It's Wednesday, Nov. 13, which means the Democrats are holding their first public hearing related to the impeachment inquiry against President Trump. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff will gavel in at 10 a.m. ET as he and the panel prepare to question two witnesses, Bill Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. Leah provided a rundown of what to expect this morning.
Yet, just before everyone takes their seats, the Trump campaign released an ad informing Democrats that they're only helping his re-election. The video reminds us of all the times House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged that any impeachment process would have to be bipartisan, before she got partisan.
Impeachment is so sorely "divisive," Pelosi groaned. Time and again she promised that, "if it happens, it has to be a bipartisan initiative." She was praised by several members of the media for showing such restraint. But, fast forward to this fall and she launched an impeachment inquiry that's been as divisive as ever. Not one Republican voted for the resolution regarding the proceedings.Trump took aim at Pelosi on Twitter this morning too, quoting Charles Hurt during his appearance on "Fox & Friends."
“Nancy Pelosi cares more about power than she does about principle. She did not want to go down this road. She realizes this is a huge loser for Democrats. The Founders envisioned the worst people being in politics, yet they couldn’t envision this. You have these people taking...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2019
Pelosi announced the inquiry after a now infamous phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Zelensky about the Bidens. According to a whistleblower complaint, Trump threatened to withhold military aid if Zelensky didn't agree to investigate the former vice president and his son Hunter's ties to a corrupt Ukrainian gas company. Trump gave the Democrats some advice.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2019
That's not a bad idea. In fact, as many people who have read the transcript have noted, the Democrats' quid pro quo narrative pretty much fell apart. Trump said there was a second phone call with President Zelensky back in April, and he plans to release that transcript this week as well.
Follow the hearings with the Townhall team live blog starting at 9:30 a.m. ET.