What Went Down During Marie Yovanovitch’s Testimony

After hearing from Democrats and Yovanovitch for the last hour and a half, Congress is taking a recess to vote, which is expected to last about an hour. This means we’ll be on break, too. We will then hear from the Republicans — Nunes and their designated counsel Castor — as they question Yovanovitch for 45 minutes before the hearing is turned over to committee members. Scroll below to see folks’ takeaways from the hearing so far.

So far, I think Democrats’ questioning of Yovanovitch has been quite deft. They took advantage of Trump’s tweet attacking Yovanovitch and the pathos of Yovanovitch’s story. The key will be how Republicans respond. Did Democrats (with Trump’s help) lay a trap by making her seem like she’s continuing to be victimized by powerful government figures? It could be hard for Republicans to vigorously go after her credibility now without seeming like bullies. But there’s still room for them to dismiss her testimony as ancillary to the investigation.

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.