House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., questions Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire,as he testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

After this mornings hearings provided us with a mash of video clips but little in the form of substance, we may finally get some this afternoon.

(check out that live blog for a mountain of videos, updates, and quick analysis on what we saw)

Finally, after Schiff has wasted a week trotting out witnesses that didn’t actually witness anything (and in the case of Yovanovitch wasn’t even there anymore), we will hear from two men who actually had direct contact with Donald Trump.

Will this be the bombshell the Democrats are hoping or will they end up backing up the assertion that there was no quid pro quo? Time will tell.

What we will see is Democrats having to do something besides heap praise on witnesses and actually ask real questions. They’ll also receive plenty of pushback on some of the assumptions and claims they’ve been making unchecked until now. I expect that to lead to some fireworks, so stay tuned to this post for ongoing updates, including videos as I get them.

UPDATE:

The hearings are already 15 minutes behind schedule because nothing can be done properly when government is involved. As soon as they finally start, I’ll get the opening statements up as they get posted.

UPDATE:

It’s finally started and apparently what we really needed was yet another Adam Schiff droning opening statement. You’d think with them being an hour late, they’d forgo this nonsense, but I guess not. Dude has to get his TV time.

UPDATE:

Nunes goes hard at Democrats and what their motivations are.

Nunes is killing it. He points out that everything we are hearing in these public testimonies is the third time we have heard it. First when the Democrats leaked it to the media, second with their testimony, and nothing new added with these sham hearings.

— Shem Horne (@Shem_Infinite) November 19, 2019

Also hits them for the fact that none of the witnesses being bandied about so far have pointed to any crime, much less “bribery,” which Schiff decided was the new terminology to use now. This came after polling voters to figure out the most damaging word to use. As you can tell, they are real serious people.

Next, Schiff introduces the witnesses, Volker and Morrison.

Morrison is giving his opening statement now, reiterating that he won’t be speculating today about matters he doesn’t know about. After the opening statements are done, we’ll get the two 45 minute sessions between Schiff, Nunes, and their counsels. The real fireworks will happen in the five minute sessions, where I expect some Democrats to get really testy no longer dealing with friendly witnesses.

Morrison: “every day that the focus of discussion” is on these proceedings hurts the US and Ukrainehttps://t.co/NtRjcsFmVd pic.twitter.com/eRPXEmkY9D

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 19, 2019

UPDATE:

Kurt Volker is pushing back on the “unofficial channel” accusation he has received. Yovanovitch and Kent have continually complained Volker was leading a back-channel that subverted U.S. foreign policy, which of course makes no sense as the President sets foreign policy. Volker claims that’s not true and that he reported directly to the Secretary of State.

He’s also pointing out how strong Trump’s policy toward Ukraine has been, providing them with the tools they need to thwart Russian aggression, something the previous administration didn’t do.

Volker touts “strong” Trump policy on Ukraine, “fundamentally turned US policy around” after Obama pic.twitter.com/AzjGCdayE8

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) November 19, 2019

Now, he’s hitting Rudy Giuliani, who will likely be the fall guy here. Volker is essentially saying Rudy was feeding the President bad information.

UPDATE:

Volker is hammering home that Biden was never mentioned in any of his conversations. He says he has no knowledge of any connection between aid and investigations. He rejects Schiff’s characterization of Volker being part of the “three amigos,” somehow undermining U.S. foreign policy.

He again testifies that Ukraine did not know about the aid until August 29th.

Now, we proceed to the questioning.

UPDATE:

Democrat counsel is doing the questioning now. We are covering a lot of old ground at this point. Volker continues to make the distinction between investigating Burisma and Biden, asserting the former is appropriate but the latter isn’t. Morrison says he does not feel anything on the call was illegal. He says he made recommendation to put the call on a more secure system because he felt it could be leaked and cause political turmoil (which it did).

On Volker’s distinction, I’m not sure he’s making much sense. He claims the Hunter Biden issue is separate from Burisma’s general corruption. How can he know that? In the end, he admits his only basis for that is his personal like and respect for Joe Biden. Fine, but that doesn’t Hunter wasn’t up to his eyeballs in shady dealings.

UPDATE:

Volker shoots down a favorite talking point of the left and Never Trump, namely that Trump asking for a public statement on the corruption investigations “proved” it was purely political. Volker says that wasn’t unusual and was more likely wanted to show seriousness about fighting corruption. In return, it would help convince Trump that Ukraine had turned a corner in their behavior.

UPDATE:

This just happened and seems to prove we are once again in a hearing with no point.

Nunes gets Volker and Morrison on record confirming no one ever asked them to bribe or extort anybody. Two more witnesses, no evidence of any crimes.

— Shem Horne (@Shem_Infinite) November 19, 2019

UPDATE:

Video of Nunes.

.@DevinNunes: "Did anyone ever ask you to bribe or extort anyone at anytime during your time in the White House?"

Volker and Morrison: "No" pic.twitter.com/EpusMJgWC9

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 19, 2019

UPDATE:

This has been something every witness has been forced to admit.

Volker testifies that it is proper to want Ukraine to look into allegations of corruption with Burisma and 2016 election interference, he just doesn't personally believe any of the negative evidence about Biden.

— Shem Horne (@Shem_Infinite) November 19, 2019

UPDATE:

Morrison now testifying that Vindman was suspected of leaking and that he had concerns he was going out of the chain of command. Says Vindman should have come to him first before going to the lawyers, his brother, George Kent, and Eric Ciaramella.

Also testifies that Vindman had become frustrated that he wasn’t taken on a trip on Ukraine and was being limited in the Ukraine portfolio. Paints a picture of a disgruntled employee.

UPDATE:

The hearing is now in recess. When they come back, we’ll get the five minute rounds, which will include Jordan, Stefanik, and Ratcliffe. It’ll also be interesting to see how the Democrats treat two witnesses who aren’t necessarily “friendly” to the President, but who don’t back up the left-wing impeachment narrative.

UPDATE:

Some more clips from the hearing that are noteworthy, including Morrison testifying about Vindman’s actions and character.

In addition to everything that Timothy Morrison list below, there apparently were even *more* problems with Alexander Vindman but Morrison's lawyer stopped him from revealing what the other apparent problems were https://t.co/R33Et0Bigt

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 19, 2019

And Buck Sexton is all of us right now.

https://twitter.com/BuckSexton/status/1196934230397345792

UPDATE:

One final update and I’m gonna call this post.

When asked why he characterized it as a "demand," Vindman said he "just wrote it the way I kind of felt it."

Ok then. Glad we're all putting ourselves through this for objective facts. pic.twitter.com/K4rQXYswKz

— Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) November 19, 2019

There’s still some questioning going on, but I expect nothing else of note and there’s a lot of going in circles at this point.

Tomorrow, Gordon Sondland testifies and that’s basically Schiff’s last shot. These witnesses have been total flops at this point, perhaps even helping the President. Sondland is going to get grilled by Democrats as he’s the most overtly pro-Trump witness that will appear and the closest to the President’s thinking. If Schiff can’t pry out a quid pro quo from him, there’s nothing left and Democrats may not even secure the votes for impeachment at all.

I’ll have the live blog up at 9amEST tomorrow. Be sure to follow along.

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