What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings
Just want to take a moment here to check in on the GOP spin that’s already happening. The president has retweeted this tweet from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, which shows a video clip of Rep. Jim Jordan saying that Schiff is the only person in Congress who knows who the whistleblower is. What’s not included in the clip — thus making it massively misleading — is Schiff saying “that’s not true.”
.@Jim_Jordan to Chairman Schiff: “Of the 435 members of Congress, you are the only Member who knows who the whistleblower is, and your staff is the only staff who has had a chance to talk with that individual.
“We would like that opportunity. When might that happen?” pic.twitter.com/UBzmorAbOR— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 13, 2019
The president’s campaign and political team fundraising off of the hearings today:
Schiff is trying to tie Trump’s withholding of Ukraine aid to the loss of Ukrainian lives in their war against Russia. That’s interesting to me, as it’s one way that they might actually be able to get Americans — and specifically Republicans, to MaryAlice’s point — to care about Ukraine policy. I’m reminded of the outcry after U.S. troops withdrew from northeast Syria earlier this year, leaving Kurds vulnerable to a Turkish invasion. Many Republicans lamented how many Kurds could die as a result of that decision.