What Went Down During Marie Yovanovitch’s Testimony

So far, I think today has been a lot of bad PR for Republicans. Trump’s tweet came off as vicious and gave Democrats a reason to accuse him of witness intimidation. And Yovanovitch’s testimony comes off as sincere and sympathetic. At the same time, I don’t think Democrats have made the case yet for how it relates to the ostensible impeachable offense, pressuring Ukraine on the July 25 call. But it’s early, and we know the effect of these hearings is cumulative. Maybe they are laying the groundwork for tying the two together later.

I know that the press got some heat for talking about how Wednesday’s hearing played on TV, but the reality is that how the hearings come across will affect whether public opinion moves, and in which way. So performance actually does matter. With that in mind, it’s worth thinking about these hearings as something of a production. Why are the witnesses ordered the way they are? Is there a coherent story being told? How much is color versus specifically about impeachment?

Then again, Rick, those attacks against Mueller didn’t exactly hurt Trump. If anything, they may have helped him.