What Went Down During Marie Yovanovitch’s Testimony

Along those lines, Chad, it also shows how politicized Ukraine policy had become even before the discussions of investigations began. And as I’ve mentioned, this hearing lays the groundwork for the idea that the White House wasn’t actually interested in fighting corruption — quite the contrary, they removed an ambassador who was strong on corruption.

The Nielsen numbers for today’s hearing viewership will be illuminating. Wonder if we’ll see sustained interest or a big drop off on a Friday. 13.8 million Americans watched Day 1 — slightly more than the 12.9 million who watched Robert Mueller’s testimony in July. But the total is much smaller than the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing and James Comey testimony.

It may appear like this testimony has little to do with impeachment, but it seems to me like it’s meant to lay brick and mortar for Giuliani’s role in Ukraine. If Giuliani’s pressure could remove an ambassador, then, Democrats will likely argue, he also had the power to ask for an investigation into the Bidens.