What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings

Mulvaney (who as readers may recall ordered the freeze on the security assistance) “maintained a skeptical view of Ukraine,” according to Taylor. Another witness, former White House official Catherine Croft, has also testified that Mulvaney briefly halted the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine last year because he was concerned that “Russia would react negatively to the provision of Javelins to the Ukraine.”

There has been a lot of reporting lately that Republicans could throw Giuliani, Sondland, etc., under the bus to save the president. The more instances of Trump being directly involved, the less likely that strategy is to work.

This statement mirrors Taylor’s private testimony, so not much new so far. But the details really are quite explicit and damning for the president: Giuliani being very involved in foreign policy; people constantly referring to “investigations” that Trump wanted; lots of attempts to keep the Ukraine policy “off line” and away from regular channels by taking steps like using WhatsApp; a presidential visit and aid for Ukraine delayed pending these investigations; and lots of people in the government being confused and annoyed by the delays of the visit and the aid.