Biden impeachment latest: GOP’s own witnesses contradict main claims in ‘disaster’ first hearing

Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois, attacked the credibility of the impeachment witness, bringing out social media posts and noted attempts to fundraise for a fake electors scheme in Michigan.

Asked about what part of the evidence is missing, Mr Turley said: “The key here that the committee has to drill down on is whether they can establish a linkage with the influence peddling which is a form of corruption and the President –Whether he had knowledge, whether he participated, whether he encouraged it.”

But he added that “We simply don't know. And we don't even know if this was an illusion or not. But you can't find the answers to that”.

The Republicans blocked the calling of Rudy Giuliani as a witness again during the hearing on Thursday following a motion by Maryland Democrat Kweisi Mfume.

Rep Mfume made a forceful case for the calling of Mr Giuliani as a witness, holding up a sign saying “where is Rudy?”

He attempted to “shame” Republicans into calling the ex-Trump lawyer and NYC mayor as a witness but to no avail.

All four of the witnesses at the hearing told Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, that they had not witnessed Mr Biden committing any crimes or were presenting any firsthand accounts.

“The allegations being presented by the majority are extremely serious and the prospect of impeachment is also a gravely serious matter which has been echoed by our witnesses today. And any serious impeachment investigation or inquiry relies on firsthand sworn testimony of witnesses to high crimes or misdemeanours. Today, the Republican majority has called in three witnesses to advance their case,” she said.

“Mr Turley, I have a simple question for you. In your testimony today. Are you presenting any firsthand witness account of what's committed by the President of the United States?” she asked.

Mr Turley and all the other witnesses said they were not.

“To clarify, two individuals presented today who do have firsthand accounts surrounding the progeny of these applications are being blocked from testifying by the Republican majority,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said, “This is an embarrassment to the time and people of this country. And I would ask that the chair and I would ask that this committee elevate to the promise of our duties here and comport ourselves with the consistency and practice that is required of our seats and our duty and our oath to our responsibilities here.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez accused a fellow panel member of presenting a fake image.

“The gentleman from Florida presented on the screen something that looked, appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing an explosive allegation. That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image!” she said.

White House spokesman Ian Sams weighed in on the impeachment hearing on Thursday.

“These are the Republicans’ own witnesses! Admitting there is not evidence to warrant this impeachment stunt Proving this is nothing more than a baseless wild goose chase,” he wrote on X.

New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury asked on Thursday, “what is this hearing actually about?”

“It's a campaign strategy. It's a misuse of official resources. It is this committee and loyalists of Donald Trump doing his bidding to bolster his chances of winning back the White House and securing their majority in the next election,” she argued.

“And in the process, to diminish the name of impeachment which is enshrined in the US Constitution, which we take an oath to uphold and to make Donald Trump's crimes including his two impeachments and his 91 criminal indictment counts look like they're not serious crimes,” she added.

“When you think about it, it's chilling. It's truly chilling. It's another attack on our democracy and our institutions. It's another attack on fair and free elections and the use of this committee to try to carry it out. So I just want to say I think it's obvious who the grand puppet master is here. He tweeted about it on his own social and we see the long arm, but little hands of Mr Donald Trump, whose fingerprints are all over this hearing and this sham impeachment,” she added.

“But we know that the American people are smart, that they're not going to be fooled by what's happening here today, and especially as they shut the government down in two days with catastrophic impacts for our communities,” Ms Stansbury said.