(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

In just a few minutes, the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch will start before the House “impeachment inquiry.”

Why Yavanovitch is testifying at all is a bit of a mystery given she has said she knows nothing, didn’t hear the phone call, and wasn’t even the ambassador anymore by the time any of the supposed misconduct took place. Adam Schiff had originally said in his “rules” that any witness must be able to speak to the quid pro quo issue. Yovanovitch simply doesn’t meet that standard at all.

I have a pretty good idea why she’s being trotted out though.

For Trump, Yovanovitch’s testimony brings moment of reckoning on gender https://t.co/gHejPbUTvX

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 15, 2019

Rumors are that she’s going to cry and “breakdown” about her “treatment” at the hands of the evil orange man, who supposedly allowed her to be pushed out by others around the President. Given she can provide zero evidence surrounding any of the actual questions involved in the Trump-Ukraine matter, the plan seems to be for her to add the spark Wednesday’s hearings were missing.

This entire thing continues to be a joke. I’ll keep this post updated with clips and any notable moments. It’s possible we don’t get many, because again, she admits that she knows nothing. But here we are, so we’ll do our best.

Updates will be posted at the bottom of this post as they flow in.

UPDATE:

Right now it’s just Schiff waxing poetic about how great of a public servant Yovanovitch was.

Schiff sounding off on Yovanovitch’s firing: She had done “such a remarkable job fighting corruption in Ukraine that a short time earlier she had been asked by the State Department to extend her tour,” the chairman says.

Nunes is spending his time on Schiff’s behavior, rule shifting, and secret hearings.

UPDATE:

Rep. Stefanik proposes a parlimentary inquiry, which is basically her pointing out that Schiff is making up the rules as he goes along and is keeping Republicans from asking questions.

“We now know you plan to interrupt us throughout this hearing.”

Here’s Devin Nunes’ full opening statement.

It’s unfortunate that today, and for most of next week, we will continue engaging in the Democrats’ day-long TV spectacles instead of solving the problems we were all sent to Washington to address. We now have a major trade agreement with Canada and Mexico ready for approval—a deal that would create jobs and boost our economy.

Meanwhile, we have not yet approved funding for the government which expires next week, along with funding for our men and women serving in the military.

Instead, the Democrats have convened us once again to advance their operation to topple a duly elected president. I’ll note that five—five—Democrats on this committee had already voted to impeach this president before the Trump-Zelensky phone call occurred.

In fact, Democrats have been vowing to oust President Trump since the day he was elected. So Americans can rightly suspect that his phone call with President Zelensky was used as an excuse for the Democrats to fulfill their Watergate fantasies.

But I’m glad that on Wednesday, after the Democrats staged six weeks of secret depositions in the basement of the Capitol—like some kind of cult—the American people finally got to see this farce for themselves.

They saw us sit through hours of hearsay testimony about conversations that two diplomats, who’d never spoken to the President, heard second-hand, third-hand, and fourth-hand from other people—in other words, rumors. The problem of trying to overthrow a president based on this type of evidence is obvious.

But that’s what their whole case relies on, beginning with the second-hand and third-hand information cited by the Whistleblower. That’s why on Wednesday, the Democrats were forced to make the absurd argument that hearsay can be much better evidence than direct evidence.

And just when you thought this spectacle couldn’t get more bizarre, Committee Republicans received a memo from the Democrats threatening ethics referrals if we out the Whistleblower. As the Democrats are well aware, no Republicans here know the Whistleblower’s identity because the Whistleblower only met with the Democrats—not with Republicans.

Chairman Schiff himself claimed not to know who it is, yet he also vowed to block us from asking questions that could reveal his or her identity. Republicans on this committee are left wondering how it’s even possible for the chairman to block questions about a person whose identity he claims not to know.

The American people may be seeing these absurdities for the first time, but Republicans on this dais are used to them.

Until they secretly met with the Whistleblower, Democrats showed little interest for the last three years in any topic aside from the ridiculous conspiracy theories that President Trump is a Russian agent.

When you find yourself on the phone, like Democrats did, with Russian pranksters offering you nude pictures of Trump, and afterward you order your staff to follow up and get the photos, as Democrats also did, then it might be time to ask yourself if you’ve gone too far out on a limb.

Even as they were accusing Republicans of colluding with Russians, the Democrats themselves were colluding with Russians by funding the Steele dossier, which was based on Russian sources. Meanwhile, they turn a blind eye to Ukrainians meddling in our elections because the Democrats were cooperating with that operation.

This was the subject of a July 20, 2017 letter sent by Senator Grassley to then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The letter raised concerns about the activities of Alexandra Chalupa, a contractor for the Democratic National Committee who worked with Ukrainian Embassy officials to spread dirt on the Trump campaign. As Senator Grassley wrote, “Chalupa’s actions appear to show that she was simultaneously working on behalf of a foreign government, Ukraine, and on behalf of the DNC and Clinton campaign, in an effort to influence not only the U.S voting population but U.S. government officials.”  

After touting the Steele dossier and defending the FBI’s Russia investigation, which are both now being investigated by Inspector General Horowitz and Attorney General Barr, Democrats on this committee ignore Ukrainian election meddling even though Chalupa publicly admitted to the Democrat scheme.

Likewise, they are blind to the blaring signs of corruption surrounding Hunter Biden’s well-paid position on the board of a corrupt Ukrainian company while his father served as Vice President and point-man for Ukraine issues in the Obama administration. But the Democrats’ media hacks only cared about this issue—briefly—when they were trying to stop Joe Biden from running against Hillary Clinton in 2015.

As I’ve previously stated, these hearings should not be occurring at all until we get answers to three crucial questions the Democrats refuse to ask:

• First, what is the full extent of the Democrats’ prior coordination with the Whistleblower and who else did the Whistleblower coordinate this effort with?
• Second, what is the full extent of Ukraine’s election meddling against the Trump campaign?
• And third, why did Burisma hire Hunter Biden, what did he do for them, and did his position affect any U.S. government actions under the Obama administration?

In closing, I’ll note that House Democrats vowed they would not put the American people through a wrenching impeachment process without bipartisan support—and they have none. Add that to their ever-growing list of broken promises and destructive deceptions.

Rep @DevinNunes:

"We now have a major trade agreement with Canada and Mexico ready for approval, a deal that would create jobs and boost our economy… Instead, the Democrats have convened us once again to advance their operation to topple a duly elected president." pic.twitter.com/fbcsEwjE3G

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 15, 2019

UPDATE:

The fighting has begun. Good on Rep. Stefanik for not putting up with this crap.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! pic.twitter.com/fzhtGAiJfq

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 15, 2019

UPDATE:

Yovanovitch’s opening statement seems to once again center around policy disagreements and her personal bereavement over being removed. At one point she claims that “corrupt” Ukrainian officials targeted her and that her removal subverted U.S. interests.

Here’s a few clips.

"Some have argued that a President has the ability to nominate or remove any ambassador he wants. That they serve at the pleasure of the President and that is true."

Then why are we here? pic.twitter.com/FMo6YsA9XZ

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 15, 2019

It's all about feelings…#ImpeachmentHearings pic.twitter.com/Ju32J0t7ga

— Wojciech Pawelczyk (@Woj_Pawelczyk) November 15, 2019

And the kicker…

Marie Yovanovitch testifies that she has no firsthand knowledge of the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky.

So, that's it? Can we go home now? pic.twitter.com/cb8bmd5chD

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 15, 2019

Again, why are we here? Can anyone explain this woman’s relevancy to any issue at hand? This is nothing but a cynical ploy to play gender politics in hopes that she cries and creates a viral moment for Democrats. I really think Schiff has way overplayed his hand here.

UPDATE:

We are in a full blown therapy session. Yovanovitch suspected she was recalled for nefarious reasons but can’t list any of them. She admits the President can fire her for any reason and she was upset she was mentioned on the July 25th call.

https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1195359403706376193

She’s reiterated that she personally has no knowledge of anything dealing with impeachment.

This is a total fail for Democrats and it’s going to get worse when Republicans start asking questions.

Live look at the Democrats trying to impeach Trump: pic.twitter.com/F9p4CCKroa

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) November 15, 2019

UPDATE:

lol…

Nobody:

Absolutely Nobody:

Democratic Counsel during an impeachment hearing:

"How did that make you feel?" pic.twitter.com/byyOc48ChQ

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 15, 2019

Also, Adam Schiff just accused Trump of “witness intimidation” for tweeting about Yovanovitch. I can’t stop laughing at how ridiculous this has gotten.

UPDATE:

They are in a recess now.

Meanwhile, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer just called Yovanovitch’s testimony “devastating” for Trump. I have no idea what he’s watching, but literally nothing has happened except a therapy session. The pre-hearing fight was the best part so far.

Things are reaching levels peak levels of stupidity.

OMG Chris Wallace says if you weren’t moved by Yovanovitch testimony you “don’t have a pulse.” What a joke

— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) November 15, 2019

I thought we were here to prove impeachment is necessary? Apparently, Fox News’ chief news guy thinks the point of this was to pull on the heart strings. I could go watch Netflix if that was the goal.

UPDATE:

We need a moratorium on watching Fox News until we figure out what the heck is going on over there.

That was a turning point in this hearing so far. She was already a sympathetic witness & the President’s tweet ripping her allowed Schiff to point it out real time characterizing it as witness tampering or intimidation -adding an article of impeachment real-time. https://t.co/HSCkGMIqmH

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) November 15, 2019

That is patently ridiculous. And remember, impeachment is a political process. I’ve been assured that the rules of criminal trials do not apply.

UPDATE: 

We are back. Nunes is up first as Republicans will get 45 minutes of questioning. Compare that the hours Democrats go, but I digress.

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1195392591593910275

And now Schiff immediately interrupts and refuses for Nunes to yield time too Stefanik. He’s not allowing Republicans to even use their 45 minutes to ask questions.

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1195392948915060736

Adam Schiff is terrified of Elise Stefanik's questions and keeps interrupting her.

What's he so afraid of? pic.twitter.com/kk5a4wLhTO

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) November 15, 2019

UPDATE:

Questioning is being done by the Republican counsel right now. It’s mainly drilling down on reports of Ukrainian interference in the 2016. Yovanovitch is sidestepping most of it, claiming she simply didn’t know about any of the things being brought up.

I assume the purpose here is to paint her as aloof of the President’s concerns and the documented bias shown by Ukraine prior to his election.

And now she makes a comment that the “intel community” conclusively showed that only Russia interfered in the election while calling all the examples of Ukrainian interference “isolated incidences.” Clearly she has a biased viewpoint here.

UPDATE:

Yovanovitch can’t even admit that giving Javelins was a good thing because it would have forced her to criticize the Obama administration.

Former Ambassador Yovanovitch is so upset at her early recall that she can't even admit that @POTUS @realDonaldTrump's provision of Javelin missiles and other aid to Ukraine, which had been previously denied by the Obama administration, was a good thing.

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) November 15, 2019

Schiff then spent 5 minutes trying to paint a picture that its impeachable to have politically appointed ambassadors. Yovanovitch barely spoke. Nothing new was revealed.

Rep. Stefanik is now finally being allowed to speak.

UPDATE:

Some Democrat Rep. is now spending his time saying how angry he is that Yovanovitch was recalled. He then says that while Trump says he has an absolute right to fire these people, it doesn’t feel like how our country should run or something.

He goes on to say that it was not in the national interest to remove Yovanovitch and that such adds up to an abuse of power. This is such lunacy that it’s almost not worth commenting on.

Someone get Jim Himes a fainting couch

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 15, 2019

UPDATE:

Here’s Stefanik’s questioning. She killed it.

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1195407269426540547

UPDATE:

We’ve now devolved to a Democrat Rep. asserting that Yovanovtich’s treatment wasn’t her “preference” and wasn’t “like a Hallmark movie.” We are so far past any actual argument about an impeachable offense that I’m not sure much else is going to come of this specific hearing. This woman knows nothing and has nothing of value to provide.

Rep. Stefanik is now using her time to read Schiff’s lies and hypocrisy into the record.

Tfw you’re getting owned by a millennial woman 💁🏼‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/eHHEWzw3NS

— Amanda Carey Elliott 💁‍♀️ (@AmandaCarey1) November 15, 2019

She yields to Jim Jordan and he points out that four major testimonies haven’t been released, thereby depriving them of the right to use that material in their questioning.

FINAL UPDATE:

The hearing is in its final throes but I’m going to go ahead and call this post. There’s just nothing left and Democrats are simply repeating the same lines of questioning eliciting Yovanovitch’s “feelings” about her removal. I’ll have my longer form, overall thoughts on what transpired this evening. Be sure to check that out.

Here’s a few last notes.

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1195423814970155008

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1195430886193401859

———————————————

Enjoying the read? Please visit my archive to read more of my latest articles.

Find me on Twitter and help out by following @bonchieredstate.