If you want to know why conservatives are dissatisfied with New York Times, look no further than the lede of their article on Thursday’s first impeachment hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives. Reporter Luke Broadwater got right to the point, noting that Jonathan Turley didn’t exactly provide what the Republicans were looking for in an “expert” witness.
The first hearing in House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden featured their star witnesses testifying that they lacked proof that he committed impeachable offenses, multiple procedural skirmishes the G.O.P. majority nearly lost and, at times, nearly a dozen empty Republican seats.
What it did not include was any new information about Mr. Biden’s conduct — or any support for Republicans’ accusations that he had entered into corrupt overseas business deals.
“If the Republicans had a smoking gun or even a dripping water pistol, they would be presenting it today,” said Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. “But they’ve got nothing on Joe Biden.”
I put the hearings on in the morning, which were carried by CSPAN-3, and I watched bits and pieces of it throughout the day. Because I didn’t pay close enough attention, I wasn’t sure that the committee had not produced anything truly incriminating that I might have missed. I guess they did not, which is hardly surprising. I’ve seen nothing that remotely implicates President Biden in a high crime or misdemeanor. He probably should have dissuaded his son Hunter from taking a job on the Burisma board, but that’s water under the bridge at this point.
It’s truly strange that the first hearing had no fact witnesses and couldn’t articulate any actual impeachable offenses.
So far, the reviews are underwhelming:
“You want witnesses that make your case. Picking witnesses that refute House Republicans arguments for impeachment is mind blowing,” one senior GOP aide told CNN. “This is an unmitigated disaster.”
One GOP lawmaker also expressed some disappointment with their performance thus far, telling CNN: “I wish we had more outbursts.”
I saw little but outbursts from the Republicans on the panel, but I guess there could have been more. It’s a national embarrassment and really little more than a sustained smearing of the president’s reputation.
