The impeachment inquiry's closing arguments
Fiona Hill. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The takeaway from seven public impeachment hearings: Nothing has shattered House Republicans’ allegiance toward President Trump.
Driving the news: That includes the Trump administration's former top Russia aide suggesting Republicans were dangerously close to being played as Russian assets.
- "I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests," Fiona Hill testified today.
- She was referencing the pattern of Republicans basing questions on Ukrainian political interference and the Biden family, rather than on the Trump administration's actions in Ukraine.
The big picture: Most House Republicans have been a hard "no" on impeachment since the very beginning, and even retiring Rep. Will Hurd of Texas declared himself a "no" today.
In today's session, Hill and David Holmes of the State Department fleshed out some of the details presented by past witnesses.
- Hill said she told EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland she was frustrated he wasn’t coordinating with the National Security Council on his Ukraine efforts.
- Hill added that Sondland didn’t coordinate with professional staff because he was involved in a “domestic political errand.”
- Hill said she told Sondland that Trump's Ukraine policy was "all going to blow up."
- And she called it "not credible" that Sondland didn't make the Biden-Burisma connection.
What they're saying: Hill lamented that Republicans left the hearing room after giving lengthy speeches directed at the witnesses.
- In several hearings over the past two weeks, Republicans have asked witnesses directly whether they believed Trump committed a crime — specifically bribery or extortion.
- Hill made the argument that she and others were appearing before the committee as fact witnesses — not to opine on impeachment.
The bottom line: Democrats considered today their closing arguments prior to the Thanksgiving recess.
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