically plays a role at OMB, too. Did he personally direct a hold on aid?

Taylor is laying the groundwork for why the “irregular” channel for Ukraine diplomacy led by Giuliani was so problematic — for one thing, it was “unaccountable to Congress.”

Taylor’s opening statement is basically what leaked out the other week, laying out what happened when he went over to Ukraine and discovered the formal and informal channels for policy-making.