This was a remarkable week in impeachment  hearings as nine witnesses testified. By week’s end, it was clear that  there was a coordinated effort that included multiple senior Trump  officials “in the loop” seeking investigations from Ukraine in exchange  for aid and a White House visit — an effort that went against U.S.  national security interests. Trump and his allies’ defense, claiming  Ukrainian corruption and 2016 interference, was also debunked, leaving  by week end their only defense to be lack of a firsthand witness to  Trump directing the activities. The impeachment hearings were stunning  as, with each passing day, it became all the more clear how irreverently  and irresponsibly Trump has acted, yet how unwilling the Republican  Party was to stand up to him and hold him accountable.

Another conspiracy theory was also debunked as a  draft of the Department of Justice Inspector General found there was no  political bias by senior FBI officials against Trump in getting the  wiretap of Carter Page. Trump took an unusual trip to Walter Reed  Medical Center early in the week that led to speculation of a health  issue, and spent the rest of the week ranting and bullying about  impeachment, mostly on Twitter and Fox News, and largely avoiding the  press. Trump and his allies continued to attack and discredit  impeachment witnesses publicly, and blocked testimony from senior  officials and subpoenaed documents from the State Department. Trump  continued his battle with the U.S. military, flexing his commander in  chief might to overturn their rules.

As the week came to end, and Congress left for  Thanksgiving break, it was unclear where the impeachment investigation  would head next. The House Intelligence Committee started writing its  report, but did not rule out further hearings, and the Judiciary  Committee also considered follow up on information gleaned from the  Roger Stone trial related to Trump’s written testimony in the Mueller  probe.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-158/