What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings

Bolton was reportedly very concerned about the emphasis on investigations and the withholding of military aid. According to Taylor, Bolton encouraged him to convey concerns straight to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Bolton so far has taken a pretty weird stance toward the impeachment inquiry — he’s said he’ll testify if a court rules that he has to. So far, Democrats don’t seem interested in getting into a court fight with him.

Right, once again, as in the Mueller report, Democrats face the problem of linking Trump directly to what has happened. It seems as if the new information on page 18 of Taylor’s opening statement tries to get at that, by saying that a member of his staff could hear the president on the phone ask Sondland about “the investigations.” And the staff member told Taylor that Sondland then told Trump that “the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.”

And this is important, because as Amelia wrote earlier on the live blog, Taylor doesn’t have direct knowledge of the alleged quid pro quo at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, but he was in communication with Trump allies who were engaged in these negotiations, like Sondland. Sondland will now testify next week, and at this point, he is the only witness who has linked Trump directly to a quid pro quo.

Perry, I disagree — I think Republicans/Fox News/etc. can cast anyone as a liberal Trump hater if they put even one word wrong. And in this case, Kent and Taylor are also elite members of the government bureaucracy — a.k.a. the “deep state.”