After hearing only one day of public testimony, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham declared, "I'm done with it. It's a joke." He said the inquiry is "fundamentally unfair." (I'm sure Graham would think it's fair if a Democrat was being investigated.) CNN's Don Lemon tonight expressed dismay that Congressional Republicans continue to disregard the facts and insist Trump has done nothing wrong. To believe Trump did nothing wrong, Lemon pointed out, you'd have to ignore a lot of facts.
You'd have to ignore the whistleblower's complaint, which was investigated and found to be "urgent" and "credible." You'd have to ignore the transcript of the July 25 Trump-Zelensky phone call which quotes Trump asking Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and the (false) report of a DNC server in Ukraine. (Trump later claimed he wanted to "root out corruption" but the transcript makes no mention of corruption.) You'd have to ignore the testimony of NSC director and decorated Iraq War veteran Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who heard the phone call and knew the transcript omitted much of Trump's conversation about the Bidens. He wanted to add the missing passages but was not allowed to do so. Vindman knew it is wrong to seek election help from a foreign government and expressed his concern to NSC higher-ups.
You'd have to ignore the sworn testimony of Ambassador Bill Taylor and State Department official George Kent, who confirmed that Zelensky was being pressured to launch investigations. You'd have to ignore the July 26 phone call between Sondland and Trump, with Sondland saying Ukraine is "ready to move forward" with investigations. Two aides heard that call and both will testify before impeachment investigators. You'd have to ignore the text messages and phone calls between Sondland and Taylor which confirm Trump's quid pro quo offer. You'd have to ignore Mick Mulvaney's admission of military aid being held up in order to pressure Ukraine into investigating the Bidens. You'd have to ignore Trump's October 3 admission that he expected Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. You'd have to ignore the ouster of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who stood in the way of Trump's demands. You'd have to ignore the "shadow foreign policy" pursued by Rudy Giuliani and his two now-indicted associates.
Unfortunately for our nation, Congressional Republicans do indeed ignore all these facts. They care only about Trump and the Republican party. They do not care about truth, facts, justice, the Constitution, the Presidential oath of office, the rule of law, national security, our system of checks and balances or the integrity of our elections.
Tonight at a rally in Bossier City, Louisiana, Trump told a huge lie to his blindly loyal supporters, who believe every lie he tells them: "Republicans are coming to me and saying, 'Our poll numbers are going through the roof. We love it [the impeachment inquiry]. Let's keep it going.'" Wow. Welcome to Trumpworld, the land of delusions.