What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings

It’s weird to have Taylor refer to an unnamed staffer as having basically overheard the president say something that was really damning. We will need more details on this staffer and perhaps even for that person to testify. I don’t have many doubts that Taylor is giving an accurate account — it is easy to imagine Trump calling someone on a cell phone and pressing for investigations of the Bidens. But Taylor is passing on something second or thirdhand.

Schiff’s first question goes right to the new thing we learned today — that a Taylor staff member overheard the president on the phone asking about “investigations.”

After an hour and a half of opening statements, we’re moving onto the questioning phase. As a reminder, both Schiff and Nunes (or their designated staffers) will have up to 45 minutes each to question Taylor and Kent.